It began because of a parking space.
Jack Pultorak, 66, who is in his fourth year as an adviser after an 18-year career as a rules and competitions administrator at the Florida State Golf Association, remembers a rain-soaked slog of a spectator parking lot at the Honda Classic at TPC Eagle Trace in the early 1990s.
After a squishy walk to the course, he ran into a PGA Tour rules official also entering the property. A casual conversation revealed the rules man had parked in a lot near the players. Pultorak marveled at the convenience. He held that thought.
Always a detail guy, Pultorak was a native of the Syracuse, New York, area and had moved to Boca Raton, following his job as a linehaul dispatch manager – “lining up trucks and moving them along.”
A three-sport athlete in high school, he only dabbled in golf but became more interested in the game because of the opportunities and year-round pleasant weather in Florida.
Playing more, he decided to get more involved and thought about that moment in the Honda Classic parking lot. Pultorak first volunteered with the FSGA in 1997 under the tutelage of one of South Florida’s golf figureheads, the late Mallory Privett, who is in the FSGA and South Florida PGA halls of fame.
The exposure to FSGA tournaments sparked an interest in the Rules of Golf, and Pultorak took his first introductory rules workshop in 1998, taught by then USGA-staffer Genger Fahleson. Pultorak became more intrigued and was introduced to FSGA executive director Jim Demick.
Pultorak continued to volunteer and dive more deeply into the rules. In 2000, Pultorak was hired by Demick, who had personally witnessed his acumen at FSGA tournaments.
“I had been in transportation for 20 years, and when the opportunity came, I went from being miserable to not working for a living,” Pultorak said.
“If you don’t like making a judgment, don’t get into this business. Sometimes there are a few short seconds of terror when you are thinking of what to do, but in the moment, you have to trust your training or even get some help.”
JACK PULTORAK
Because of the small staff at the FSGA, Pultorak, in his early years, would manage a swath of administrative duties for the multitude of FSGA events.
“We had a great band of volunteers, and eventually the staff grew, and I started delegating more,” he said.
During his career, Pultorak estimates that he logged “thousands of days of events.” That just meant more exposure to the Rules of Golf and his continuous interest in getting better as an official.
“I’ve taken the rules test 24 times,” he said. “I have eight 100s, and nine 99s. The first time I took the test, I thought I knew my stuff and I got an 83.”
His first perfect score came on his third try.
Through his strong work at USGA qualifying events, he was noticed by the folks at Golf House in New Jersey and was appointed to the U.S. Mid-Amateur Committee in 2002.
“Guys like Mickey Zarra, Doug Fry and Greg Norris are great friends,” Pulorak said. “We like cigars and red wine. During the day, it’s cigars, but after, it’s cigars and wine.”
Pultorak revels in his time playing golf with those fellow committee members. “We play some courses that are sometimes better than the championship course. I’m a 15-handicap, and I’m not good enough to know enough about architecture, but I like playing at Palma Ceia in Tampa. It’s a great old Donald Ross course where Gene Sarazen invented the sand wedge.”
Pultorak has been the official for the championship match of the U.S. Mid-Amateur “half a dozen times or so.” On occasion, he’s allowed himself to think “this guy (the champion) is going to the Masters, and it’s pretty cool.”
The joy of being a step-by-step witness in the championship matches is also balanced by the difficulty of making rulings under pressure.
“If you don’t like making a judgment, don’t get into this business,” Pultorak said. “Sometimes there are a few short seconds of terror when you are thinking of what to do, but in the moment, you have to trust your training or even get some help.”
He has often counted on Privett’s best piece of advice: “Always use your radio.”
Bill McCarthy, the USGA’s director of the Mid-Amateur Championship, calls Pultorak’s skills across the board unparalleled.
“There is no one I trust more on course than Jack,” McCarthy said. “He serves tirelessly as an on-course rules rover and referee during both stroke and match play and is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure a successful championship. His ability to work with players is amazing. Being able to explain complicated rules issues efficiently and under pressure is not easy. I cannot recall the number of times Jack has simply whispered something in my ear when things are going haywire at a championship and saved things from falling through the cracks if it was not for his experience and insight.”
Included in that vast experience, Pultorak has been a rules official at a huge chunk of FSGA events, every U.S. Mid-Amateur since 2002, several U.S. Senior Opens, a handful of U.S Amateur Four-Balls, the U.S. Amateur in 2021 at Oakmont, and the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
“At Oakmont, I had the eventual champion, James Piot, in the Round of 32,” Pultorak said. “I told my buddies that I didn’t think he was going to go far because he wasn’t putting well. Shows you what I know.”
Pultorak shared two of his favorite bird’s-eye stories:At U.S. Open qualifying at Lake Nona, he had to place Nick Faldo’s group on a timing watch known as “being on the clock” because Faldo’s two fellow competitors were playing slowly. When Pultorak carefully informed the usually speedy Faldo of the decision, the six-time major champion responded: “Well, it’s about time.”And, during a U.S. Senior Open, Billy Andrade, playing with Jay Haas and Paul Broadhurst, had trouble getting a coin out of his pocket to mark his ball on the green on consecutive holes, to which Haas remarked: “Hey, Billy, if you can get the coin out of your pocket, we could make some good time.”Pultorak cautions that he has too many stories to tell and is probably missing some of his best ones, but he paints a personal history with these gems.He continues to teach USGA rules seminars (his most recent on January 12) and work at FSGA and the Florida State high school championships. And he stops by the office regularly.
Pultorak’s FSGA Rolodex of friends includes PGA Tour rules official Peter Dachisen, plus Tom Zaras, the late Charlie Bedford and Tom Dudley, all long-time FSGA volunteers.
His biggest career thanks go to Demick, who retired in 2020 after 24 years at the helm of the FSGA. However, the feeling is completely mutual for Demick, who calls Pultorak “The Professor” because of his high golf IQ and his academic inclination for rules.
“What makes him so special for Florida golf is that he is a superman at keeping track of our work and our systems,” Demick said. “He’s like me. We had checklists for our checklists. He is organized and precise, a good educator and trainer, and he made sure all the trains ran on time.”
Sounds like he never lost his transportation training.
Top: Jack Pultorak has been associated with the Florida State Golf Association for 22 years.
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