Hunt joins PGA Rules Panel

Former Ryder Cup player and European Senior Tour referee Guy Hunt has joined the PGA Rules Panel.

Hunt, who has the first ex-Tour player to referee on the European Tour, spent more than two decades roaming the fairways in his officiating capacity but, having hung up his Tour hat, is now bringing some of his expertise to the PGA’s schedule.

A qualified PGA pro, Hunt was a talented player who won the 1977 Dunlop Masters and played in the 1975 Ryder Cup at Laurel Valley in Pennsylvania.

After Hunt’s playing career ended he return to his first love of coaching and also undertook some course design including redesigning East Horton Golf Club in Hampshire.

However it was a chance meeting with the European Tour’s chief referee John Paramor at the 1990 Open at St Andrews which was to spark a change in career direction leading to two decades as a referee on tour.

“At the Open I was heading to the PGA tent for a coffee when I bumped into John Paramor,” recalled Hunt. “He asked me what I was up to and said ‘you were a good player, how do you fancy refereeing?’ It never entered my head before and I think I was the first ex-player to referee.

“I didn’t really know the rules too well. As a player you think you know the rules but you don’t really. My knowledge was pretty poor but I worked hard at it, did my R&A exams and it all took off from there.”

His first year as a referee was eventful – not least because he was the man on duty over the famous rabbit scraping ruling on the last at Valderrama with the legendary Seve Ballesteros in 1994.

The Spaniard needed a par on the last to tie Bernhard Langer but his ball ended in loose soil behind a large cork tree and called for a ruling claiming it was made by a burrowing animal.

“That was my first year as referee,” recalled Hunt. “During the previous night a dog had been making huge holes in the right hand side of the fairway. It was my first year refereeing, I was a little bit green. I called John Paramor and said I think you need to come down and sort this out.”

There followed a 25 minute and animated discussion but ultimately relief wasn’t granted, Seve had to chip out and made a bogey leaving Langer to win by a shot.

“John didn’t think it was a burrowing hole and Seve was saying ‘prove to me this was a hole not made by a burrowing animal’.

“I learnt a lot from that. It’s very important not to say too much, make sure you listen to what the player says and then give yourself time, don’t just jump in.

“John Paramor has been fantastic for me. It’s about how you apply the rules rather than the rules themselves because there are a lot of grey areas.

“There is more to refereeing than meets the eye. As I player I wasn’t aware of all that happened behind the scenes.

“You just think about yourself and playing but as a referee everyone pitches in. If something needs to be done, we just do it.

“Having come from a playing background, I enjoyed setting up the course. As a player, a good general knowledge suited me as far as refereeing was concerned. It’s very easy to make mistakes in course set up.”

** Gnome is where the heart is!

Sandwiched in between his refereeing he returned to play three years on the Senior Tour. Playing had always been a passion since his father introduced him to the game at aged five at Bishop’s Stortford. “There weren’t too many options to play much sport plus I liked that it was down to me and no-one else.”

Earlier in his career he has great memories of training under the ‘strict but nice’ Tom Haliburton at Wentworth while another highlight included being paired with Jack Nicklaus in the last round of the 1972 Open at Muirfield as the Golden Bear chased the elusive grand slam.

“I was quite nervous for the first swing and first few holes. He was a nice man to deal with, very gentlemanly, he didn’t’ say a lot, and neither did I, he was concentrating – he was just a bit better than me!” said Hunt.

Nicklaus, who had won both the Masters and the US Open, missed out on the third leg of the slam when Lee Trevino famously chipped in while Hunt finished tied seventh alongside Arnold Palmer, Tom Weiskopf and David Vaughan.

He treasures those memories but it is the camaraderie of the referees that he really enjoys now.

“Playing golf makes you very single minded but now I work as part of a team, and there is a strong camaraderie which is extremely rewarding.

“I like the environment, it is quite nice seeing the young players and helping them gain some experience and being able to help.

“For any PGA pros interested in refereeing I would highly recommend it plus you can also use it with your own club members, and host rules evenings and that kind of thing.”

** PGA Members! Interested in refereeing? Call PGA Tournaments on 01675 468380