Big Break Ka'anapali

[Clubchucker]

The whole "rule infraction" crap (and I do mean crap) was, according to Weeble Wobble's argument was "we're not on a teeing ground".

While part of that may be true (since they can't use tees I'm assuming), part of it is untrue....since they're "placing" the ball...not taking an official-type drop. I'm with the majority...the rules official blew that one in my opinion.

[$2 Nassau]

LOL

Yes, Lori is up there with Donatello. My all time least favorite big breaker is a guy they called "country club" I believe because he was always talking about how great his club was compared to the "crappy" course they played on the Big Break. Can't remember his name...help!!

This guy is just an ass. He'd miss a putt and immediately mutter something about how the greens are terrible compared to the ones at his club. All he did was talk about how terrible the other golfers were, but when it came time for him to make a shot, he never did, not even once did he come through with the pressure on.

I think there was both men and women on this particular big break (big break #6?) because I remember him talking down to the women and treating them like dirt. Hated that guy.

What was his name? Wore big ugly 1970's eye glasses I think.

EDIT: his name is Gary Ostrega, he was on BBVII with Donatello.

[jking]

EDIT: his name is Gary Ostrega, he was on BBVII with Donatello.

Yep, I didn't like him either. He was also on the Big Break prior to that one... the one with Trump. The one he was on with Donatello was "Reunion", with a bunch of previous Big Breakers returning. On the subject of Donatello, I didn't like him that much, but at least he has the game to back up his boasting.

[pinbacksc]

I wish Lori would just stfu. i cant stand the bizzle. If I was Cristina(who is hot as **** ) i would have wacked her with an open faced sand-wedge......mmmmm.....open faced sandwich.

[Ogg]

I think Lori is the hottest....uh, did I just post that????

I was eating my lunch when I read this......made me stop eating, maybe forever.

[wolverine318]

I was eating my lunch when I read this......made me stop eating, maybe forever.

maybe????? lol

its funny today was teh first time my wife watched the show and she hates Lori. Props to Christina for pulling through with everyone there against you. What a lack of class by lori calling these "rules" infractions. 100% blatently being a bitch.

[worst_shot_ever]

New to the forum -- first post in fact. Hello all.

So I must say that I dislike Lori as well -- seems to me she of all people has no business lecturing anyone about integrity -- and the supposed "rule" claim makes no sense to me in this context anyway. However, as I recall the edited version we saw on TV at least suggested that Christina admitted the violation ... if so, not sure the rules official can be blamed *assuming* she didn't seek a ruling.

As to Xtina's look-alike, I see her more as a better version of Gulbis (taller with less eyeliner!) than Keira Knightly, but I'm sure she'd be pleased by either comparison. I really like Kim, too, by the way -- 300+ yard drives are impressive as hell, and something about her in golf attire is quite appealing. Loved her in that black shirt she was wearing in last night's episode.

So I just started watching the show over the last few episodes -- does anyone know if there's a site somewhere that has a recap of the prior episodes? I looked around the golfchannel's homepage, but couldnt find it there ... but maybe I'm blind (would explain my putting).

[superstaw2b]

sometimes can be fun to watch but the reason there on the big break and not the lpga is because they can't putt. it gets old when they replay the same challenge over and over because they chip it up to somewhere around 10 feet and can never make the putt. so they continue replaying the challenge until someone finally chips it to within "gimmie" range and makes a for sure two and watches the others miss there ten footers yet again! Also andrew magee is much better than that tool they had on the bb mesquite. On the approach I hate that alex micelli (sp) guy, all he knows are stupid stats he probably doesn't even play golf and when he does couldn't break 110. Andrew just laughs at all those stupid stats alex throws out there because when you are inside the ropes it is a whole different game specifically mentally, a game which andrew knows and alex couldn't even fathom

[mruseless]

I think Lori has got to be one of the meanest, unsportsmanlike, dirty people I have ever seen. Unbelievable.

And what's with Sophie calling out Christina at breakfast? Did Christina really step on Sam's line? Maybe, but wasn't it on the far side of the cup? Not sure.

[tbray]

I think Lori has got to be one of the meanest, unsportsmanlike, dirty people I have ever seen. Unbelievable.

Why cant all fat people be jolly like me? Seriously, at the end of the day, none of these girls will make it (on a golf tour at least). Lori will be fat and ugly (inside and out) and Christina will be hot and nice. Who is the real winner here?

As far as the line infraction....ahem...alleged infraction, I believe she was referring to line of sight. May be wrong, but that is what i gathered.

[steve8820]

Lori is a fat pig. Someone should call a rules infraction on her for walking around the green as there is no doubt that she would be making craters.

[bruce]

I'm just upset Susan is eliminated. She is the most vibrant, happy, nice, caring person in the show. Wish you the best Susan!!! We are proud of you!!

Totally agree with you,i was pissed when she was eliminated seemed to be the only one having a good time and not a bitch.

[rudygu]

I was amazed by that "ruling". Have the Big Break shows always randomly applied the rules of golf to their challenges, or was this the first time anyone has been petty enough for them to need it? I watched Mesquite and some of Reunion and never saw anything like that.

I think Lori may get a little more than she bargained for when she pissed off Sophie. In those confessionals they seemed pretty friendly...so she managed to piss off her only friend. Out of the contestants left, Sophie is the last one i'd want gunning for me as she seems to rise to do very well with that sort of motivation.

[iacas]

And what's with Sophie calling out Christina at breakfast? Did Christina really step on Sam's line? Maybe, but wasn't it on the far side of the cup? Not sure.

I don't think she did. In the challenge, they were both putting on the same line from opposite sides of the cup. Sam, it appeared, was on Christina's line as much as Christina was on Sam's line. They were each reading from "behind the hole" respective to the putts they faced. I think both of them were behind the markers of the other players. Sam certainly never said anything.

You'll note that on the PGA Tour pros try not to step on the through line of their playing partners, but that kind of thing doesn't apply here. That's when they're tapping in a foot from the cup. Here's the problem I have with these "rules infractions" and the "etiquette infractions." As a competitor, you have an obligation to call the infraction the instant you see it. You don't let someone, for example, take an improper drop, then call them on it later. Fat Pig Lori saw Christina tamp down the divot, but conveniently waited until after she'd played her shot to make a fuss out of it. Same with "supposedly" walking in Sam's line. She saves up her little "infractions" in her Fat Piggy Bank, then cashes them in later. She did the same thing to Sophie, waiting until she was over the ball almost ready to hit. Lori is the lowest of the low - pure gamesmanship bullshit. And I still don't think it should have been illegal for Christina to tamp down the grass in the teeing area. It's ball-in-hand - that's as close to a teeing situation as I've ever seen. Whatever "official" made the ruling is apparently a Tubby Lover and an idiot to boot.

[Birdiemachine22]

I also think that ruling was a bunch of bull, and if they they are playing by the book im pretty sure they should have got some releif from that big wooden wedge in the middle of the fairway. Each contestant should have an equal opportunity for a good lie in the fairway. She should not be penalized because the player in front of her laid sod leaving a flap of turf right behind where she wanted to place her ball. It may have been an infraction under the rules of golf, but it should not be an infraction under the big break golf rules.

Besides no one wants to see a fat washed up whiney old pig like Lori on the lpga. If she wins they should stop giving these exemptions to the golf channel to give away if they are going waste them on someone thats played on the furtures tour for sixteen years and has already had her card and lost it. It wouldnt really be a big break for her more like a last hurrah before retires, which she probably should have done like five years ago.

[mruseless]

If she wins they should stop giving these exemptions to the golf channel to give away if they are going waste them on someone thats played on the furtures tour for sixteen years and has already had her card and lost it. It wouldnt really be a big break for her more like a last hurrah before retires, which she probably should have done like five years ago.

Good point! There is a reason the $20K would have been her biggest paycheck ever. Perhaps she couldn't handle the pressure when she was on the tour.

Here's the problem I have with these "rules infractions" and the "etiquette infractions."

I agree 100%, although I didn't think of that until you mentioned it.

And I still don't think it should have been illegal for Christina to tamp down the grass in the teeing area. It's ball-in-hand - that's as close to a teeing situation as I've ever seen.

That's what I was thinking too. Those little point boxes are much closer to a teeing ground than they are to a fairway lie since the players can place the ball rather than having to drop it. I don't understand what the rules judge was thinking. I wish they would post some explanation on the Big Break official website.

Would it still have been "illegal" if Christina would have stepped on the grass first and then placed her ball? And another question: is it illegal to do what Christina did during a round of golf? I see tour players tamping down the grass right behind the ball with their club during setup. Isn't that the same thing? I thought as long as the ball didn't move, you could do that.

[Alex B]

Although I agreed with the sentiment that the Lori/Christina ruling was unfair, I decided to check the Rules of Golf to cement my opinion. (The Rules can be accessed online at http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/pdf/2008ROG.pdf .) The first thing I checked was the definition of "teeing ground" (p. 16-7):

The “teeing ground” is the starting place for the hole to be played. It is a rectangular area two club-lengths in depth, the front and the sides of which are defined by the outside limits of two tee-markers. A ball is outside the teeing ground when all of it lies outside the teeing ground.

Was the numbered boxes "the starting place for the hole to be played"? Yes. The more rigorous definition, however - that a teeing ground be "two club-lengths in depth, the front and the sides of which are defined by the outside limits of two tee-markers" - does not apply to the boxes. I would not classify them as a teeing ground.

Next, I moved on to Rule 13-2, which reads:

13-2. Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play
A player must not improve or allow to be improved:
• the position or lie of his ball,
• the area of his intended stance or swing,
• his line of play or a reasonable extension of that line beyond the hole, or
• the area in which he is to drop or place a ball,
by any of the following actions:
• pressing a club on the ground,
• moving, bending or breaking anything growing or fixed (including immovable obstructions and objects defining out of bounds),
• creating or eliminating irregularities of surface,
• removing or pressing down sand, loose soil, replaced divots or other cut turf placed in position, or
• removing dew, frost or water.
However, the player incurs no penalty if the action occurs:
• in grounding the club lightly when addressing the ball,
• in fairly taking his stance,
• in making a stroke or the backward movement of his club for a stroke and the stroke is made,
• in creating or eliminating irregularities of surface within the teeing ground (Rule 11-1) or in removing dew, frost or water from the teeing ground, or
• on the putting green in removing sand and loose soil or in repairing damage (Rule 16-1).

At this point, I starting thinking that the ruling may have been correct. Since the numbered boxed were not (by my analysis) a teeing ground, Christina could not "[remove] or [press] down sand, loose soil, replaced divots or other cut turf placed in position." Things were looking pretty bleak... I had began skimming the Rules to defeat Lori's argument, and my plan was backfiring.

But, something caught my eye: Rule 1-1, the most basic of all.

1-1. General
The Game of Golf consists of playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.

Ha! Were the competitors really "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole"? No: they were neither starting at a teeing ground nor finishing at a hole. This challenge was not Golf; it was merely hitting shots onto an green. The Rules of Golf apply to Golf only, not some pseudo-golf-form in which contestants neither tee off nor putt out.

So where does this leave us? Well, more confused than before... we can't even apply the objective Rules. Without a basis in the Rules, the official had to make a judgment call. In my opinion, he chose wrongly.

[Ogg]

I am going to say that it was a teeing ground since it is where they started playing the hole. That divot area was not part of her intended area to swing, she was playing well in front of that. I do agree that teeing area is rather vague though.

Bottom line is that Lori is petty and mean-spirited. She seems to have an obvious infatuation with Christina and I don't blame Christina for ignoring everyone else and just trying to play her game. She was not trying to get caught up in the garbage as much as Lori was trying to drag her down. Glad Sophie beat her but whoever said it was correct, she p*ssed off her last friend there. I just hope Christina gets her next week.