Officials Committee Report

OFFICIALS COMMITTEE

The second season of the “New Rules” produced a very favorable result. The players and volunteers now understand them and virtually all consider the change a positive one. An offshoot of the rule changes has been a complete updating of the competition policies and procedures which were used this year and will be our guide in the future.

The fall and winter prior to the 2020 season saw preparations being made by Golf Manitoba and Golf Canada to further educate our membership. Level 1 sessions were held in January and February and provincial certification was slated to begin in the spring. Golf Canada had also booked their National certifications for across Canada. COVID-19 was cause for sessions to be either cancelled or postponed in hopes they would pick up again before the season started. In short order, it became clear that in-person rules education would have to be put on hold. Our Officials Committee, thanks to Don MacDonald and Gord Hudson, did manage to host two online rules sessions, and after navigating a bit of a learning curve, they were successfully completed. Our committee will continue to utilize this format in the future.

Welcome news of Manitoba’s flattened curve sent our committee into overdrive at beginning of May as we prepared for an unknown tournament season ahead. Due to the extensive expertise of our committee members and through guidance from Golf Canada, we modified a few of the rules and habits of competitive players and were the first province to host amateur competitions under the new COVID-19 restrictions. We were able to complete all scheduled championships except for one. I can report the experience exceeded everyone’s expectations. Our volunteers and players adapted extremely well to the new norm.

We welcomed Rob Bell into the ranks of our outstanding group of 8 nationally certified Level 3 Referees. Rob’s inclusion lowers the average age of the group and we hope to add more referees in the near future. For anyone wishing to become a referee, the process has become more streamlined and much more logical in its processes.

Finally, we remembered and paid our respects to Eric Henke, a long-time volunteer and referee that contributed countless hours and knowledge to our competitions. Eric thoroughly enjoyed volunteering his time and expertise and he will be missed both as a colleague and a friend.

Respectfully submitted,

James Gosman

Officials Committee Chair