I wanted to revisit this thread, because this stage of my Rules education is over. I watched all of the webinars, a total of close to 30 hours of it. I thought it was generally well done, all of the presenters were knowledgeable, a number of different styles and personalities, but enjoyable. I think the online webinars this year had both good and bad aspects. A good part, getting the information in 60 to 90 minute chunks meant that I could stay reasonably attentive to all of it. I think that 3 solid days of in-person instruction would mean I’d zone out at times. A drawback, I’ve heard that the in-person sessions allow for a significant amount of discussion, which is likely to be pretty informative. The webinars did allow us to ask questions for the presenters to answer, but there was very little back and forth.
So all of this culminated in the exam, which I took last Tuesday (June 8). The online interface worked very well, but the testing is a strain. If you’ve taken any of the quizzes on the USGA website, you’ve undoubtedly seen that careful reading of each question and answer is critical. After doing just that for 100 question, my brain was pretty numb. I thought I had done reasonably well, but all I could really remember were the questions I had doubts about.
Yesterday, I got the email with my results, 92/100. I am extremely pleased with that result, it definitely satisfies one requirement for officiating golf events. It also qualifies me to attend “expert” level workshops in the future, should I decide to do that. I think I will, if they’re offered in-person.
As I said, this stage of my rules education is over, next will be some exploration into officiating opportunities. I can volunteer through the state association website, and I have a couple of contacts I’ll use. I’ll return when I have something new to report.
