2025 Volunteer of the Year
Carl Adams accepting his award at Lakeview Golf Course in Meridian. | Shane René
No matter how hard the IGA staff works, the services we provide to the Idaho golf community rely on a network of volunteers from across the state. And this year, we recognize Carl Adams, a volunteer with more than a decade of service to our Course Rating team.
Fourteen years ago, a friend of Adams caught his attention with the way he talked about his experience Course Rating with the IGA.
“It kind of intrigued me a little bit that it wasn’t necessarily about being a great golfer, it was about understanding the course and what the bogey golfer and scratch golfer does,” Adams said. “And I’m kind of a numbers guy so I thought, well, it might be kind of fun.”
And here he is, more than a decade later, responding to the IGA’s call to put boots on the ground and keep the Handicap System up to date for every Idaho golfer. Nicole Rutledge, the IGA’s Manager of Course Rating and Finance, considers Adams one of her most reliable assets.
“Unless he’s on a trip with his wife,” she said. “I can count on Carl to be at all of my ratings, no matter where they are.”
Rutledge takes her crew of Course Raters to facilities all over Southern Idaho, which can require long trips to the eastern edge of the state. She says Adams is not only a reliable course rater, but also a reliably positive person to have along for the ride — helping create a comradery among raters that makes her job especially fun to do.
“As much as anything, it’s the comradery [that makes it enjoyable],” Adams said. “Being with people who have been doing ratings for a while, watching new people come and learn, and watching people retire because they’ve moved on — it’s all encompassing.”
“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of the 2025 IGA Volunteer of the Year Award,” said IGA Director of Marketing and Communications Beaux Yenchik, who gets involved with Course Rating as much as he can. “Carl has been a mainstay on the IGA’s Course Rating Team—bringing a deep level of understanding and dedication to every rating. He’s incredibly dependable and rarely, if ever, misses a Course Rating. Well deserved, Carl.”