Rules of Golf - Resources for Juniors.

[daSeth]

Any good resources for rules of Golf for Juniors?  I have a 12-year old son who is starting to play in tournaments.  The format is no caddies, no assistance from parents.  I fear that my guy just does not know the rules well enough.  Giving him the USGA  rulebook would be pretty worthless.  Any good resources out there?

[Rulesman]

https://www.usga.org/PublicationStore/PubStoreProductDetails.aspx?id=21474846085

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by daSeth

Any good resources for rules of Golf for Juniors?  I have a 12-year old son who is starting to play in tournaments.  The format is no caddies, no assistance from parents.  I fear that my guy just does not know the rules well enough.  Giving him the USGA  rulebook would be pretty worthless.  Any good resources out there?

The best way to give him a working knowledge of the rules is to go out with him and make a point of walking him through the normal playing procedures.  Find a time or course when you can take your time and go through all of the possibilities for various situations.  Some can even be worked on away from the course, in a park, or even in your own yard.  Many of those procedures make more sense when actually performed, not just read or talked about.

Of course that only works if you are well grounded in those rules yourself.

[bubble]

no caddies and no parents doesnt mean no officials.

any question he may ask to the authorised

[rogolf]

Saw this on another site, it's online....

http://rulesofgolf.golfcanada.ca/01-00-0001/

[Rulesman]

Excellent

[daSeth]

Thanks for the input guys.  We did a rule blitz on Friday night before the tournament.  He shot 40 in a qualifying 9-hole game for the local county tour on Saturday.  Target score was 46.  No rule issues came up for him, he played pretty solid.  And they do have officials available whenever needed.

[rogolf]

Good performance!  It's always good for him to become his own "official" by knowing the most used Rules.

Two questions to teach a player:

- "are you a rules official (referee) for this competition?"

- if yes, then "what are my options here?"

A rules official (referee) loves to hear the open questions (what, how?) as it gives them a chance to "strut their stuff".  Referees are warned about giving options to players when they haven't been asked for them, on the basis that they don't (can't) do this for everyone.  It's up to the players to ask, and the good ones make use of the resource available.

[Rulesman]

Originally Posted by rogolf

Referees are warned about giving options to players when they haven't been asked for them, on the basis that they don't (can't) do this for everyone.

That's news to me. I've never had that warning either at a School or by a Chief Referee.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Rulesman

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogolf

Referees are warned about giving options to players when they haven't been asked for them, on the basis that they don't (can't) do this for everyone.

That's news to me. I've never had that warning either at a School or by a Chief Referee.

Me either.  We were instructed to step in if we saw that someone might be headed wrong, but at the same time we weren't supposed to be out there interfering with the players.  Often, if we had enough officials working the competition, we would post a couple of officials at potential problem spots to be visible observers who would make themselves immediately available for questions and watch the players as they went through any necessary procedures, offering assistance if they saw any indication of confusion or procedural mistakes.

There was one course where it was common for the players to drive the ball through the dogleg and across the margin of a lateral water hazard, but there was nearly 30 yards of dry land between the margin and the watercourse.  It was not  uncommon for players to treat it as through the green, despite the clear marking of the margin.  I was posted there one time and assisted more than a dozen players in making the right drop or play from within the hazard.  One time I even had to call a player for a breach of Rule 13-4.  Even after he had asked for assistance and clarified the fact that his ball was in the hazard, he kicked a bunch of pebbles out from under his feet, clearly moving loose impediments in a manner not allowed (he said he was "digging in" as if he was in a bunker, but he was clearly "pawing" pebbles out from under his feet).  He acted so quickly and unexpectedly that I wasn't able to stop him before the rule was breached.  He protested the ruling and we all went out to the spot of the foul and worked through it.  My ruling was upheld by the committee.  I didn't like being put in that situation, but my job was to protect the field, regardless of my own feelings about it.

[rogolf]

See Decision 34-2/3  Referee Warning Player about to Infringe Rule

"If he volunteers information about the Rules, he should do so uniformly to all players."

[Rulesman]

The R&A; and USGA publications re running a competition suggest a Referee should be rather more proactive on the basis that all referees act in the same manner to all players and are therefore performing their duties impartially.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by rogolf

See Decision 34-2/3  Referee Warning Player about to Infringe Rule

"If he volunteers information about the Rules, he should do so uniformly to all players."

This doesn't mean that he has to witness all players at all times.  It simply means that he has to act equally on any act he questions regardless of who the player is.

[rogolf]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

This doesn't mean that he has to witness all players at all times.  It simply means that he has to act equally on any act he questions regardless of who the player is.

That's not how I interpret it.  To me it means not to volunteer information on the Rules to a player when he cannot provide the same information for all the players, ie don't volunteer information, but do address/answer questions.

I do agree that the referee must treat every player equally and with respect, and part of treating them equally is not to volunteer Rules information individually or one off.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by rogolf

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

This doesn't mean that he has to witness all players at all times.  It simply means that he has to act equally on any act he questions regardless of who the player is.

That's not how I interpret it.  To me it means not to volunteer information on the Rules to a player when he cannot provide the same information for all the players, ie don't volunteer information, but do address/answer questions.

I do agree that the referee must treat every player equally and with respect, and part of treating them equally is not to volunteer Rules information individually or one off.

Your interpretation is wrong then.

What you suggest would be a physical impossibility.  Nobody could be in a position to interact with every player in a 140 player field.  No rules honest official could avoid feeling guilty if he just sat by and passively watched a player incur an avoidable penalty.  We aren't the cold, unfeeling automatons that you make us out to be.  I take it that you refuse to accept the word of those of us who have actually worked as on course officials and have been trained for it. Tell me, by what real world experiential authority do you come by your information?

[Rulesman]

This raises the question of the referee’s ethical position when he sees a player about to break

the Rules. The referee is not responsible for a player’s wilful breach of the Rules, but he

certainly does have an obligation to advise players about the Rules. It would be contrary to the

spirit of fair play if a referee failed to inform a player of his rights and obligations under the

Rules and then penalised him for a breach that he could have prevented. The referee who tries

to help players to avoid breaches of the Rules cannot be accused of favouring one player

against the other, since he would act in the same manner towards any player and is, therefore,

performing his duties impartially.

[rogolf]

We aren't the cold, unfeeling automatons that you make us out to be.  I take it that you refuse to accept the word of those of us who have actually worked as on course officials and have been trained for it . Tell me, by what real world experiential authority do you come by your information?

You can include me in that same group.  My Rules credentials, training and experience are extensive; I'm not going to list them, nor ask for yours.  This isn't a poker game.  :)

We seem to be hung up on two different points -

1.  Trying to prevent a player from breaking a Rule is part of a referee's responsibility, and I have no disagreement with that what-so-ever.

2,  Volunteering information on the Rules and their options to players who have not asked, and that is not part of the referee's responsibility, imo.  This is where the warning "if you can't do it for everyone, don't do it for anyone" enters the picture.  An example of this would be seeing a player proceeding correctly under 26-1a or 26-1b for a lateral water hazard and going over, without being asked, to advise him of the other (perhaps more beneficial) options of 26-1c.

[Rulesman]

Re point 2. If the player looked to be confident of his (correct) action, I would not intervene. If he seemed hesitant (not about the best choice of play but the correctness of his action), I would volunteer assistance.