It was the former boss of the Challenge Tour, Alain de Soultrait, who told us the news this Friday. John Paramor, the legendary referee of the European Tour, died in his sleep at his home in London. He was 68 years old.
John Paramor, life
“Like many, I worked with him for many years.
He was an extraordinary character. With stature, highly respected. When the players had him in front of him, it was different. » Bon vivant and very generous, he had decided to take a step back but not before having trained the vast majority of European referees.
“He had a desire to pass on his knowledge, his unique way of approaching the players”, recalls, moved, Alain De Soultrait. It was notably on his initiative that the European Tour had also decided to start an active fight against slow play via a very instructive video for educational purposes.
His fierce desire to be more intransigent had also earned him some criticism, especially when he imposed a penalty for slow play to the young Chinese prodigy, Tianlang Guan, at the Masters in 2013. Should he have been more flexible with Guan, only 14 years old? Paramor replied: “No, it’s the Masters”.
The Rules of Golf are a set of standard rules and procedures by which the sport of golf should be played. They are jointly written and maintained by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the governing body for golf worldwide, outside of the United States and Mexico, which are governed by the United States Golf Association.
An expert commission made up of members of the R&A and USGA, oversees and refines the rules every four years. The latest revision has been in force since January 1, 2016. Changes to the rules of golf generally fall into two main categories: those that improve understanding and those that in certain cases reduce penalties to ensure balance.
The rule book, entitled “Rules of Golf”, is published on a regular basis and also includes rules governing amateur status. In Italy it is up to Federgolf to supervise the competitions by enforcing the rules issued by the R & A, checking that these rules are observed by the Clubs, Associations and their members and manages the resulting sporting justice, protecting their interests abroad.
The rules of golf are relatively complicated compared to other sports because they apply outdoors, close to nature and animals. Respect for the rules is a basic element in the game of golf which, almost always based on self-control and the free conscience of the players, often sees distorted results, sometimes consciously, but often unconsciously or lightly, due to non-compliance by many players of the game rules.
In addition to the rules, golf adheres to a code of conduct, known as etiquette, which generally means playing your game with due respect to the golf course and other players. Etiquette is an essential component of this sport.
