Sorry for the TST Rule Quiz hiatus, Sand Trappers, but I am back and ready to test your rules knowledge. I mean you can never know the rules too well, right?
In this third installment of the Rules Quiz, we delve into some useful rulings for tournament play. My hope is that after reading this someone out there who is sitting on the fence trying to decide whether or not to start playing in their club’s tournaments will feel confident enough to go ahead and join up. The rules are there to help you, and for the most part are fairly simple if you get the basics down. For all the lesser known rules, you can carry a USGA Rule Book. The point is there is never anything bad about playing by the rules.
The folks at 
Hello and welcome to the MLK Day edition of Hittin’the Links. With any luck some of you, like me, will get to tee it up on this extended weekend. If not, well, I’ll hit a drive for you. Lots of things going on this week. The inauguration is causing a big buzz, even in the golf world, with none other than Tiger Woods speaking.
My crystal ball seems to have developed an astigmatism of late. My fantasy football team, the Big Darby Beer Mussels, finished 3-13. I was so far down in the office bowl picks that I nearly won my entry money back for coming in last.
Rule 12-2 in the 2008 USGA Rules of Golf states “The responsibility for playing the proper ball rests with the player. Each player should put an identification mark on his ball.” Anyone who plays competitive golf knows the importance of being able to identify your ball. In fact, the people at Sanford, the makers of the Sharpie Marker, have made more than a little money from the golf industry by this very fact.
The Sand Trap wants to take this opportunity to thank you for stopping by. Everyone here at The Sand Trap wishes you nothing but the happiest of holidays and plenty of birdies in 2009.
The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan was written by author