Lyman Gallup, 2018 AGA Honorary Captain
Howie Tiger
The Arizona Golf Association named Lyman Gallup as the 2018 Honorary Captain. A beautiful plaque was presented to Lyman at the annual Awards Dinner at Phoenix Country Club on February 21.
The program for the Awards Dinner contained the following statement:
“The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers established the first Rules of Golf in 1744. These thirteen rules have formed the basis for the Game. Until 1891, when the R & A became the source for the Rules of Golf, each club appointed an honorary Captain to administer the rules, oversee the club’s competitions, and settle all game disputes. In honor of this tradition, the Arizona Golf Association recognizes Lyman Gallup for his many years of service to the Association and its Championships, for his passion and dedication to the principles of the Rules of Golf and, most particularly, for his avowed love of the game.”
Lyman’s involvement in the Rules of Golf goes back to the 1980s when he was coach of the Boise State Men’s Golf Team. He attended his first USGA/PGA Rules Workshop in 1989. His full-time job at Boise State was as an Associate Professor, teaching business statistics. He taught there for 32 years, retiring in 2009.
Originally from Montana, Lyman earned his MBA at ASU and his Ph.D. at the University of Oregon. From 1993 to 1998, Lyman served as Executive Director of the Idaho Golf Association. He also served as a rule’s official at the USGA Mid-Amateur Championship for ten years.
In 2013, Lyman and his wife, Marilyn Reynolds, became full time residents of PebbleCreek, initially living here several years as snowbirds. Marilyn soon got involved in golf rules at the AWGA and this inspired Lyman to become a member of their rules committee, too. As a rule’s official he worked about five tournaments a year.
Lyman was named chairman of the AWGA rules committee in 2016. There are about 30 members of this committee. As chairman he works about ten events per year. He visits tournament sites in advance to select hole locations and make sure the course is properly marked. He recruits other rules officials for each event and is responsible for their scheduling. He is responsible for all rule issues at every AWGA event. He also drafts the “Terms of Competition” (local rules etc.) for each AWGA event.
Since 2014, Lyman has been a member of the AZ Rules Committee which oversees rules officiating for the AGA, the AWGA and the JGAA (Junior Golf Association of Arizona). FYI, the Arizona Golf Association and the Arizona Women’s Golf Association combined on January 1 to form “Arizona Golf.”
In his 30 years of golf rules involvement as a volunteer, he has attended 13 USGA rules workshops. He has conducted a countless number of rules sessions including nine recent classes covering the 2019 Rules of Golf changes.
Congratulations, Lyman, on your outstanding achievement!