HERITAGE GOLF GROUP NAMES BRIAN RICHTER GENERAL MANAGER/PGA DIRECTOR OF GOLF AT LEGACY GOLF CLUB
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SAN DIEGO, CA. - Heritage Golf Group is pleased to name Brian Richter General Manager/PGA Director of Golf of Legacy Golf Club. Heritage Golf Group recently announced that it has added Legacy Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida to its portfolio of clubs by signing a management agreement with Textron Financial Corporation.
“We are proud to welcome Brian as General Manager/PGA Director of Golf of Legacy Golf Club,” said Andy Crosson, Executive Vice President of Heritage Golf Group. “His proven track record and experiences will prove invaluable as we continually strive to bring Members and guests of Legacy Golf Club unrivaled golf and uncompromising service.”
Legacy Golf Club is an upscale, 18-hole championship daily fee course. This award-winning Arnold Palmer signature designed course features elevated multiple tees, and virtually every hole is framed with sand and water. The 360-foot wide fairways on all corridors make the look very dramatic and visually challenging, while still playable by players of all ability levels.
Legacy Golf Club has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Play and has received 4 1/2 STARS from the readers’ of Golf Digest 2008-2009. The course was also recognized as One of America’s Top Golf Courses from ZAGAT Survey 2007-2008. In 2004, readers’ of Florida Golf News ranked Legacy Golf Club as the #1 Public Golf Course in Southwest Florida.
Richter has more than 10 years of experience in the golf industry, with positions as general manager, director of golf, and head golf professional. He was elected to PGA membership in August 2008. Throughout his career, Richter has been awarded two service excellence awards from American Golf Corporation. Richter has also been awarded the 2002 and 2005 Merchandiser of the Year, West Central Chapter, as well as the 2006 Horton Smith award, West Central Chapter NFPGA.
Range-finders: legal in tournaments?
by Bart Pfankuch
At the 19th Hole, while imbibing a few cold brews last weekend, my pals and I could not agree on whether GPS devices and other range-finders are legal in amateur tournaments. I said they must be, since many players have used them in the Sarasota and Venice city tournaments in which I recently played. But is it legal in big-time amateur tourneys, such as the U.S. Amateur, or USGA-sanctioned qualifying events? I argued they certainly could be, but my pal was adamant they would not be legal.
To learn the straight skinny, I made a couple phones calls to the USGA headquarters, and eventually sent an e-mail Monday to Travis Lesser, a rules expert on the USGA staff. The long and short of it: On Jan. 1, 2006, the USGA changed its rules to allow the use of range-finding devices at any tournament in which the rules committee votes to allow them. The local rule can only allow devices that measure distance, and not wind, gradient or other factors. Again, if the local rules committee takes no action regarding range-finders, they are technically not legal in tournament play.
Here is the more detailed description from Travis at the USGA, who was kind enough to respond to my e-mail questions today. “Please refer to Decision 14-3/0.5 and the Note to Rule 14-3. A Committee (see Definition of “Committee”) in charge of a competition or golf course may adopt a Local Rule allowing players to use devices that measure distance only. Please note that devices with the capability of measuring other conditions which might affect play (e.g. elevation change or wind speed) are not permitted, even if such functions are turned off. If such a Local Rule has not been adopted, then use of a distance-measuring device would be a breach of Rule 14-3b. The USGA did not adopt the Local Rule for any of its championships or qualifiers in 2009.” That last sentence from Travis answers the question that was in contention during the brewski debate on Saturday.
While the USGA COULD allow the use of the devices, it so far has NOT. So, both my pal and I were right in our own ways. Now, let me sound off on range-finders in local tournaments…..I don’t care for them. Perhaps it is because I’m too cheap to buy one, or maybe because my game is not dialed in yardage-wise to the point where knowing a shot is 153 to the pin would help more than seeing it as “about 150.” For me, I try to hit “shots” rather than play to yardages. That means if it is about 150, and the pin is a little back or there’s a headwind or I’m just not striping it well that day, I might take an extra club and hit an easy 7-iron rather than a full 8-iron..
That’s just me, and that’s just my game. If they are legal, and you use one, more power to you. One of the beautiful things about the rules of golf is that for every rule that can hurt you, there is usually one that helps you if you know it well and implement it correctly. But in the end, I guess I’ve always felt that judging distance was one of the skills of the game — one of the small, subtle things that can make one player better or more efficient than another. So, no GPS devices for me. There, I said it!
