There have been so many thrills and accomplishments in Bob Thomas' 25-year career with the Southern California Golf Association, it would take hours to reminisce about them after his retirement this month. The regrets? Few, although he certainly would have liked to pare his handicap. Working for the organization that tallies every golfer's handicap in Southern California, Thomas can't fudge when you ask him about it, and his index number right now: a hearty 24.3. "One of my retirement goals is to get a little bit better, which would imply actually playing and practicing," Thomas joked. It's a truism in the golf industry. The higher you rise in the business, the less time you have to play, and seldom has a golf index number been more irrelevant when measuring a person's contributions to the game. For the past quarter century, Thomas, 63, has been an instrumental part of the SCGA as its director of communications and publisher and editor of FORE Magazine. As the longest standing employee, he has been a roll-up-your-sleeves participant in the enormous changes that have come to the game and the SCGA.