Thomas Pagel was named the United States Golf Association’s senior director of Rules of Golf & Amateur Status in January 2011. He previously spent eight years working in different sectors of state golf associations.

From 2008-10, Pagel served as executive director of the Utah Golf Association managing championship administration and Rules of Golf. He was responsible for the day-to-day administration of an organization with 30,000 members. His duties include the processing of registration, creating pairing groups, writing of local rules and course setup. Additionally, he provided weekly Rules of Golf installments for the Salt Lake City NBC television affiliate.

He also worked for the Colorado Golf Association as assistant executive director, assistant director of rules and competitions and assistant director of course rating and handicapping from 2003-08. During that time, he was a board member of the Colorado Turfgrass Foundation.

Pagel has annually attended PGA/USGA Rules of Golf Workshops. He has served as a Rules official at several USGA championships, including the 2010 U.S. Senior Open, 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links, 2008 U.S. Mid-Amateur and 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links.

A 2002 USGA P.J. Boatwright intern, Pagel received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a marketing concentration from Colorado State University. He earned a master’s in business administration from the University of Utah.