A New and Improved 2011

The TGA is currently working on a blog overhaul and will resume in 2011 with weekly posts and updates. We hope that you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and New Years!

Tournament Season Underway

(Franklin, TN) - The 2010 tournament season officially began yesterday as player's competed in the TGA Championship Series event at The Governor's Club in Brentwood, TN. The season began, as it has the past couple of year's, with some of the state's top players competing in this Level I Player of the Year point event. A field of 72 players competed in their respective Mid-Amateur, Senior Amateur, and Super Senior divisions all hoping to get an early jump on the points race. Home court advantage may have played a part in this year's opener as two Governor's Club members claimed titles in the Mid-Amateur and Senior Amateur divisions.

Kevin Watford (Franklin) and Danny Simmerman (Nashville) found themselves in a tie for first after the completion of the 36 hole stroke play event, both carding a 3 over par total of 147. In the end, Mr. Watford took the Mid-Amateur title as he ran in a 30 foot birdie putt on the first hole of the sudden death playoff. Craig McElhaney (Nashville), the winner of last year's season opener, took third with a four over par total of 148. First round leader, Charlie Keene (Nashville), took fourth place honors with a five over total of 149.

Doug Harris (Franklin) set an early lead in the Senior Amateur division after day one posting a three under par 69 giving him a four shot lead heading into today's final round. Battling back from a late triple bogey, Mr. Harris managed to right the ship and post a 2 over par 74 giving him a two day total of 143 (-1). Tom Baird (Signal Mountain) finished second with a two day total of 146 (+2), three shots behind winner Doug Harris. Mike Carroll (Knoxville) rounded out the top three with a tournament score of 150 (+6).

2010 marked the introduction of the Super Senior division (65+) to each of the TGA Championship Series events. Bobby Perkinson (Alcoa) won in convincing fashion posting a two day total of 150 (+6), seven shots better than second and third place finishers Gary Pierce (Franklin) and Tony Cox (Crossville) who both posted totals of 157.

Less than a month away

It's amazing how quickly time passes...more so the older you get. It seems like yesterday I was returning back to work from the Holiday break, yet here I sit less than a month away from our first event. Lately, my time has been filled with tournament favor orders, trying to plan out course rating trips, site visits, and making sure that I am ready for tournament preparation to begin. For those not in and around the tournament admin portion of golf it may come as a shock the amount of prep work that goes into even the easiest of events. I know when I began my internship with the TGA, several years ago, that was the biggest shock to my system. Weeks of preparation can go into an event and even more so for our major championships. Sure, our attention to detail may add a few days of work here or there... but I truly feel that it is because of our discipline to make sure everything is correct that we separate ourselves from other associations.

In a couple of weeks we will be conducting our first event of 2010, a TGA Championship Series event at The Governor's Club in Brentwood, TN. Last year we opened with the same event and the weather was very unkind to us. My fingers are crossed for good weather this year! So tournament preparation continues...in a few short weeks we will find ourselves marking hazards, dotting hole locations, and writing rules sheets all in preparation for a great beginning to the 2010 season.

TGA Annual Board Meeting

On Saturday, February 27th, the TGA staff, Executive Committee, and Board of Directors met for the annual TGA Board of Directors Meeting at Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, TN. This meeting allows the TGA staff to give both the Executive Committee and the TGA Director's a recap of the previous year and to discuss goals for the upcoming one. The meeting began with a roll call of all TGA Member Club representatives followed by reports from both the Handicap and Course Rating leaders informing of the past year's results and current year's goals.

Kathy Gordon, Southeast Regional Affiars Director for the USGA, gave her annual USGA report in which she stated that the entire Southeast Region had weathered the economic storm well the past year. She informed the attendees that the USGA was feeling the impact of the economy as well but that no major changes were going to have to be made. She also reported on the new USGA president, Jim Hyler, and his vision of taking the USGA "green".

Following Kathy, the Board received yearly reports from the TGA President, TGA Treasurer, Men's and Women's Competition Committees, Rules of Golf Commitee, the Tennessee Golf Foundation, and the Strategic Planning Committee. Through the reports given it was clear that 2009 had been a great year given the economic struggles that we faced, and it was apparent that we were headed in a very good direction moving forward into the new year.

The meeting was concluded with the honoring of Lewis Foster, who had served as the Tennessee Golf Association President for the past two years. Mr. Foster was a great asset for our association to have at the helm and we were very appreciative to him for all the work he had put into bettering us as a premier golf association. Mr. Tim Jackson will replace Mr. Foster as the TGA President for the 2010-2011 term. As most of you know Tim is a staple of Tennessee Amateur Golf and we couldn't be happier to be represented by such a wonderful leader on and off the course.

2010 Rules of Golf Workshops

The Tennessee Golf Association is pleased to announce their 2010 Rules of Golf Workshops. These statewide educational workshops will cover everything from definitions, most common and abused rules to highlighting several new and revised Decisions on the Rules of Golf which went into effect this year. These popular workshops are sure to fill up fast so act quickly and register today! In addition to the Rules Workshops, a Tournament Administration Workshop will also be held in the Nashville area and will cover all aspects of conducting a golf tournament.

The registration fee for the Rules of Golf Workshops is $25 and includes lunch and various Rules of Golf materials. Each workshop will feature a visual presentation and an outdoor session (weather permitting). The Tournament Administration Workshop's registration fee is only $10 and includes refreshments and related materials.

Sign up today at www.golfhousetennessee.com or contact the TGA at (615)790-7600 to register.


Click here to download a .pdf version of the Rules of Golf Workshop entry form.


2010 TGA Rules of Golf Workshop Locations

March 15th
Council Fire Golf Club
Presenters:
Nathaniel Hantle & Carter Page, TGA

March 23rd
Germantown Country Club
Presenters:
Nathaniel Hantle & Carter Page, TGA

March 29th*
Hillwood Country Club
(Tournament Admin. Workshop)
Presenter:
John Morrissett, USGA

March 30th
Hillwood Country Club
Presenter:
John Morrissett, USGA

April 6th
Holston Hills Country Club
Presenters:
Nathaniel Hantle & Carter Page, TGA

Here before we know it

Where did the first half January go? It seems like just the other day we were all filing back into the office after the holiday break, a glassy haze over our eyes, and all struggling to take the plunge back into the stack of work that had accumulated on our desks. Things have steadily picked up around the office over the past couple of weeks or so, and it is abundantly clear that tournament season is just around the corner. It's a bittersweet moment for me right now. Sure, I love the winter months. It is a time for me to take a deep breath and relax in fact that I have some much needed time to re-charge the "battery", but it is also a time where being disciplined can allow you to jump start the new year on the right track. For us (TGA), the off-season is an opportunity to lay the ground work for the upcoming tournament season...the months where we get to shine.

We are currently working on finalizing our 2010 Tournament Schedule. The final step to finalizing this is to get the TGA Championship Series events on the books. It is my hope that all of these events will be scheduled by the middle of February in time for the March 1 tournament registration open date. I am also currently in the process of finding host sites for our 2010 Rules of Golf Workshops. The TGA will be conducting 4 workshops in the Franklin, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Memphis areas. These workshops are 1-day events that will be conducted by the TGA staff between March 15th and April 15th. *Sites and dates will be posted on our website once they are confirmed.*