USGA CEO Mike Whan has a lot on his plate as he looks to help shepherd the game of golf — at the pro and amateur levels — to a place where it can thrive for future generations.
From rolling back the ball to tackling golf’s growing water problem, Whan has to split his time between many important issues.
But changing the rules of golf is not on Whan’s radar. As he explained on the latest episode of GOLF’s Subpar Podcast, Whan once took the rules exam, and his score is the stuff of USGA legend—but not in a good way.
“They did not hire me for rule-making or my rule-editing ability,” Whan said. “One of the things that I pride myself in is that I know what I’m good at and I know what I’m not. I trust the rules team more than the rules team trusts me.”
When Whan was hired as CEO of the USGA, he decided to go to rules school since he was the first non-rules-qualified CEO. After sitting through the three-day course, a member of his team suggested it would be good for Whan to take the exam at the end.
“So, I didn’t have a rules book,” Whan said. “I went in and I took the test and the good news is that I think I currently hold the lowest score recorded on a rules test. They are supposed to be confidential but a couple years later they asked me to come down and welcome a new group. I walked in late and I heard them saying, ‘Don’t worry. No matter how you do over the next three days, you won’t score worse than our CEO Mike Whan.’ So, I’m not your guy for rules questions.”
