USGA Story in Washington Post

Finally, a major newspaper takes a hard look at the USGA, and as expected, it's not pretty. As I read Leonard Shapiro’s Washington Post piece (reg. required), I thought, wow, it's like he's read a certain book on the topic! Turns out, he has. Some highlights:

"The USGA executive committee and the past presidents have a lot of very smart and successful people, but there's not a single one of them who would run their own businesses the way they run the USGA," said Jack Vardaman, a Washington attorney, highly regarded national senior amateur golfer and a former general counsel and member of the USGA executive board.

The debacle at Shinnecock may well have been symptomatic of what Vardaman and others believe truly ails the organization -- a classic case of too many chiefs at the top with no one in position to make a final decision.

"I believe the organization has totally lost its way," said another former executive committee member who did not want to be identified because he still has friends and business associates in the organization.

Vardaman has his own solution to what he believes ails the USGA.

"I would do it just like a regular corporation," he said. "I'd have the executive director be the CEO and chairman of the board for five or ten years. You'd still have a board as an executive committee that would help determine the policy issues. But the person at the top would be the equivalent of a Jack Welch [retired CEO of General Electric].

"There is no question these are well-intentioned, good people trying to do the right thing. They volunteer. They pay most of their own expenses. They want to bring the game to the people, make it affordable and accessible. The USGA is a big, important organization with an important mission. But they have an organizational model in place now that's destined to make it mediocre. And that's a terrible shame."