Volume #1, Issue #2  -  July 24, 2007

Welcome to the second issue of WPGA Times. The purpose of this electronic newsletter is to update the golf community on events and happenings of the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association.  Readers are welcome to suggest articles, photos, and other materials for upcoming editions.

Erie's Coleman wins WPGA Public Links (07/17/07)
Ron Coleman, Erie, whose resume includes two Erie District GA match play titles, one stroke play championship, and twice a sectional qualifier for the USGA Amateur Public Links, won the WPGA Public Links Championship on July 16 at Cedarbrook GC in Belle Vernon.  Coleman shot 72-73—145 on Cedarbrook’s Gold Course to edge Brendan Madden, Jefferson Hills, a Duquesne University golfer. (more)

West Penn Open to add qualifying (07/17/07)
The 2007 West Penn Open overbooked by about forty players, so the Association staff developed a waiting list.  We used several criteria to determine half the field.  Obviously, nobody likes to be left out.  Therefore, we will schedule two qualifying rounds for upcoming Opens, thus providing everyone with a chance to play his way into the Championship. (more)

West Penn Open to return to Mystic Rock in 2010 (07/17/07)
The WPGA and the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort are pleased to announce that the West Penn Open will return to the Mystic Rock golf course in July of 2010.  The final dates are yet to be determined but it will held on July 5/6 or July 12/13.

Several WPGA volunteers and staff served either as Rules of Golf officials during this year’s USGA Open Championship at Oakmont or assisted NBC Television’s mobile crews. 

Rules of Golf—Jeff Rivard, Willowbrook, Executive Director, Regional Associations; John VanderBorght, Hannastown, Championship Director, Mid-Amateur Championship; Mark Studer, Oakmont, WPGA President, 1998-99, Green Section.  NBC—Jan Kikta, Uniontown, WPGA President, 2004-05, Senior Amateur Championship, John McMurdy, Indiana, WPGA President, 2000-01, Regional Affairs; Gary McQuone, Allegheny, former WPGA Executive Committee and General Counsel, Senior Amateur Championship.

Many other WPGA volunteers assisted in areas such as scoring and marshalling during the championship.

Nathan Smith records triple

Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, a member at Wildwood, has won the Association’s Tournament of Champions, Mid-Amateur, and Amateur championships this season.  He is the first player ever to achieve this feat in WPGA history.  Smith also has now won seven different WPGA titles—Champions, Amateur, Mid-Amateur, Four-Ball, Fred Brand Foursomes, CR Miller Junior Match Play; and Boys. 

Indiana Assistant wins Open

Dan Thompson, Indiana, and Sean Knapp, St. Jude/Longue Vue, both graduates of Indiana University, PA, two decades apart, tied with 70-69—139, in the West Penn Open. The WPGA’s oldest championship along with the Amateur, started in 1899, was played at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa, Farmington, at the facility’s Mystic Rock Course. 

Thompson, an assistant professional at Indiana Country Club, won the title with a regulation par-four on the second hole, while Knapp couldn’t save par after missing the green to the left. 

Knapp, seeking his first West Penn Open title, made a great effort to be the first amateur to win the Open since Marshall Marraccini, Elizabeth, won at Edgewood in 2001.  John Jones, Lower Burrell, another amateur with an Open title, won in 1994 at Westmoreland. 

Senior Inter-Club slated for Beaver Lakes

On Tuesday, August 21, the Senior Inter-Club will be played at Beaver Lakes Country Club in Aliquippa.  The format is four players count the three lowest scores over 18 holes at scratch.  The age requirement is fifty.  Member Clubs may enter more than one team. 

The Association encourages more clubs to participate as numbers have not reached the Championship Committee’s expectations.

WPGA seeks championship officials

The Association seeks a “few good men and women” to officiate in its championship program.  Understanding of the Rules of Golf and championship procedures are essential to good officiating, but both are skilled that can be learned. 

The ability to work with contestants in sometimes stressful situations is a key trait.  Officials can begin with duties that involve less technical knowledge, learning the rest as they go along.  Those who are interested are strongly encouraged to attend a PGA/USGA Rules of Golf Workshop, and one is scheduled in Pittsburgh this winter. 

A few days or this work each year, 4-6, would be most beneficial to the Association as we augment the officials crew. 

Each year the WPGA publishes operations studies—private club operations, public course operations, and green operations for both private and public facilities.  Questionnaires for private club and green operations have been mailed, plus authorized club officials and senior staff members can fill them out electronically via the Association’s web-site. 

The Association’s plans are to distribute these publications this Fall. 

Annual Meeting slated for Indiana CC

The WPGA Annual Meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 26, at Indiana Country Club.  The Delegates Meeting begins at 10:15 a.m., followed by lunch, golf, and dinner.  The Delegates session at the Annual Meeting is when the elections take place for Officers and Executive Committee. 
 

We are over half way through the 2007 Active Season and the Association has been busy with handicapping activities.

All WPGA Member Clubs have been licensed by the USGA and are authorized to use the USGA Handicap System and issue a USGA Handicap Index® to each of its members. Any club that is not licensed is not allowed use of USGA Trademarks and is not issuing a USGA Handicap Index®. A database indicating all authorized golf clubs is being maintained by the USGA and can be accessed by the following link: Authorized Golf Clubs.

The installation of the WPGA Hardware Program is nearing completion and provides computer hardware to all Association Member Clubs for use with the GHIN Service. The package includes a computer (mini tower), a touch-screen monitor, an inkjet printer, and a Handicap Label printer. The final phase of this product rollout includes replacing existing monitors with a touch-screen monitor and adding a Handicap Label printer. We would like to thank all of our Member Clubs for their cooperation and participation in this five year program.

Over 9,000 WPGA Members presently receive their USGA Handicap Index through the eRevision Service. If you are not taking advantage of the eRevision Service that is being offered by the GHIN Service at no charge, please enroll today (click here). On each revision day you will be sent an update.

The Course Rating Committee has 21 courses scheduled for ratings this season with nine already completed.  Courses rated this year include Bedford Springs Resort, Beaver Lakes Country Club, DuBois Country Club, Kane Country Club, Pittsburgh Field Club, Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Sewickley Heights Golf Club, Whispering Woods Golf Club, and Williams Country Club. Additional courses to be rated include Beaver Valley Golf Club, Tom’s Run and Chestnut Ridge Courses at Chestnut Ridge Resort, Iron Masters Country Club, The Links Course at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Oakview Golf Club, River Forest Country Club, St. Jude Golf Club, Seven Oaks Country Club, Shannopin Country Club, Sylvan Heights Golf Course, and Village Green Golf Course. As courses are re-rated, the Association updates the Course Rating Database on the GHIN Service, the USGA National Course Rating and Slope Rating Database™, and the Association’s website (www.wpga.org).

Please contact Terry Teasdale (tteasdale@wpga.org) if you have any questions or need assistance of any kind.

One of the most common features on golf courses is the water hazard.  Many people have questions about what their options are when their ball goes into a water hazard.  The first thing to realize is that there are two kinds of water hazards.  A water hazard marked with yellow stakes or a yellow line is a regular water hazard and the player has three options when his ball is in one.  These options are:

1)       Play the ball as it lies.

2)       Under penalty of one stroke, play a ball from where the last shot was played.

3)       Under penalty of one stroke, drop a ball along the extension of the line between the hole and the place where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard.  Note, this not along the “line of flight”, but the direct line between the two points above.

When a hazard is marked with red stakes or a red line, it is a lateral water hazard.  The player still has the three options above, but also gets two more options.  These are:

1)     Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the place where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard, no closer to the hole.

2)       Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot on the opposite margin of the hazard that is equi-distant with the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard, no closer to the hole.

Not all the options above may be available every time that a ball ends up in a water hazard.  For example, if you were to hit a ball into the ocean on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach, there is no opposite margin equi-distant from the hole.

Also, if you can’t find your ball in the water hazard, you must have reasonable evidence that it is in the hazard.  This is interpreted under the rules of golf to mean that there is no other reasonable place that the ball could be.  If there is, for example, very long rough near where you ball was last seen and you ball may be in there or in the water hazard, you must play a lost ball and return to where you last played from under stroke and distance penalty.

If you have any questions regarding the Rules of Golf, please call us at 412-826-2180 or e-mail us at johnborght@wpga.org or jrivard@wpga.org.

Eleven students will receive tuition scholarships of $3000 each for the 2007-08 school year from the WPGA Scholarship Fund.  The students are: Jodi Blumer, Diamond Run, Clarion; Lance Catterall, Sewickley Heights / Shannopin, Penn State; Bryan Cairns, Ligonier / Laurel Valley, Robert Morris; Jared Clark, South Hills, Michigan; Robert Huth, Chartiers, Notre Dame; Courtney Jones, Ligonier / Laurel Valley, Penn State; Wesley Kendle, Longue Vue, Penn State; Ryan Kerila, Totteridge, Robert Morris; David McCleary, Treasure Lake, Pittsburgh; Michael Muir, Sunnehanna, Pittsburgh; Andrew Sheaffer, Edgewood, Penn State.  Jared Clark is the first joint West Penn / Evans Scholarship recipient.  One student will receive this combined scholarship every 4 years.

Nearly 1500 brochures were mailed in June for the Scholarship Fund’s first of two direct mail solicitations.  More than $3000 has already been received.  Clubs and individual are encouraged to submit addresses of those who may contribute to the Fund.

Oakmont Fund-Raiser Scheduled

In conjunction with the First Tee of Pittsburgh, the WPGA Scholarship Fund will hold an outing at Oakmont Country Club on Monday, October 29.  The cost of the outing will be $750 per person or $3000 per foursome.  Please contact John Vander Borght at the WPGA office if you are interested in playing in this outing.  The field is limited to 108 players so book your slot early.