TORONTO – Golf Canada’s 2017 Annual General Meeting culminated on Saturday, February 25^th with the election of Roland A. Deveau of Bedford, N.S., to serve a second term as the National Sport Federation’s President.

Deveau’s election to serve a second term is historic as he joins Alfred Collyer (1930-31), F.A. Rolph (1915-1919), A.W. Austin (1907 & 1910) and Col. George A. Sweny (1898, 1901 & 1909) as only the fifth President to serve multiple or consecutive terms since the association’s formation in 1895.

The nomination for Deveau to serve a second term was put forth by Golf Canada’s Nominating Committee and supported by the Board of Directors as the association works through a leadership transition to hire a CEO successor to Scott Simmons who stepped down earlier this month after 10 years. Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer is currently serving in the role as interim CEO with a new CEO expected to be named in April 2017.

Deveau will lead a Board of Directors that includes Calgary’s Leslie Dunning as first vice-president and Charlie Beaulieu of Lorraine, Que., as second vice-president. Other Board members include Liz Hoffman of Thornhill, Ont., Dale Jackson of Victoria, B.C., Rob MacDonald of Winnipeg, Man., Don MacKay of Bracebridge, Ont., and Allison Chisholm of Rothesay, N.B., as well as past president Paul McLean of King, Ont. and new Directors Tom Sears of Port Hope, Ont. and David Atkinson of Vancouver, B.C.

“I am humbled to accept the nomination to serve a second term as the President of this great organization,” said Deveau.  “I do so recognizing that it is a privilege to represent a membership of more than 307,000 golfers at 1,400 member clubs and an honour to work with our provincial, national and international association partners for the betterment of this great sport.”

Annual Report, Financial Statements & Strategic Plan

Click here to read Golf Canada’s 2016 Annual Report, which includes a recap of the past season, as well as the association’s 2016 Financial Statements.

Click here for Golf Canada’s 2017 Strategic Plan, outlining the key activities that Golf Canada is focused on as the National Sport Federation and governing body for golf in the country.

Bill Klein and George McLeod honoured with Volunteer of the Year Award

Bill Klein of Parksville, B.C. and George McLeod of Brandon, Man. were recognized as Golf Canada’s 2016 co-recipients of the Volunteer of the Year. This marks the 11^th year in which the association has honoured volunteers for their efforts and commitment to grow the game in their community.

Click here for more on Volunteer of the Year honourees Bill Klein and George McLeod.

In addition to appointing its new president and members to the Board of Directors, the association presented details of its strategic plan and gathered with stakeholders from the provincial golf associations as well as national and international association partners including the R&A and USGA.  The AGM also celebrated accomplishments from the previous year, including a tribute to former CEO Scott Simmons.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Rickie Fowler made it interesting Sunday for as long as it took him to make two big putts to pull away in the Honda Classic.

Staked to a four-shot lead, Fowler hit one putt into a sprinkler hole, hit a tee shot into the water and watched a big lead shrink to one over Gary Woodland early on the back nine. Fowler answered with consecutive birdie putts of 40 and 25 feet and closed with a 1-over 71 for a four-shot victory.

“If I don’t make those putts, I’ve got a pretty tight race,” Fowler said.

Instead, those chasing him had the biggest problems with the closing stretch at PGA National.

Fowler effectively ended it with a shot over the water to the 3 feet that stretched his lead to five shots with two holes to play. Woodland appeared to have second place wrapped up until he three-putted the 17th, and then tried to lay up on the par-5 18th and came up short into the water. He closed with another bogey for a 69. He had to share second place – the difference of $128,000 – with Morgan Hoffmann, who missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

PGA champion Jimmy Walker was lurking on the fringe of contention until tee shots into the water on the 15th and 17th holes, which cost him five shots.

Tyrrell Hatton of England, who played in the final group in his first PGA Tour event in Florida, was out of the picture quickly. He still had a chance to finish alone in second, which would have gone a long way toward securing a PGA Tour card, until missing a 3-foot birdie putt on the 17th.

Fowler even got into the act when it no longer mattered. He hit his tee shot into the water on the 17th hole and made bogey, then hit a wedge into the bunker on the 18th and closed with another bogey to finish at 12-under 268.

All that mattered was the trophy, the fourth of his PGA Tour career.

Fowler jokingly referred to it as a “small collection” on Saturday evening, though it was important. He had gone 13 months and 25 starts worldwide without a victory as everyone around him was winning multiple times.

It was his first PGA Tour victory since the Deutsche Bank Championship in September 2015.

“I guess I can already plan on Hawaii for next year,” Fowler said, referring to the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. “I can relax a little bit. This just lets us chill out in a way. There’s less pressure, less stress. I think this is something we needed going into Augusta. I like this spot we’re in right now.”

Fowler won with the lead last year in Abu Dhabi and in 2011 when he won the Korea Open, but it was the first time in five tries he converted a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour into a trophy. In all five rounds with at least a share of the lead, he has shot over par.

A four-shot lead, which he built with two late birdies Saturday afternoon, allowed him to play smart and safe.

It just always didn’t work out that way.

He went over the green on the par-4 fourth and tried to putt it up the slope, except that it went into a sprinkler hole and led to bogey. Two holes later, Fowler hooked his tee shot into the water on the tough par-4 sixth and made double bogey.

He bounced back with a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 8, only to drop another shot on the ninth.

Woodland hit wedge into 4 feet on the 13th for a birdie to get to 10 under, suddenly one shot back of Fowler. And just like that, it was over. Fowler leaned over on his putter as he watched his 40-foot on No. 12 drop into the cup, and while he went long with a wedge on the 13th, he dropped that one in from 25 feet for birdie.

Woodland had reasonable looks at birdie over the next four holes and couldn’t get any to drop. He powered his 20-foot attempt on the 17th about 6 feet by the hole, ending is last hope.

“I thought all of them looked pretty good,” he said of his birdie chances. “It was a little deflating on 18. Thought I hit a pretty good drive and thought I would have a chance, and I just couldn’t get home and laid up in the water, which was bad.”

Hoffmann tied for second, his best finish ever on the PGA Tour.

Jhonattan Vegas made a hole-in-one on the 15th hole and closed with a 64 to tie for fourth.

Fowler’s victory and Woodland’s tie for second knocked Charles Howell III and Hudson Swafford out of the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings, keeping them from qualifying for the Mexico Championship next week, the first World Golf Championship of the year.

CHONBURI, Thailand – Amy Yang rarely wavered with a big lead during the final round of the Thailand LPGA tournament, shooting a 4-under 68 to win by five strokes Sunday.

Due to rain delays, Yang was forced to play her final five holes of the third round on Sunday morning, and she led by five strokes after 54 holes.

Later in the day, the 2015 Thailand champion saw her lead reduced to three shots on several occasions, but the South Korean held on to post a record 22-under 266 on the Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course.

The previous tournament record of 21 under was held by Suzann Pettersen in 2007 and Ai Miyazato in 2010.

Yang, who won for the third time on the LPGA Tour, made a 15-foot putt on the 14th for par, then drove the green on the par-4 15th.

“I knew I had to make it, and I did,” Yang said of her par putt on 14.

She missed her eagle attempt at 15, but made a three-foot putt for birdie to increase her lead to four shots with three to play. From there, her lead was safe and she birdied the 18th for good measure.

So Yeon Ryu, the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open champion, matched Yang with a 68 to finish second.

Lexi Thompson had the best round of the day, a 67, to finish tied for fourth, nine strokes behind, and level with fellow American Danielle Kang, who shot 68.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp shot 69 to finish in a tied for 45th at even for the torunament. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., also finished even after a final round of 72.

The tournament featured 18 of the top 20 players in the world, including top-ranked Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who shot a closing 68 and was tied for eighth, 11 strokes behind.

“I am beyond happy, I had so many early wakeup calls this week,” said Yang, who had to play 31 holes on Saturday and 23 on Sunday. “I had to stay patient out there.”

Yang carded 10 birdies, one eagle and only one bogey over her second and partial third rounds on Saturday.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Another strong finish over the closing stretch Saturday. Another big lead after 54 holes.

Rickie Fowler can only hope that Sunday at the Honda Classic turns out as easy as it did the last two weeks on the PGA Tour, when Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson converted big leads into inevitable victories.

Fowler made two birdies over the final three holes to cap a 5-under 65 that gave him a four-shot lead over Tyrrell Hatton of England as he tries to end a frustrating year of not winning anywhere in the world.

“It would be nice to follow in their footsteps,” Fowler said. “But I do have a lot of work to do tomorrow. A four-shot lead is nice. That can obviously go away very quickly, too.”

Graham DeLaet (70) of Weyburn, Sask., was seven strokes back of Fowler. David Hearn (67) of Brantford, Ont., was 3 under and Mackenzie Hughes (72) of Dundas, Ont., was 2 over.

Fowler holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 16th, got a potential break with a ruling behind the 17th green that allowed him to use a putter instead of a wedge, and then closed with a drive so bold and big that he had only a 7-iron into the par-5 18th to set up a two-putt birdie.

That put him at 13-under 197 and plenty of room for error.

Spieth made three birdies over his last four holes Saturday at Pebble Beach to build a six-shot lead (he won by four). A week later, Johnson birdied his last three holes at Riviera to build a five-shot lead and won by that margin.

The difference could be PGA National, with all its water and a forecast of strong wind for the final round.

“If you’re playing from three, four shots behind, you can’t make a mistake,” Fowler said. “When you’re out front, four shots, I make a mistake, OK, we’re still up. … To be out front and be in control and with the way I feel about the game, the way I’ve been swinging, I’m looking forward to it.”

Fowler is 5 under over the final four holes at PGA National so far this week.

“Birdies happen in the Bear Trap,” he said, referring to the closing stretch. “But other numbers do, as well.”

Hatton did his work before that stretch, running off three straight birdies to get within one of the lead. But he went long on the 17th and was perplexed by the Bermuda grass that he rarely sees. He chipped 15 feet by the pin and made bogey, then left a wedge short of the 18th green and had to scramble for a par and a 66.

Hatton and Fowler played together in the third round of the British Open last year, when neither had a chance to win the way Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson were playing Royal Troon that week. There’s plenty at stake this time.

Hatton, in his first PGA Tour event in Florida, came into the week with no expectations and stuck to that plan.

“All you can do is try your best and play well. That’s what I try and do every week,” Hatton said. “It’s a new course for me. I played 27 holes on Monday and Tuesday, and my caddie has done enough homework. So we know what to do. Hopefully, I’ll just play well.”

Two-time major champion Martin Kaymer had a chance to join Hatton at 9-under 201 until he took bogey from the middle of the fairway on the 18th and wound up with a 68. That left him in a large group at 7-under 203 that included Emiliano Grillo, who finished his 65 just as the leaders were starting the third round.

Ryan Palmer and Wesley Bryan, tied for the lead going into another tame day in South Florida, lost ground over the final two hours. Palmer played the final 11 holes in 4 over and shot 73, leaving him seven shots behind. Bryan hit consecutive tee shots into the hazard – including the par-3 15th that led to double bogey – and he made birdie on the 18th to salvage a 72.

Fowler hasn’t won since Abu Dhabi a year ago in January. His last PGA Tour victory was in September 2015 at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

“I definitely need to put myself in this position more often, which is just going to lead to me winning more often,” Fowler said. “I’m not going to be able to take a 36- or 54-hole lead every time and win, but the more times you put yourself there, the more trophies I get to hold on Sunday.”

This is the fifth time he has held a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour and Fowler has yet to win from that position. He had a three-shot lead going into the final round at the Memorial in 2010 and shot 73 to finish three behind Justin Rose.

There at least was small redemption from a year ago, when Fowler became the first player to go bogey-free over the opening 36 holes at PGA National. But on Saturday, he made no birdies, shot 74 and dropped out of the hunt.

“I did better than last year,” he said. “I’m definitely in a better position that last year.”

CHONBURI, Thailand – Amy Yang of South Korea had 10 birdies and an eagle in 31 holes on Saturday after round three of LPGA Thailand was suspended due to bad light.

With five holes left, 17-under Yang had a four-shot advantage over 2011 US Women’s Open champion Ryu So Yeon, whose completed third-round 68 gave her the clubhouse lead of 13-under 203.

The tournament was already behind schedule after rain and unplayable course conditions saw the unfinished second round postponed to Saturday at the Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course.

The 2015 champion and 11th-ranked Yang was among five players to start their second round in the morning, including second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn.

Yang shot six birdies and a bogey for a second-round 67 and overall 11-under 133, heading into the third round with a one-shot lead over Jutanugarn (68) and Chinese Shanshan Feng (67).

In less than an hour, Yang went back for the third round and had two birdies _ and an eagle on the seventh _ for 15 under after eight holes. Play was stopped again due to lightning for more than an hour and Yang sank more birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 on resumption before bad light forced suspension.

Jutanugarn is 10 under overall with five holes to complete. Feng is also 10 under with four holes left from the third round.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was tied for 44th place at even par. She was 1 under on her day with three holes left to play when play was suspended.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., was in the clubhouse at 2-over 219 after a 74.

Play resumes at 7 a.m. local time on Sunday.

Volunteer duo to be recognized during Golf Canada’s 2017 Annual General Meeting

Toronto (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada is pleased to announce that Bill Klein of Parkville, B.C. along with George McLeod of Brandon, Man. have been named co-recipients of Golf Canada’s 2016 Volunteer of the Year.

The pair will be acknowledged during the closing dinner of Golf Canada’s 2017 Annual General Meeting on Saturday, February 25^th at the Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport Hotel.

“Volunteers are the driving force behind the success of golf in this country and we are proud to recognize both Bill Klein and George McLeod for their long tenured support of Canadian golf,” said Golf Canada President Roland Deveau. “Both of these deserving individuals have given back to the game at the provincial and national level and have been proud ambassadors for our sport in their communities.”

Each year in Canada, tens of thousands of committed volunteers help to support the game of golf in communities from coast to coast.

Now in its 11^th year, candidates for Golf Canada’s Volunteer of the Year Award are put forth for consideration by the respective provincial golf associations in acknowledgment of significant contributions to the game of golf in their community.

BILL KLEIN – Parksville, B.C.

Bill Klein of Parksville, B.C. has been a volunteer with Golf Canada for more than 20 years. He originally got involved with the organization while living in Saskatchewan, during a period with Golf Saskatchewan the included successive terms as the President of Golf Saskatchewan in 1995 and 1996.

He continued to volunteer in golf after moving from Saskatchewan to Parkville, B.C. Although he enjoys living on Vancouver Island, the former police officer is fiercely proud of his roots in Regina, Sask.

A former governor with Golf Canada and past Board member with BC Golf, Klein has been a strong supporter of Canadian golf and mainstay on Golf Canada’s championship duty roster—often serving as Tournament Chair—whenever events are conducted on Vancouver Island.

He has a positive influence on his fellow volunteers and is tremendously popular among the players and guests at championships.  Klein also makes it a point to thank all the event volunteers and club staff, and goes out of his way to make sure players enjoy their championship experience.

After fighting a devastating bought of cancer two years ago, he remains a passionate supporter of the game. He served as both Tournament Chair and member of the host club committee for the 2016 Canadian University/College Championship. That event that marked the eighth time since 2010 that he served as Tournament Chair for a Golf Canada Championship on Vancouver Island including the Canadian Men’s Amateur (2013); the Canadian Women’s Amateur (2011); the Canadian University/College Championship (2012 & 2016); the Future Links Pacific Championship (2012 & 2015); the Canadian Women’s Tour (2014); and the Canadian Women’s Senior (2010).

In addition to championships, Klein has served on numerous other committees during his volunteer tenure with Golf Canada, BC Golf and Golf Saskatchewan. His passion and enthusiasm exemplify the spirit of volunteerism that drives the game of golf in communities across Canada.

GEORGE MCLEOD – Brandon, Man.

George McLeod of Brandon, Man. began volunteering in the 1980’s as a Rural Representative for the Wheat City Golf Club with the Manitoba Golf Association (MGA). He was then nominated and elected to the Board of the Manitoba Golf Association in 1985.

During his 20 year tenure on the Board, he volunteered on nearly every MGA committee and eventually served as President from 2002 through 2004. He was the last President of the MGA and the first President of the amalgamated Golf Manitoba. He was also instrumental in the formation and inauguration of the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame and Museum.

Nationally, he served with Golf Canada as Manitoba’s Class “C” Governor for 10 years. He assisted with the association’s amalgamation with the former Canadian Ladies Golf Association (CLGA) and served on numerous committees over his 10 years as a Governor. Following Golf Canada’s governance change in 2011, he became a member of the association’s Governors Council, served on the Membership Committee and was Chair of the Canadian Turf Grass Research Foundation until 2015.

For more than 30 years, McLeod has been a Rules Official, Course Rater, Starter, Scorer and Tournament Chair with both Golf Manitoba and Golf Canada.

In 2016, he was honoured as the recipient of Golf Manitoba’s Volunteer Distinguished Service Award for his long tenured service to both Golf Manitoba and the Manitoba Ladies Golf Association and his commitment to amateur golf in Manitoba and North West Manitoba.

He has gone above and beyond the expectations of a volunteer, has been an advocate for the game and has been a positive influence on his many fellow volunteers.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – This was not a trick. This was a PGA Tour event.

Wesley Bryan, the PGA Tour rookie best known for the trick-shot videos he makes with his brother George, was so far right of the eighth fairway Friday in the Honda Classic that he was seemingly blocked out by the trees with limited options – or not many good ones, anyway.

Option one: There was a small gap at the top of the trees and he could take it over it all.

“But the best I could have done was hit just short of the green,” Bryan said.

Option two: Chip out sideways back to the fairway.

“But shoot, that was probably a harder shot that taking a low cut through the trees,” he said.

So he went with option three, and hammered it with so much bending left-to-right action that it cut through the trees and settled about 18 feet away. Bryan missed his birdie putt and looked back on the high-risk shot with a veteran’s perspective.

“Definitely don’t want to go over there and hit it again,” he said.

Bryan is loving his time on the PGA Tour more than ever. With a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole at PGA National, he had a 3-under 67 and goes into the weekend tied for the lead with Ryan Palmer.

He also shared the 36-hole lead in the John Deere Classic last August, but then he was fresh with confidence from having won for the third time on the Web.com Tour to earn an instant promotion to the big leagues. He tied for eighth.

When his rookie season began in October, he could barely crack an egg – three finishes out of the top 40, four missed cuts, another middle-of-the-pack result. But at Riviera last week, Bryan shot a 63 in the third round and was two shots behind Dustin Johnson. That excitement lasted about as long as it took Johnson to close out the third round with three straight birdies and soon stretch his lead to nine shots.

“It was really a tournament for second place,” Bryan said. He made a few bogeys down the stretch and tied for fourth.

PGA National represents his next chance.

Bryan is all about having fun. He and his brother, who grew up in South Carolina and attended the same high school (Dutch Fork) as Johnson, stumbled into making videos. Bryan has a knack for hitting a golf ball in midair, and his brother was the setup man.

But he liked the idea of being a PGA Tour player more than an internet star, and when he made it through Q-school to earn a Web.com Tour card, he showed there was a lot more to his game than trick shots.

He had never played a PGA Tour-sanctioned event until just over a year ago when he tied for seventh in his Web.com Tour debut in Panama. Then came victories in Louisiana in his third start, in Mexico a month later. He was on his way.

Bryan raised more than a few eyebrows last November at the RSM Classic at Sea Island when he was presented his award for Web.com Tour player of the year. He was asked that day about the talent gap between the Web.com Tour and the PGA Tour.

“I mean, I don’t think there’s any gap, honestly,” he said. “The best players on the Web.com Tour, if you put their best game against the best in the world out here, I don’t think you’re going to get more than a shot or two difference. The shot or two is going to come if one of the top 5 players in the world gets really hot.”

He realizes that “guys are good out here” and “they don’t stop making birdies.”

Then again, confidence goes a long way, and he picked up plenty of it with his three victories last year on the Web.com Tour.

“The more times you get in contention with a chance to win, the better off you are in the future,” he said. “Luckily, I was able to knock it out three times last year, and I found that under pressure, I can still hit the shots.”

One of the more important shots he hit Friday was with his putter – in a palmetto bush, 125 yards from the green.

He figured it was his best chance to advance the ball, and he scooted it along some 20 yards to get a better look at the green. He came up just short, chipped to 8 feet and made it for bogey.

“Don’t like making bogeys, but any time you find yourself with a putter out of the trees for your second shot, it’s not good,” he said. “Glad to settle for bogey there.”

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ON – After nearly 20 years of educating aspiring young golf enthusiasts, Niagara College Canada has decided to move its Professional Golf Management (PGM) program to its 3-year Sport Management program by September 2019. This means that the college will not be accepting new students into its PGM program this fall. All 2017 first year golf applicants will be directed to the college’s very successful Sport Management program. 

Given the needs of Canada’s changing golf industry, the college decided the sport management program better meets the challenges the industry faces. By providing a broader education (that will include golf), it was determined that a transition to sport better positions Niagara College graduates for a career in either sport or golf management.  

For current 1st and 2nd year PGM students, the college will fulfill its commitment by offering years 2 and 3 of the existing PGM program in 2017-18 and 2018-19 so they can graduate with a Business Administration diploma in Professional Golf Management. For the next two years, it will be business as usual meaning the program will continue on undisrupted. 

“While this decision may come as surprise to some, I think it was a good move by Niagara College to go in this direction,” says program coordinator Grant Fraser, who supported the programming shift toward sport management. “Sport Management at Niagara College is a 3-year program comprised of a great assortment of business and sport related courses that not only meet the needs of Canada’s changing golf marketplace but also the PGA of Canada’s current educational requirements for individuals interested in becoming a Class A professional, ” says Fraser. 

Michael Santoro, Fraser’s counterpart and coordinator of the Sport Management program at Niagara College agrees and says moving golf into sport is a logical progression and an easy transition to make. “In September 2016, Sport Management received more than 400 applications for 80 spots in our program. Students who are interested in a career in golf should take a serious look at broadening their education through our Sport Management program because it provides a variety of options and career choices in golf and other sport sectors,” says Santoro.

Looking back, Fraser says he hopes the legacy of the PGM program at Niagara College will be one that has served Canada’s golf industry well. “There are hundreds of Niagara College PGM graduates working across Canada contributing to the business and development of golf and that is what I am most proud of,” says Fraser who initiated the program at Niagara College in 1999 and has taught every student who has been through the program over the last eighteen years. 

With the 15^th graduating class set to receive diplomas in the spring of 2017, the PGM program at Niagara College will have an alumni base of approximately 500 graduates who will continue to make invaluable contributions to Canada’s golf industry. 

“The cry for the simplification of the Rules of Golf is a stock-in-trade of the journalist during the winter months. Countless words on the subject have been poured out to an ever-tolerant public, but still the long-sought simplification does not come.” Henry Longhurst, 1937

And here I thought I had come up with a novel idea for this blog. Turns out iconic golf writer Longhurst was 80 years ahead of me.

His quote can be found in the opening pages of a small volume called The Rules of Golf in Plain English. Now in its fourth edition, the book is co-authored by two Texas lawyers. Jeff Kuhn is a top-rated Rules official. Bryan Garner is a renowned expert in reducing legalese to something understandable by any layman.

Their book does exactly as the title implies. Approved by the USGA, its contents are organized in a more logical, understandable and readable manner than the standard Rule book.  (You can purchase it online.)

But, with all due respect to Mr. Longhurst, history has proven one of his assertions false. The golfing public is most definitely not “ever-tolerant.”

The fact that The Rules of Golf in Plain English exists is an indictment of the complexity of the Rules of Golf. The result is that while many golfers have a real interest in the Rules, they lack the inclination to spend hours scratching their heads over the convoluted regulations. (I am not saying this simply because I am bitter about doing miserably earlier this week in my first sample exam as I study for my Level 3 Rules of Golf certification. Really, I’m not.)

If you don’t believe me, take it from Adam Helmer. Few are more qualified to comment than Helmer, Golf Canada’s Director of Rules, Competitions and Amateur Status. He holds the highest possible Rules certification from Golf Canada, the R&A and the USGA and has officiated at elite tournaments such as the RBC Canadian Open, Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, the U.S. Open and The Players Championship.

“It’s very challenging for competitors in a sport where, for the most part, there are no officials, how are you supposed to play by the Rules if you don’t know or can’t understand them? It’s tough to do the right thing if you don’t know what the right thing is.”

But there may yet be hope.

Next month, at least a corner of the curtain will be lifted on the work being done by a Rules of Golf modernization task force.

The Joint Rules Committee, made up of representatives from the USGA, R&A and a Golf Canada delegate, is promising sweeping clarification of the Rules book from cover to cover.  After months of feedback and revisions, a new code will be published in 2020 at the latest.

“Nothing was untouched, nothing was sacred,” Helmer says. “The process is viewed as overdue by many, but I believe the result will be well worth waiting for.”

Helmer says important aspects of the task force’s mission included how to better educate golfers, both everyday golfers and elite players, with an emphasis on technology, a concept that was also mentioned by USGA Executive Director Mike Davis at his association’s annual meeting earlier this month.

“How come we can’t have an instance where someone can [use their iPhone] and say, ‘Siri, I hit my ball into a water hazard. What are my options?”

Sounds wonderful. Any chance they can speed up the process before I write my final Rules exam in April?