Your questions answered
HAL LENOBEL
Contributing Columnist
golf@lbknews.com
It’s time to clear up a few odds and ends sitting on my desk and I do that at the same time thanking many of my readers who provide fodder for this column.
One of the greatest upsets in golf occurred in 1929 when Johnny Goodman, the son of a packing house worker and only 19 at the time, defeated Bobby Jones in their first round match at the US Open at PebbleBeach. Goodman went on to achieve greater notoriety, winning the US Open m 1933 as an amateur. To this day he remains the only amateur to have won our national championship.
Questions submitted by readers
Q: Players A and B tee off on the first hole. Before fellow competitor C plays her tee shot, she asks what club they used. A answers “Driver” and B answers “3-wood “ Is there any penalty?
A. Yes, A and B are penalized 2 strokes each. C is not penalized since she did not begin her stipulated round. Rule 8-1.
Q: A player replaces his ball on the putting green but leaves his ball mark behind the ball. A few seconds later, while lining up his putt, the ball moves What is the ruling?
A. There is no penalty and the ball must be played from its new position since the ball is in play when replaced. Rule 20-4/1.
Q: If your ball is on the green and you notice that an old hole plug is on your line of putt has been poorly replaced and is above the level of the green are you permitted relief?
A. Yes. You are allowed to attempt to lower the plug to make it level with the surface of the green or to raise the plug if it is below the green surface If the Committee deems that the plug cannot be leveled without delaying play, the plug should be declared ground under repair and the player should be given relief. The player may then place his ball in the nearest position providing relief from the plug, but no closer to the hole. Old hole plugs and ballmarks are the only types of damage that the player is allowed to repair on the green if it might assist him in the subsequent play of the hole. Rule 16-lc.
Q: Relating to the previous question, what if the player discovers that the hole itself is damaged by something other than a ballmark. What is the proper procedure?
A. If the damage is such that the dimensions of the hole have not been changed, the player should continue play without repairing the hole. If he touches the hole, he is penalized 2 strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play for touching the line of putt (Rule 16-la). If the dimensions of the hole have been changed, the player should request that the committee have the hole repaired. If a committee member is not readily available, the player may repair the damage without penalty.
Q: During match play, A made a putt for a 4. B needed to make her putt for 4. When B putted, A was worried that B’s putt would strike the removed flagstick lying on the other side of the hole. A moved the flagstick out of the way before the ball got there. B missed her putt for 4, but made the next one. What is the outcome of that hole in the match?
A. The hole is halved. A’s removal of the flagstick was a breach of Rule 24-1. Though Rule 17-3 calls for a ball in motion not to strike a removed flagstick, once the ball is in motion, the removal of the flagstick, even though it has been set aside, is not permitted. It must also be noted that Rule 2-2 states that when a player has holed out and her opponent has been left with a stroke for a half, if the player thereafter incurs a penalty, the hole is halved.
Quotes
Don Carter, bowling pro, “One of the advantages bowling has over golf is that you seldom lose a bowling ball.”
Bruce Lansky, “My psychiatrist prescribed a game of golf as an antidote to the feelings of euphoria I experience from time to time.”
Don Herold, “Nobody ever looked up and saw a good shot.”
