No Doubting Thomas

Thomas Pagel, left, with USGA President Tom O’Toole, Jr. at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay

When the best players in the world vie for the U.S. Open championship this month at Oakmont Country Club, Rules of Golf questions will invariably arise. And when they do, a 37-year-old Colorado native and former intern with the Colorado Golf Association will respond.

The USGA’s Senior Director of Rules of Golf and Amateur Status Thomas Pagel grew up behind the 4th green of the Par 3 Course at South Suburban in Centennial. He started caddying at Glenmoor Country Club at age 14, and while a junior at Colorado State University he applied for a summer internship with the Colorado Golf Association.

“I didn’t get the job!” he says. That changed when he graduated from CSU in 2002. He applied for the USGA’s P.J. Boatwright Internship, which provides grants to state and regional golf associations to hire young men and women as interns who are interested in a career in golf administration. The CGA offered one.

“I emailed my resume and followed up with a phone call,” Pagel remembers. He wound up speaking with Executive Director Ed Mate. “Are you the guy who applied the year before?” Mate asked. “I like your perseverance!” Pagel’s Boatwright internship turned into a seven-year career with the CGA in which he rose to assistant director of rules and competitions and, later, assistant executive director.

In 2008 Pagel left the CGA for greater administrative responsibilities, becoming the executive director of the Utah Golf Association. He served in that role for two years and earned an MBA at the University of Utah. But when an opportunity to work for the USGA came around in 2010, he took the leap and applied for the job.

“I interviewed with long-time USGA staff members Mike Davis and Jeff Hall for the job of senior director of Rules of Golf and amateur status,” Pagel remembers. “I joined the USGA staff in January of 2011 at the same time Executive Director David Fay was retiring and Mike Davis was promoted to executive director.” 

For five years now, Pagel has overseen Rules operations and amateur status for the USGA. He’s responsible for working with the USGA Rules Committee and the R&A to write and interpret one set of rules for golfers around the world. “It is truly one of the greatest assets of the game,” he says. “The same Rules are used by players at all levels, from the professional tours all the way to juniors being introduced to the game.”

That’s an opinion he shares with Pete Lis, another former CGA Boatwright intern who now works as the manager of Rules and competition for the LPGA Tour. Pagel frequently appears on USGA Rules videos, as well as television and radio, where his Rules expertise shines.

Regarding the U.S. Open, Pagel says some of his fondest memories of working at the CGA “were conducting USGA Qualifiers in May where we would welcome the best golfers in Colorado who would eventually have an opportunity to play with the best players in the world.”

His first experience working inside the ropes at a U. S. Open came at Congressional Country Club in 2011. “The display Rory McIlroy put on was tremendous to watch,” he remembers. “The crowds that followed him win his first major title by eight strokes ahead of Jason Day was a thrill to witness up close. I keep a print of his gallery surrounding the 10th Tee on Sunday in my office to remind me of the experience.”

As to which player will win at Oakmont, Pagel prefers to remain unbiased. He is, after all, a USGA staff member. “As we’ve seen with other past champions, the winner will be the person who makes smart, strategic decisions on the course,” he diplomatically explains. “They will have to have a short memory, hold things together and move on to the next challenge on each hole.”

For him, however, the challenge of qualifying for the event—something he oversaw during his CGA and UGA days—makes the U.S. Open even more special: “I love knowing that almost 10,000 golfers from throughout the world, including hundreds in Colorado, will have attempted to participate in the U.S. Open to be crowned our national champion.”

Of course, it should come as no surprise that Pagel, who went from CGA intern to USGA senior director in less than ten years, would appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

This article appears in the June 2016 issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.

Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.