I guess the fact that those certificates are supposed to be given out to reward players seen taking a little extra care of our courses and these people got some for doing nothing obvious is what bothered the OP.
Most of the players in the groups I'm in make it a point to repair multiple ball marks, rake not only their damage in the traps but also some others (you know they're there!) and fill in not only their divots but others. I've seen them do all this with an ambassador sitting in his cart watching. Nothing. I've spoken to GMS about this a couple of times and they tell me they are handing out more of them each year.
I think they are missing a great opportunity to reinforce good course conduct. I joined a group as a single one day and after the group teed off, I grabbed the sand bottle and filled in about 5-6 divots on the tee. An ambassador drove over and gave me a certificate. The other players asked about it and he spent a minute telling them about caring for the course from tee to green. It was as if they were hearing this for the first time. For the rest of the round, they filled in divots, repaired ball marks and raked sand traps. If they rewarded people for doing even a little repair work, I would hope it would snowball, resulting in better conditions in areas the players can affect.
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"the difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
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