By Emily von Doehren
SCGA Director of Club Services

As summer approaches and tournaments of all levels are in full gear, be conscious of what you’re signing up for. There’s the chance it could violate your Amateur Status.
When the USGA created The Rules of Amateur Status, the premise was that amateur golfers of all ages play without remuneration or financial incentive, simply in support of their love for the game of golf. This affects many situations that you’ve likely been
in, but were unaware of the consequences.

Tournament player tips

Taking advantage of The Rules of Golf
By Mike Sweeney
SCGA Director of Rules and Competitions
Let’s face it: Most golfers don’t know much about The Rules of Golf. Most of us know the

Know the Rules

Now what do I do?
By MIKE SWEENEY, Director of Rules and Competitions, SCGA

Question: I thought I hit my ball into a lateral water hazard. I dropped under the water hazard rule within two club lengths of where my ball crossed into the hazard. After I played my shot to the green I found my original ball 25 yards closer to the hole, outside the hazard! Which ball do I play?

Clubs that fit to a T(v)
By Katie Denbo

While the importance of properly fitting golf equipment has always been known, new crops of fitting centers and performance labs from some of the industry’s most popular manufacturers are gaining increased acceptance. Golfers of all levels now have a variety of options that were once only accessible to touring professionals, and a handful are located in the Southland’s own backyard.

By FRANCES NEE

SCGA Director of Handicap

A handicap index is not a statistical scoring average-it is the basic measure of a player's scoring potential. It is based on the performance of a player over 20 rounds of golf. Each time a score is posted, the course rating and slope for the tees played is used to calculate a differential. This differential is the measure of the player's performance on that particular course. By relating performance to course difficulty rather than raw scores, players of unequal abilities can compete on a level basis.

By Michael Sweeney
Directors of Rules and Competitions

10. You may always use rangefinders (distance measuring devices) during play.

By Robert D. Thomas
SCGA Senior Director of Communications
Although Tiger Woods was the big story in last month’s PGA Championship, an incident involving Sergio Garcia spotlighted the importance of correctly handling your score card at the end of each and every tournament round.