SNGA Rules Quartet Heads to USGA Puerto Rico Event
For an amateur golf rules official, earning a spot to help officiate a national USGA tournament is about as good as it gets. Sue May, Tim Brand, Rusty Beckel and Tim Quinn, four SNGA rules officials, are headed to Puerto Rico for the 2022 USGA Women’s Four-Ball. Each is honored to be selected. –By Brian Hurlburt, Las Vegas Golf Insider.
To be considered for a USGA event, a rules official must score at least 92 on the daunting rules test and be considered as a top official in their area. To have four selected from a single association is an accomplishment. The Women’s Four-Ball is scheduled for Grand Reserve Golf Club, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico April 20-24.
“We may be a smaller golf association, but we have several expert rules officials who I am so proud to work with,” says director Sue May, a Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame inductee who has officiated at more than 100 USGA events. “To have four of us invited to the same USGA Championship is so exciting and such an honor for the SNGA. When I received my invitation to the USGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship in Puerto Rico I couldn’t have been happier. It’s not only somewhere I lived for a year but somewhere I can’t wait to visit with my Southern Nevada USGA committee members.”
A big spring will continue for Brand, who was recently promoted to the SNGA’s assistant executive director position.
“I am extremely excited, and I worked very hard to study and learn the Rules of Golf at what the USGA deems to be an expert level,” Brand says. “One of the reasons I did work so hard was to hopefully one day have an opportunity to officiate at a USGA National Championship. Not only has all the hard work paid off, but three of the officials who have been so nice to me and helped me along my journey with the rules will also be attending and sharing this experience with me. Sue May mentored me from the very beginning and I would not be in this position without her help. Rusty Beckel helps out with so many of our events and her experience makes her one of the most knowledgeable rules officials I have ever been around. And Tim Quinn has such a vast knowledge of all things golf. From the Rules, to course rating and handicapping, I have learned so much from Tim during my tenure here with the SNGA. I am just very proud not only to be representing the SNGA at this National Championship, but that I will be representing the SNGA with these three amazing people by my side.”
Quinn is a dedicated SNGA volunteer and former president of the organization.
“I’ve done a few of these, but never in Puerto Rico, and never with this many officials from the SNGA,” Quinn says. “I’m looking forward to working with such a distinguished team of officials from around the country, and watching some terrific golf in a beautiful location.”
Beckel is the current Women’s SNGA president and continues to be a dedicated volunteer throughout the season.
“Getting an invite to work a USGA event is always special,” Beckel says. “There are so many aspects to enjoy; the golf, the players, seeing officials we run into across the years, the tournament excitement, the officiating experience, and seeing and experiencing the communities and culture where the venues are located. This event will be extra special and I am so looking forward to sharing all of this my SNGA rules team friends!”
The four SNGA officials will surely do a terrific job, but there may be some off-the-course fun, within reason.
“We will try to work hard and not spend too much time on the beach or around the pool,” May says with a smile.
