2012 will see a few rule changes, which have been agreed upon by the USGA and the R&A. Two significant changes are among those that will appear in the Rules book.

Rule 13-4, “Ball in Hazard: Prohibited Actions:” Exception 2 to the rule has been amended to permit a player to smooth sand or soil in a hazard at any time, including before playing from that hazard. This assumes that such action is done solely to care for the course. The change will allow a player or caddie retrieving a rake to smooth footprints before the player makes a stroke from the bunker, thus saving time and encouraging good etiquette.

Rule 18-2b, “Ball Moving After Address:” An exception has been added to exonerate the player from penalty if “it is known or virtually certain that he did not cause the ball to move,” such as with a gust of wind. The ball must be played from its new position. In the past, a player was penalized one stroke and the ball had to be returned to its original position. There could be confusion, though. According to the USGA explanation, “if a player’s ball moves after address on a windless day, he will be subject to penalty under Rule 18-2b.”

Two real situations at the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic preceded the changes. This spring at the New Orleans event, Webb Simpson was challenging for his first tour title. Standing on the 15th green Sunday, he held a one-stroke lead. As he prepared to tap in a one-foot par putt, his ball moved. Simpson was penalized one stroke and ultimately lost a sudden death playoff to Bubba Watson.

Simpson, pointing to wind and firm, crusty greens, said he had been victimized by a “bad rule.”

“I’m obviously happy that it is being changed,” Simpson said of Rule 18-2b. “It’s a rule that 100 percent of PGA Tour players would agree should be changed.

In the 2008 Zurich Classic, Stewart Cink was disqualified as a consequence of Rule 13-4. Cink, with his ball resting on grass, had to stand in a fairway bunker to hit the shot. The ball flew into a greenside bunker. Meanwhile his caddie raked the fairway bunker. Under the old rule, that should have been a two-stroke penalty — for testing the surface of one bunker while his ball was in another bunker — although Cink didn’t know it. He signed his scorecard without the penalty. Later he was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. The outcry from players and fans was enormous.

Other rule changes are:

• “Searching for Ball:” A player can search for his ball anywhere on the course when it may be covered by sand and to clarify that there is no penalty if the ball is moved in these circumstances. However, if a ball in a hazard is moved when covered by loose impediments (leaves), there is a penalty of one stroke.

• Hole-in-one prizes for amateurs: The R&A has joined the USGA in exempting hole-in-one prizes from the limits for amateurs. This does not apply to long-drive or closest-to-the-pin prizes.

• Arriving late for a starting time: What was previously a local rule is now a fixed part of the rules. For a player staring late, but within five minutes of his starting time, the penalty will be reduced from disqualification to loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play.

• • •

The following question came to me last week:

Last week, I made the greatest putt of my life. Almost. My 80-footer was tracking towards the flagstick, which my friend was tending. It was about to fall when my pal dropped his ball, which bounced off his shoe and knocked my miracle putt off course. He was apologetic and gave me the putt, but I’m not sure I earned it.

Your friend jumped the gun in giving you the putt. Since his error was accidental, Decision 19-5/1.7 states that you had the option of playing your ball where it stopped or replaying your lengthy putt.

The following was sent to me by a regular reader of my column, Phillip Younger. I think it is worthy of repeating.

Greetings!

You may not know it but I’ve been very busy over the past two years putting my thoughts and ideas together in a book about Golf. I am very proud of the results and in order to market the publication, I am asking friends and family to be the first to own a copy. Below is the Table of Contents from my new book, “Winning Golf Strategies,” that I believe gives the reader valuable playing tips and insider information that I’ve gained through my own years of experience in the game and observations of golfing partners.

Table Of Contents

Chapter 1 – How to properly line up your Fourth putt. Chapter 2 – How to hit a Nike from the rough when you hit a Titleist from the tee.

Chapter 3 – How to avoid the water when you lie 8 in a bunker.

Chapter 4 – How to get more distance off the Shank.

Chapter 5 – When to give the Ranger the finger.

Chapter 6 – Using your shadow on the Greens to maximize earnings.

Chapter 7 – When to implement Handicap Management.

Chapter 8 – Proper excuses for drinking beer before 9 a.m.

Chapter 9 – How to urinate behind a 4” x 4” post… Undetected.

Chapter 10 – How to rationalize a 6 hour round.

Chapter 11- How to find that ball that everyone else saw go in the water.

Chapter 12 – Why your spouse doesn’t care that you birdied the 5th.

Chapter 13 – How to let a Four-some play through your Two-some.

Chapter 14 – How to relax when you are hitting three off the Tee.

Chapter 15 – When to suggest major swing corrections to your opponent.

Chapter 16 – God and the meaning of “The Birdie-To-Bogey Putt”.

Chapter 17 – When to re-grip your Ball Retriever.

Chapter 18 – Use a strong grip on the Hand Wedge and Weak Slip on the Foot Wedge.

Chapter 19 – Why male golfers will pay $5.00 a beer from the Cart Girl and give her a $3 tip, but will balk at a $3.50 beer at the 19th hole and stiff the Bartender.

Hopefully you will find my book intriguing and purchase a copy.  Thank You!

Today’s column will try to demonstrate the importance of The Rules of Golf. Understanding the terms used in the Rules of Golf is of prime importance. For example the following differences in word usage are:

• May = optional
• Should = recommended
• Must = instructed (and penalty if not carried out)
• A ball = you may substitute another ball (e.g. Rules 26,27, or 28)
• The ball = you may not substitute another ball (e.g. Rules 24-2 or 25-1)

The above words appear in almost all of the rules.

Section I relates to etiquette in the game. Section II of the rules book concerns definitions. I think this is the foundation for all the rules that follow. There are 61 definitions in Section II. There are 34 rules in Section III, the basis for actual play. The final sections are the appendices; Appendix I concerns Local Rules, Conditions of Competition. Appendix II involves the Design of Clubs, while Appendix III specifies regulations for the ball. The final section of the rulebook concerns the rules of Amateur Status.

I hope I haven’t confused my readers, but playing by the rules helps to maintain the integrity of the game, hence it is important for the player to acquaint himself and herself with the rules. It isn’t necessary to know each rule, but it is important to familiarize yourself with those rules that most often come into play. Remember, carry a copy of The Rules of Golf in your golf bag.

• • •

In a more humorous mode, here are a few suggestions for future publication:
1. How to line up your fourth putt.
2. How to hit a Top-Flite from the rough when you hit a Titleist from the tee.
3. How to avoid the water when you lie 8 in the bunker.
4. How to get more distance out of a shank.
5. Crying and how to handle it.
6. How to rationalize a seven-hour round.
7. How to find a ball that everyone else saw go into the water.
8. How to let a foursome play through your twosome without getting embarrassed.
9. How to relax when you are hitting 3 off the tee.
10. When you should regrip your ball retriever.

• • •

From a reader comes this inquiry:

My approach flew long and my friend found my ball in very high grass behind the green. We verified it was my ball and I took a hack at it. My friend said, “Nice shot,” which I thought was sarcastic because I saw a ball fly out short and left. Turns out that my ball was a few feet from the pin. I had also dislodged a second ball, unseen by either of us before my swing. I putted out for par, but did I incur a penalty for striking two balls?

The answer is there is no penalty. In accordance with Decision 15/2, you are not responsible for abandoned balls that you accidentally dislodge from their hiding places. Not only are you not penalized for hitting the “wrong” ball, you are also not required to hit your ball again, so you were free to putt out. That means that your shot was twice as good. Not only did you save par, but you also got to pocket a free ball.

I haven’t answered questions from readers for some time. I think it’s time I did so now. Here goes.

A player putts and the ball comes to rest just short of the hole. The player then instinctively throws his putter toward the ball, just misses. Should the player incur a penalty for a breach of Rule 1-2, which prohibits taking action to influence the position of a ball?

No. Decision 14/6 deals with a similar case. If the putter had moved the ball, the player would have incurred a penalty stroke under Rule 18-2a and would be required to replace the ball.

In a match between A and B, A has made two strokes and the ball with which he made his second stroke out of the rough is on the green. B, having played five, concedes the hole to A. A then discovers that he has played a wrong ball to the green. What is the ruling?

A lost the hole (Rule 15-3a) before B conceded it to him. Therefore, B’s concession was irrelevant.

Decision 8-1/10 states that it is not a breach of Rule 8-1 for A to look into B’s golf bag to determine which club B used for his last stroke. Suppose a towel was covering B’s clubs and A removed the towel in order to determine which club B had used, would that be a breach of Rule 8-1?

Yes. A player is prohibited from obtaining such information through a physical act.

A player’s ball starts moving during his backswing and he strikes the ball while it is still moving. What is the ruling?

There is no penalty under Rule 14-5 because the ball began to move after the player had begun his backswing. However, if the player had caused the ball to move or had addressed it, he would incur a penalty stroke under Rule 18-2a or 2-b.

A player’s ball embeds in the side of the hole. Part of the ball is above the level of the lip of the hole. What is the ruling?

The ball is not holed — see definition of “Holed.” The player may play the ball as it lies or lift the ball under Rule 16-1b, repair the damage under Rule 16-1c and place the ball on the lip of the hole.

A player playing from the teeing ground misses the ball completely. He pushes his tee further into the ground and plays. What is the ruling?

When the player made a stroke, the ball was in play. By pushing the tee further into the ground, he moved the ball and incurred a penalty of one stroke under Rule 18-2a and was required to replace it. However, when the player made a stroke at the ball without replacing it, he played under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 27-1a). This procedure overrides Rule 18-2a and, therefore, the penalty under Rule 18-2a does not apply.

A player rotates his ball on the putting green to line up the trademark with the hole. He did not lift the ball, mark its position or change its position. Is there a penalty?

Yes, one stroke for touching the ball other than as provided for in the Rules, Rule 18-2a. Under Rule 16-1b and 20-1, a ball on the putting green may be lifted (or touched and rotated) after its position has been marked. If the player had marked the position of the ball before rotating it, there would have been no penalty.

May a player draw a line on his ball and when replacing his ball, position the ball so that the line on the trademark on the ball is aimed to indicate the line of play?

Yes. This is a revised ruling.

The balls of A and B are in the same heel mark in a bunker. B’s ball is farther from the hole. A lifts his ball under Rule 22-2, and B plays and obliterates the heel mark. What should A do?

Under Rule 20-3b, A is required to recreate his original lie as nearly as possible, including the heel mark, and place the ball in that lie.

I am often asked questions about the different kinds of golf balls we use on the course. There are numerous types of construction, however, golf balls can basically be looped into four main categories. These divisions are multilayer construction, two-piece low compression, two-piece performance and two-piece distance.

Multilayer construction
Pro: Each layer serves a different purpose. The soft cover enhances feel, and the inner firm mantle improves the energy transfer to the core, thereby promoting greater distance. Urethane-covered multilayer balls are softer than two-piece balls and can spin more when chipping and playing out of a bunker. Urethane is considered just as soft as balata but more durable and consistent.

Con: Many multilayer balls do not have a urethane cover, hence are designed for tour players with swings of 100-130 mph. Urethane covers have a tendency to slow the spin rate and thereby decreases the distance potential.

Examples of this type of ball are Ben Hogan Apex tour, Callaway HX and CTU, Maxfli M3, Nike TA2, Precept U-Tri and Tour Premium, Titlist Pro VI, Top Flite Tour and Wilson Tru Tour V. Price range is $25 to $50 a dozen.

Two-piece low compression
Pro: For moderate swing speed, these balls are at their best. You will find some balls in this group have low spin to improve accuracy and softer covers to improve feel.

Con: Spin will suffer with soft feel, making shots around the green a bit more difficult.

Examples are Maxfli Noodle, Nike Power Distance, Precept Lady and Laddie, and Titlist DT SoLo. Price range is $15 to $25 a dozen.

Two-piece performance
Pro: These balls have large cores and thin covers. As a result it may be easier for the core to compress when the ball meets the clubface, thus leading to greater distance.

Con: On short shots, spin is markedly reduced compared to the multilayer urethane ball.

Examples are Callaway CBI and HX, Slazenger Tour Platinum, Maxfli A3, Titlist NXT and NXT Tour, Top Flite Infinity and Wilson True Velocity. Price range is $20 to $30 a dozen.

Two-piece distance
Pro: Certainly less spin, hence less hook or slice. Higher launch because the polymer cover tends to slide up the clubface at impact. Harder covers will assuredly reduce damage to the ball from abrasion (miss hits). Finally, they are the cheapest, often less than a dollar a ball.

Con: Less spin! This may create problems around the green. The feel is lacking, but this isn’t too important for the mid-range handicapper.

Examples are Pinnacle Gold, Callaway Warbird, Top Flite XL and Wilson Jack. Price range is $10 to $20 a dozen.

Try to remember these facts when buying golf balls: Less spin with the driver can reduce hooks and slices. More spin with irons may help shots stay on the green close to where they land. An 8-iron swung at average speed of 75 mph results in similar distances, but produces more spin with the multilayer ball and the two-piece performance ball compared to the two-piece distance ball. The multilayer ball spins significantly more than two-piece models and flies at a lower trajectory. This seems to indicate that the urethane cover and multilayer design provides better precision.

Choosing the ball best suited for your game is a question of priorities. If you want distance, buy a two-piece performance ball. If you are looking for price and value, buy a two-piece distance ball. If you’re like me, buy the ball on sale or search the water hazards and play any ball you are lucky enough to retrieve.

• • •

Let’s return to the humor in the game…

Author unknown: “I’ve spent most of my life golfing, the rest I’ve just wasted.”

Ray Floyd: “They call it golf because all the other four-letter words were taken.”

Pete Dye: “The ardent golfer would play Mt. Everest if somebody would put a flagstick on top.”

Jim Bishop: “Golf is played by 20 million mature American men whose wives think they are out having fun.”

Jack Benny: “Give me golf clubs, fresh air and a beautiful partner, and you can keep the clubs and the fresh air.”

Jack Lemon: “If you think it’s hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball.”

Author unknown: “If I hit it right, it’s a slice. If I hit it left, it’s a hook. If I hit it straight, it’s a miracle.”

In the early 1980s, Arnold Palmer was invited to a five-day golf experience and teaching expedition to Saudi Arabia by one of the princes of that country. Arnie was a little hesitant to go, but since it was not in the golf tour season he agreed. Palmer spent five days playing golf with the prince and actually enjoyed his time there, living in the lap of luxury and enjoying all the fruits of royal treatment.

At dinner on the final day, the prince informed Palmer that he would be sending him a gift. Hesitantly, Arnie said that wasn’t necessary. The prince insisted and Palmer flew back to the states. He thought of the many possibilities of the kind of gift that might be forthcoming. His prime consideration was a solid gold putter or other such club. Perhaps a jeweled Rolex watch. Maybe, just cash.

For six weeks Arnie checked his mail…nothing was forthcoming. Finally on the sixth week the gift arrived. To his utter surprise it came in the form of a legal document, a deed to a 465-acre golf club in the beautiful, rolling countryside of western Pennsylvania. A club indeed…it was an entire golf club and course! That same course has become one of the finest public courses in all of Pennsylvania courtesy of Arnold Palmer.

As an addendum to this story; my nephew, a pediatric urologist and head of that service at Case-Western Reserve in Cleveland, has traveled to Saudi Arabia and other near east countries at the behest of “rulers” to treat their children. His trips were always rewarding, receiving first-class treatment in all respects and was well paid in addition to a Rolex watch or two. What a shame he doesn’t play golf.

• • •

Quote time
Lawson Little, “It is impossible to outplay an opponent you can’t outthink.”

Martha Backman, “Man blames fate for other accidents but feels personally responsible for a hole in one.”

Lee Trevino, “You can talk to a fade but a hook won’t listen.”

Johnny Miller, “When Jack Nicklaus played well, he won. When he played badly, he finished second. When he played terribly, he finished third.”

Chi Chi Rodriguez, “The winds were blowing 50 mph and gusting to 70 from my back. I hit a par 3 with my hat.”

Lee Trevino, “One of the nice things about the Senior Tour is that we can take a cart and cooler. If your game stinks, you can always have a picnic.”

Henry Beard, “The odds of hitting a duffed shot increase by the square of the number of people watching.”

Jack Nicklaus, “A perfectly straight shot with an oversize club is a fluke.”

Rev. Billy Graham, “I never pray on the golf course. Actually, the Lord answers my prayers everywhere except on the course.”

Sam Snead, “Thinking instead of acting is the number one golf disease.”

Lee Trevino, “There are two things you can do with your head down — play golf and pray.”

Bobby Nichols, “Nothing goes down slower than a golf handicap.”

Unknown, “Golf is an easy game…it’s just hard to play.”

Arnold Palmer, “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening — and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.”

• • •

I’d like to add a few personal lines to thank my friends, readers and, yes, strangers who sent more than 100 get-well cards, flowers and gifts, but most of all prayers during my wife’s prolonged illness. At a time when the far end of the tunnel appeared shut down, those prayers tried to snap on the light so that she could see and reach the other end. I am ever so grateful!

The other day an interesting occurrence took place while playing from the tee. I will not mention the player’s name so as to protect his identity and avoid embarrassment. Hence, I will call the player Vinnie.

Vinnie placed his ball on the tee and took a mighty swing. The result was not quite a whiff, but the ball did advance about six inches. Apparently the wind created by the swing did actually move the ball off the tee. Vinnie then picked up his ball, not realizing that was a breach of the rules and worthy of a penalty.

I advised Vinnie of his error, which he attempted to correct by replacing the ball on the tee, another rules infraction (Decision 18-2a/l). In reality, Vinnie was hitting four, one stroke for moving his ball, two strokes for hitting from a wrong place and of course the stroke for his having originally swung at the ball. Use of the tee on his fourth shot does require an explanation, which I chose not to go into at the time nor will I cause added embarrassment at this time. Vinnie is too good a friend. Strange things do occur on the course but friendships are too important, and thus the story had to end at that very moment. It is also that time of year when it is important to forgive and overlook.

Speaking of the holiday season, I think I’d just like to keep it simple and try to let some humor seep into golf, which, too often, is a humorless encounter.

As of this writing there are approximately 1,876 reasons why a person hits a rotten shot and more are being discovered every day. Yet, Lee Trevino has always maintained that his swing has never changed, but now when he looks up the ball seems to go in a direction he never intended. Which brings to mind Bob Hope’s quotation about the difference between he and Babe Didrikson Zaharias — he said he hits like a woman and she hits like a man. There was a great deal of truth to that remark and Hope knew it. She was one heck of a player when equipment was nowhere near what it is today.

I was asked what I think is most important in the play on any given round. I think keeping the ball on the fairway would be my first requisite. Jack Nicklaus has said that keeping a ball on the fairway with a big club is a fluke. Trevino who I love to quote said, “If we hit it perfectly every day, everybody else would quit.” Frankly, I’d like to see more narrow fairways so that everybody would play from the rough like me. The correct thought before hitting the ball is not to have any thought at all. Just go up and hit the bloody thing. Peter Jacobsen said, “The only difference between an amateur and a pro is that the pro calls a shot that goes to the left a fade and an amateur calls it a slice.”

Everybody actually has two swings: a beautiful practice swing and a choked-up one with which they hit the ball. Remember, if you hit the ball off the tee about 150 yards, you most likely will be able to find it. If you hit it 250 yards, you could be in trouble. Also, bear in mind, air offers less resistant than dirt.

• • •

Ground rules for a tournament:

Thou shalt not use profanity.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s putter.

Thou shalt not steal thy neighbor’s ball.

Thou shalt not bear false witness in the final tally.

I know I’ve been rambling while writing this column. Forgive me; my mind has been wandering during the holidays.

HAL LENOBEL
Contributing Columnist
golf@lbknews.com

I will try to answer a few questions that were submitted to me by mail and deserve a response, hopefully a correct one:

After raking a bunker, wouldn’t it be best to place the rake in the sand rather than lay it in the grass beside the sand?
This is a frequently asked question, and looking for the answer causes vexation and bafflement. Similarly, what is the meaning of life? What happens when we die? Where should bunker rakes be left? The USGA recommends leaving the rakes outside bunkers, placed where they won’t affect play. This is not a rule; it is a recommendation.

Can you wear gloves on both hands, and which rule covers this?
The USGA has determined that it is permissible to wear gloves on both hands. Rule 14-3 on artificial devices and unusual equipment prohibits anything that might assist a player in gripping the club, with several exceptions…one of which is that plain gloves may be worn.

Do tour pros protect themselves from the sun?
Yes, most do take extra precautions. Many tour pros have experienced cancerous or pre-cancerous lesions, so they are very careful about protecting themselves from the sun’s rays. Many use waterproof sunscreen so that sweat doesn’t dilute the sun block.

I recently hit a shot to the green and found my ball had plugged into the side of the cup, resting halfway in and halfway out. Was my ball holed out?
A ball is not considered holed out unless the entire ball is below the lip and at rest within the circumference (Decision 16/3). You could play the ball as it lay, or you could have lifted the ball, repaired the damage to the hole and marked the ball on the lip of the hole. However, if the ball had embedded in the side of the hole and was below the lip, you should consider the ball holed out.

• • •

Leave it as you found it
One of the principle tenets of the game is to “leave the course as you found it.” That has some serious implications and requirements for all players. You should remember a few basic guidelines.

Tees: They are inexpensive and sometimes provided by the pro shop. That doesn’t mean you should leave tees in or on the ground, even in pieces. They can wreak havoc with mowers. Pick them up!

Practice swings: Try not to gouge out the turf with your practice swings. After your shot retrieve and replace your divots or, depending on the kind of grass, fill it with sand-and-seed mixture usually provided by the course. If the divots are to be replaced, put them back in the ground the way they came out and gently tamp down. If the divot hole needs to be filled, the mixture is generally found on your cart. Fill the hole, then pat down to ensure an even surface.

Bunkers: Take a rake with you and enter bunkers on the low side; you can cause an avalanche by entering from the high side. Set the rake down out of your way. Do not rake before you hit; that constitutes testing the conditions, a penalty. After you strike the ball, smooth any deep depressions with the flat side of the rake before using the teeth to finish the job, evening the surface and erasing footprints.

Ballmarks: Left unrepaired, these turn into putt-deflecting pockmarks. The rule should be “fix yours and another one, too.” Insert a tee or ballmark repair tool into the edges of the mark and bring them to the center with a gentle twist. Don’t lift the grass. Tamp down with your putter.

Do everyone a favor — practice those few basic precepts and you will leave the course as you found it.

• • •

Humor?
“Real golfers don’t cry when they line up their fourth putt. Half of golf is fun, the other half is putting.” –Peter Dobereiner

“A ball will always come to rest halfway down a hill, unless there is sand or water at the bottom.” –Henry Beard

“Actually, the only time I ever took out a one iron was to kill a tarantula. And I took seven to do that.” –Jim Murray

“I deny allegations made by Bob Hope that during my last game I hit an eagle, a birdie, an elk and a moose.” –Gerald Ford

“I’ve lost balls in every hazard and on every course I ever played. But when I lose a ball in the ball-washer, it’s time to take stock.” –Milton Gross

This is the two-hundredth “Tee Time” article that I have written for Longboat Key News. It has been most rewarding in that I have received so many comments, questions, corrections and laudatory letters, cards and e-mails during my more than three years tenure as author of the column. I am grateful for the many times when I have been stopped by readers and told they read my column and enjoy it. That is more than enough compensation to help me continue to write. My thanks to all who read “Tee Time,” especially those who take the trouble to write to me.

I think this is a good opportunity to add a little humor to the game. The pro season is winding down and the season here in the Sunshine State is upon us. Here are 15 tidbits you might enjoy, unless you’ve heard them before:

Golf can be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.

I wish I could play my normal game…just once.

If you find you don’t mind playing golf in the rain, the snow, even during a hurricane, here’s a valuable tip: your life is in trouble.

Golfers who try to do everything perfect before taking the shot rarely make a perfect shot.

The term “mulligan” is really a contraction of the phrase “maul it again.”

A “gimme” can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers…neither of whom can putt very well.

An interesting thing about golf is that no matter how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse.

Golf is a hard game to figure. One day you’ll go out and slice it and shank it, hit into all the bunkers and miss every green. The next day you go out and for no reason at all you really stink.

I play in the low 80s. If it’s any hotter than that, I won’t play.

If your best shots are the practice swing and the “gimme putt,” you might wish to reconsider the game.

Golf is the only sport where the most feared opponent is you.

Golf is like a marriage: if you take yourself too seriously it won’t work…and both are expensive.

To some golfers the greatest handicap is the ability to add correctly.

If you find yourself pleased that you locate more balls in the rough than you actually have lost, your focus is entirely wrong and your personality might not be right for golf…it is also just a matter of time before the IRS investigates your business.

Why is it twice as difficult to hit over water than sand?

• • •

A few quotations:

Billy Graham: “I never pray on the golf course. Actually, the Lord answers my prayers everywhere except on the course.”

Bob Hope: “President Ford waits until he hits his first drive to know what course he’s playing that day.”

Harry Ranson (when a shot he hit rebounded from a tree and hit him in the stomach): “When they start hitting back at me, it’s time to quit.”

Dave Hill: “My game is so bad I gotta hire three caddies — one to walk the left rough, one for the right rough and one down the middle. And the one in the middle doesn’t have much to do.”

Dave Marr: “At my first Masters, I got the feeling that if I didn’t do well, I wouldn’t go to heaven.”

Seve Ballesteros: “I don’t like doctors. They are like golfers. Every one has a different answer to your problem.”

Bobby Jones: “One reason golf is such an exasperating game is that a thing learned is so easily forgotten and we find ourselves struggling year after year with faults we had discovered and corrected time and time again.”

Peter Alliss: “All games are silly, but golf, if you look at it dispassionately, goes to extremes.”

Gary Player: “It’s funny, but the more I practice, the luckier I become.”

Lee Trevino (after his three playing partners drove into the woods): “What’s over there? A nudist colony?”

Bob Hope: “If you watch a game it’s fun. If you play at it, it’s recreation. If you work at it, it’s golf.”

I was asked this week to discuss iron shafts. Much is written about shafts for woods, but little is mentioned relative to iron shafts.

A strange statistic is revealed relative to the usage of iron shafts by tour pros. Seventy-eight percent of the top 200 tour pros use steel shafts, whereas 82 percent of tour pros use graphite woods and 85 percent of them use metal woods. In comparison to amateur players, a poll recently taken determined that 81 percent of amateurs use graphite iron shafts as well as wood shafts. The response to the question as to why pros use steel iron shafts most often was the ability of tour pros to have greater control with steel-shafted irons. Most amateurs have been sold graphite in all clubs basically so that manufacturers would have the ability to sell more replacement clubs. It won’t be long before a new material will show up forcing us to buy new clubs.

There is a section in The Rule of Golf, Appendix II (page 126) that determines the “Design of Clubs.” For example the length of a club cannot exceed 48 inches and must be longer than 18 inches. Some years ago, Hubie Green actually used a putter that was shorter than 18 inches. The measurement of length is taken when the club is lying on a horizontal plane and the sole is set against a 60-degree plane. Clubs in breach of the maximum length limit as specified in Appendix II, lc, which were in use or marketed prior to Jan. 1, 2004, and which otherwise conform to the Rules, may no longer be used.

The shaft must be straight from the top of the grip to a point more than five inches above the sole, measured from the point where the shaft ceases to be straight along the axis of the bent part of the shaft and the neck and/or socket. This rule thereby permits putters to have crooked putter heads, which many players use today.

It is permissible for putters to have grips that are not circular in nature. They may have a flat surface. However, for clubs other than putters, the grip must be circular in cross section, except that a continuous, straight, slightly raised rib may be incorporated along the full length of the grip, and a slightly indented spiral is permitted on a wrapped grip or a replica of one.

The material and construction of, or any treatment to, the face or clubhead must not have the effect at impact of a spring, or impart significantly more or less spin to the ball than a standard steel face, or have any other effect which would unduly influence the movement of the ball. This has caused much concern in the last few years, which permits a tour pro using a high impact spring-like driver to hit a ball 325 yards.

I sincerely hope I didn’t confuse my readers, but these Rules have caused a great deal of consternation to the USGA and the Royal and Ancient. If improvement of clubs and the distance they permit a ball to travel might some day have the affect of making many shorter courses obsolete. It is the function of the Rules makers not to allow this to happen.

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Quiz yourself
Here are a few questions that might interest you:

1. In match play, a player’s line of putt will take the ball off the green on its way to the hole. His caddie touches the ground with the flagstick on the fringe to indicate where the player should aim. Is this a penalty?

2. Is it permissible to place a marker on the green in front of your ball, rather than behind it?

3. A ball comes to rest on a cart path made of compressed soil. Is the player entitled to relief without penalty?

4. A ball on the fairway is covered with mud. Can you mark its position, pick it up and clean off a portion to identify it?

Answers
1. Rule 16-la. Prohibition is on touching the line of putt. Hence, there is a penalty.

2. There is no penalty; you can mark a ball on any side of the ball, Rule 20-1/19. However, you must return the ball to the same position when you replace it.

3. No. A cart path that has not been artificially surfaced is not an obstruction, Rule 24/9.

4. Yes, Rule 12-2 but only clean the amount of mud necessary to identify the ball.