News & Notes
The Clyde L. Luther Trophy
was created in 2002 and
is awarded to the winner
of the VSGA Junior Match
Play Championship. Mikey
Moyers, left, won the trophy
three times.
our common interest in the Rules of Golf.
Clyde was beginning on a track to ulti-
mately become recognized as one of the
world’s great authorities on the Rules of
Golf. My interest was more modest and
stemmed from my collection of past years
Rules of Golf booklets, an interest that
continues to this day.
To me personally, in addition to him
being a wonderful friend, I owe so much
to Clyde for all the help he gave me when I
started out as a rookie Rules official those
many years ago. He was always there to
answer all my questions and make sure
I learned things the right way. I could
never have achieved anything without his
constant support for which I am eternally
grateful, and I will miss him greatly.
MATT SMILEY
Assistant executive director of the VSGA:
Clyde’s knowledge of the Rules of Golf
was unquestionable, but the thing that
was even more impressive about Clyde
was his passion for the Rules. It didn’t
take long hearing Clyde speak about the
Rules to realize how strongly he felt about
them. I firmly believe that his passion for
vsga.org
the Rules is a big part of the reason that
we have so many knowledgeable Rules
officials from the region—his passion bred
passion in others.
His passion was not only for the Rules,
but also for etiquette and teaching players,
especially juniors, right from wrong. There
would be multiple occasions per event
where he would seek out a player after
the round to talk to them about some-
thing they could have done differently on
the course—either from an etiquette or
Rules standpoint. Those are the things not
everyone saw, but showed you how he truly
cared about what is best for the players in
the long run.
RICHARD WIGHT
Past president of the VSGA and longtime
rules official:
By the time I became involved as a Rules
official with the VSGA, Clyde was already
one of the top Rules officials in the coun-
try as well as the Rules Chairman for the
VSGA (a post he held for nearly 30 years).
I learned quickly that Clyde intended for
VSGA Championships to be conducted on
par with USGA national championships. I
also learned that if you wanted to perform
at that level, he would show you how.
By 2000 Clyde’s reputation was such
that he was picked to run the NCAA Men’s
Golf championships. I was fortunate
Clyde’s Trap
Terminology was important to Clyde
Luther when he was conducting a
Rules workshop. Two terms were
no-nos in Clyde’s book:
sand trap and pin.
The correct terminology is bunker
and flagstick. If an unsuspecting
participant used “sand trap,” Clyde
would bring out a mouse trap and
have the culprit sign it amid the
laughter of fellow participants.
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