Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2023 - 3

EDITOR'S
LE T T ER
Change.
In
your hands is the second consecutive Minnesota
Golfer magazine issue delivered the old-fashioned
way, in print and in your mailbox. You'll recall last year,
because of paper issues, the MGA pivoted to a print-digital
hybrid delivery of original magazine content to your
doorstep and email inbox. Let's admit it: print is a far more
satisfying product to consume than digital and I don't care
what the kids say about it (get off my lawn). Still, we plan
the hybrid delivery until paper costs retreat.
This year will prove to be
transitional for the Minnesota
Golf Association. We're literally
moving into an improved office
space two floors up in the old
Titus Building, now called the
Southdale Professional Center.
Given the changes wrought by
the pandemic, which include
downsizing office space needs,
clocking in remotely from home
or, for golf administrators, from
the golf course, the transition to a new, more adaptable
office floor plan was a no-brainer. Will it include the latest
in " trend spaces " such as nooks, booths, meeting pods,
silent rooms and work portals? Unlikely, but change is afoot
and like any other small business, the MGA will adapt.
Transition is nothing new to the MGA. As a volunteergrams
and services which collectively represent the MGA
Mission, does his job admirably and exceedingly well.
Tom plans to retire this year, and thus the MGA has
engaged an Edina-based executive recruiting firm to identify
a successor, who will be the association's seventh executive
director in its 122-year history.
Unless you are a snowbird, you probably have not put the
" This year will prove
to be transitional for
the Minnesota Golf
Association. "
2023 Rules of Golf into practice yet. The USGA (and R&A)
published a new edition of the Rules, effective this past
January, and the rules-makers
are promoting five key changes:
new Rule 25, for players with
disabilities; replacing damaged
clubs; making the handicap on
a scorecard the Committee's
responsibility (not the player);
simplifying
back-on-the-line
relief; and a ball moved by
natural forces (aka, the Rickie
Fowler rule, see pages 10-11
for more info). There are also a
few new " internal definitions, " for example, the " restricted
area, " for afficionados and rules wonks to discover in the
fulsome tome, the Official Guide to the Rules of Golf.
If you're inclined to take your rules interest further, sign
driven non-profit, the association goes through a leadership
change every two years with the election of a new
president. Ede Rice, a longtime volunteer rules official for
the MGA (and USGA) who's passionate about her stewardship
role and dedicated to making the game more diverse,
is embarking on her first full year as president. Ede is the
association's 69th executive officer, or not, as the actual
count is a mystery since records are lost for the years 1940
to 1947. Don't miss Ede's first column on page 40.
Far less transitory is our staff leadership. There are seven
staff members with 20-plus-years of experience working
on behalf of amateur golf. One example, Tom Ryan, the
executive director and chief operating officer, has been
with the MGA since 2002. Tom, whose main responsibility
is to ensure that the association staff execute the promngolf.org
up
for one of Doug Hoffmann's spring rules workshops,
mngolf.org/rules_of_golf.
At rules school long ago, I told the large gathering in jest
that it was great fun working for my dad. For the ensuing
20 years, Tom Ryan would get the occasional, puzzling
question, " how's it working out with your son? "
Although generations of Ryans hale from Co. Tipperary,
Tom and I are not related. Sorry for the gag Tom, but may
the wind be always at your back... except around the green.
See you on the tee.
W.P. Ryan, Editor-in-Chief
Directory 2023 MINNESOTAGOLFER 3
http://www.mngolf.org/rules_of_golf http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2023
