The Old Committeeman was sitting at the octagonal table in the XIX Hole studying his scorecard intensely when up walked Stan for their appointment. Stan said, "With that look on your face, today's round has some significance."

The O.C. replied, "It does. I hit the ball well, but I should have scored better. It was the short game again, as we have discussed, and I assure you there will be some practice to correct my scoring lapses.

"But we have more important matters to discuss," the O.C. continued, "namely, course setup and the Rules, since this is our last scheduled meeting on planning the club championship.

"As a start on course setup, I believe," said the O.C. in a serious way, "that the golf committee assigns the tournament chairman and his committee the responsibility for all aspects of the tournament, especially the course setup. It takes a member or two to check out the course, locate the holes and set the tees. It is the committee's job and they should know how to do it.

"With that for a beginning, the best source to know all aspects of course setup is the USGA manual, 'How to Conduct a Competition,'" the O.C. continued. "A thorough review of the course setup chapter will give you a clear idea of what should provide a strong fair test with no tricky features. The architect's design of each hole should be kept in mind so the location of the holes and the tee markers gives the upper half of the field a real challenge. I will not go into details, but make sure you note them as they may apply to our course. Here is a copy of the manual and after you have carefully reviewed the setup chapter, let's talk about any questions that you may have."

Stan said, "All of that was short but enlightening. Thanks for the manual. I will carefully read it and then I'll confront you with new questions. Now, we must discuss the Rules and all that goes with them. Very importantly, please give me your ideas on how I can handle this delicate matter in the championship, especially on the course."

"You have assigned me a real task," replied the O.C. "The place to start is to ask the question, 'How well do our club golfers know the Rules?' I think that they know more about them than they think they do. The entrants in your championship will most probably have had a long career playing at this club and also a history of watching the pro tour on TV. They know the Rules fairly well and they know when they may have broken one, but on many occasions, they don't know the precise penalty for a violation. Here is where you are and you can be assured that they will know no more about them by the first tee-off time. What to do? After some thought, I suggest that you provide each player or at least each four-player group three things that I have in my golf bag: the Rules book, Golf Rules in Brief, and importantly, the one-stroke penalty sheet. The player, calling a violation, can first refer to the one-stroke penalty sheet; if not found, he can refer to the table of contents or index in the Rules book. I am sure that he will find his answer, but if the text of the Rules leaves either involved player confused, the Rules in Brief, because of its generally conversational language, will set everyone at ease. The players should go through this routine before they call a Rules rover. This procedure has worked for me and I believe it should work for our club championship players."

Stan said, "You certainly reviewed course setup and the Rules in greater detail than I had expected. Let me review all this and as you know, I'll be in touch with my questions. Thanks again for the USGA manual on tournaments and I especially thank you for our golf discussions. I am running a bit late and if you will excuse me, I'll say goodbye. Many thanks."

After Stan left, the Old Committeeman asked James for his tickets to sign. James gave them to the O.C. and said, "You certainly have given Mr. Stan a lot of help. He has told me you have been a big help with his club championship."

The O.C. said, as he signed his tickets, "That is good to hear. Helping Stan has been fun. I'll go home with a good feeling. Good night, James."

"Good night, sir."

It is a rare active member of the Alabama Golf Association (AGA) who doesn’t know Buford McCarty. This December will mark 22 years since Buford was appointed executive director of the Alabama Golf Association, and he has served as executive secretary of the Southern Golf Association since 1994. (He served as assistant executive secretary of the SGA from 1988 until 1993.) In his roles with both AGA and SGA, Buford is responsible for overseeing the overall operations, including financial planning, tournament operations, handicapping and course rating.

With such a long history at the AGA, Buford still finds his job exciting. “I love the ever-changing landscape of our day-to-day activities,” he says. “It is never boring. About the time I get weary of the 12 to 14 hour days we have at tournaments, from sitting out in the hot, humid, bug-infested environment for days, sometimes weeks, at a time, I go back to the office and tackle financial statements or work with the entry department on problems there, or make improvements to the Web site. Very seldom is there an inactive moment.”

While Buford has many of his own accomplishments to be proud of, he says his favorite moments have been “seeing what our people have accomplished on a national level, and the nice comments we continually receive from our members on a local basis.” National recognitions Buford mentioned include Fred Stephens and Derrel Curry serving as walking officials at the U.S. Open and gaining national reputations as outstanding rules officials; Mickey Zarra’s progress in building his national credentials with the Mid-Amateur Committee and Larry Kniseley with the Publinx Committee; and Donna Stephens’ national award for her work in developing and improving GHIN, the association’s handicap computing system.

“Additionally, the Alabama Golf Association is viewed as one of the more progressive state associations in implementing developments such as online registration and real time scoring in our championships,” Buford says. “I have been very fortunate to have worked under the supervision of some outstanding leaders during my tenure, all of whom have had a remarkable influence on me and have done wonders in guiding the Alabama Golf Association to its prominent position as a leading golf association.”

While Buford’s retirement may be in sight, there are three tasks he hopes to accomplish before leaving the AGA. First, he wants to “find and establish Golf House Alabama,” he says. “We really need a headquarters of our own and are working hard now to get that done.”

Second, he hopes to archive the history of the AGA including names of all presidents and complete histories of all state championships, and to put in place a mechanism to continue to archive historical information. “I believe it is important that we publish our history as it continues to evolve so that 100 years from now, everything about the association will be available to the public,” Buford says. “Golf House Alabama should have a museum of sorts that would exhibit this history for all that are interested.”

Finally, Buford wants to “make sure that whoever takes my place has at their fingertips all the necessary information that will allow a seamless transition, and at the same time will provide for him or her the realization of the significance of Alabama’s place in the history of golf, both on the local and national stage, so they can keep the Alabama Golf Association at the forefront as golf continues to grow and change.”