What more could you want? A pristine and temperate August morning, the clarion of The Village Chapel ringing just as a competitor tees off in the U.S. Amateur, the roar of the gallery when a player jars one from the fourth fairway, history of some sort to be made by the weekend's conclusion.

"I have to pinch myself every day I'm out here," Jim Hyler says. "I'm like a rabbit in a briar patch."

Walking ahead of the first semifinal match as a "forward observer" Saturday morning, Hyler's job is to insure nothing is out of order on the hole to be played, help spot tee shots and determine which player is away before the match and the referee arrive at the green.

As chairman of the USGA's Championship Committee and one of two vice presidents of the USGA Executive Committee, Hyler has a hand in all manner of functions at the top echelon of golf. The Raleigh resident retired as chief operating officer of First Citizens Bank in January, and now spends considerable time helping administer USGA championships and plan for those already on the schedule and those to come.

"It's fun to be at the front line of the nitty-gritty of competition," Hyler says. "Our committee is involved in site selection for the Open, the Amateur and the Senior Open. We start planning each site five years out, looking at changes to the course and then, the closer we get to the year, the setup of the course and the hole locations, the teeing grounds to use, those things. It's a never-ending series of tasks and challenges. I love it."

And he's fondest of the amateur competitions run by the USGA -- the biennial Walker Cup team competition and the annual U.S. Amateur.

"In the Amateur, you are dealing with young men and some middle age men who are thrilled to be here," Hyler says. "They are fun to be around. There's a different feeling, a more relaxed feeling at the Amateur than at the Open. Galleries walk in the fairways with the players. Match play is fun, it's exciting. And Pinehurst No. 2 is the ultimate match play venue with the difficulty of its greens. It's a tremendous match-play course."

Hyler saw the sport of golf and the venue of Sandhills competitions as excellent marketing and promotional opportunities for First Citizens as far back as the PGA Tour Championships at Pinehurst No. 2 in the early 1990s and running to the Senior Open in 1994 and the U.S. Women's Open at Pine Needles in 1996. He thought the resort itself an excellent potential customer of the bank and paid a sales call on resort CEO Pat Corso in the mid-'90s. They talked about the banking business and later the conversation evolved to Pinehurst's pending date with the U.S. Open in 1999.

"I'll never forget Pat saying, 'I have no idea how we're going to sell this thing,'" Hyler remembers. "He talked about the limited corporate and commercial markets in the area, the fact that the members were mostly retirees."

It was sort of like the dog catching the car: What do you do now?

Over the coming months, Corso and the head of Pinehurst Championship Management, Jon Wagner, had more talks with Hyler. They devised a strategy: Make the 1999 U.S. Open not a Pinehurst or Sandhills endeavor but a North Carolina event. Hyler chaired the President's Council created to reach out to top business, civic and political leaders across North Carolina.

"We realized we had to make this work," Hyler says. "The opportunity was there for unbelievable exposure for the state of North Carolina. Being unsuccessful was not an option."

Record corporate hospitality sales, a sell-out of public tickets, smooth logistics and a great golf course led to the memorable final day: "I'll never forget it," Hyler says. "The rain, the mist, the cool temperatures, Payne Stewart winning on the last stroke on the last hole. It was a storybook week."

Hyler became acquainted with the inner-workings of the USGA and its top officials that week in June and furthered his ties through the 2001 Women's Open at Pine Needles. In 2004, he was named to the USGA Executive Committee, and two years later, he was named chairman of the Championship Committee. Today, his work in golf comprises the bulk of his time as he decides which of several business "irons in the fire" to pursue. For the time being, the venue of golf is perfect.

"There is no game like it," Hyler says. "It's a game of honor, there are no referees, you call your own penalties. It's a game of respect -- for your fellow competitors, your opponent, respect for the golf course. The ups and downs in a round are like life -- you find out what you're made of. There is nothing like it."

The galleries this week have been wowed by the prodigious length of the 20-something competitors -- they routinely drove the corner of the par-four seventh and landed their tee balls within steps of the green, and finalist Drew Kittleson hit driver and 8-iron on the 510-yard 16th. USGA officials have taken some solace in knowing there is some protection on the way for these classic old courses that are increasingly relegated to pitch-and-putt status by the fun-and-gun crowd.

In 2010, a new rule takes effect under the auspices of the USGA and the Royal & Ancient that will reduce the size and shape of grooves among elite competitors. The rule is the first time equipment has been scaled back in some 80 years and mandates the size of the grooves must be slightly smaller and the edges be rounded instead of square on wedges through 5-iron.

"It will place more of a premium on accuracy off the tee to drive the ball in the fairway," Hyler says. "It should have some impact on the ball in that manufacturers will have to go back and make a little softer ball, one that in turn won't go quite as far. It's a way to bring back shot-making and higher premium on accuracy."

Hyler and fellow USGA officials noted numerous shots throughout the week that won't be possible once players' ability to spin the ball out of rough is diminished. Standing beside the third green Saturday morning, Hyler watched as Adam Mitchell prepared to hit an approach from a hundred yards away to a hole location tucked to the left side of the green. There was little room in front of the flag and little room in the back for error.

"Under the new rules, he would have to play that shot to the front of the green and let it run back to the hole," Hyler said. "No way could he spin it enough from the rough and stop it."

Mitchell then launched his shot, which landed just beyond the flag, checked quickly and stopped 15 feet past the hole.

"See?" Hyler said. "That's what I'm talking about."

With that, Hyler was off to the fourth hole, his eyes peeled to make sure everything was just right for another hole in the U.S. Amateur.