PGA Tour Players Anonymous Poll

[Golfingdad]

2 hours ago, saevel25 said:

There is this course I have played that runs there greens hard and fast in the summer. This one hole has a three tiered green, with a false front, and a steep drop off that runs about 60-100 yards away from the green. 

Let's say a person putts it off the green and it rolls 60 yards down the hill. He could deem the ball unplayable and hit his putt again with a stroke penalty. Lets say his first putt was 15 feet above the hole. What are the odds he get's his 60 yard pitch inside of 15 feet? Should he be allowed to declare a ball, that is in the fairway, unplayable?

I played in a tournament 5 months or so ago, and I talked about it in some thread on here ( @allenc was there as well) where the greens were insane.  On one hole I four-putted from the same spot - the ball kept just missing and rolling back to where I hit it from, 8 feet away from the hole.  Guy in my group one putted because he hit the first one 8" past the hole and it fell in on its way back. ;)

But it was another hole that gave more people fits, and the situation was similar to what you describe.  Pin precariously near false front, any putt hit too hard from the other side rolled off the front and down near a bunker about 30 yards away.  One guy in particular (group in front of us, so I watched the whole thing) putted off the green, pitched back on, putted back off, pitched back on in two tries, and eventually just gave up.  He picked up and DQ'd himself right there.

I don't know that it would have really helped to take advantage of the unplayable rule (because it wasn't that hard to pitch it back to where he was in the first place) but not until right now did it even dawn on me that he (or any of the others that struggled there) could have considered that.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

True in that situation, but your ball is against a tree, you say you want to hit it lefty, which puts your foot on the path, you take your drop and return to a righty stance. I would guess a lot of people would have called that bending the rules at least, or outright cheating.

It's neither, and I would argue that the person who thinks of it as even bending the rules is a dope, because that type of thing is covered pretty clearly BY the Rules.

It's not "bending the rules" let alone "cheating" if the Rules specifically allow or require the action.

1 hour ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

The mundane we get, but I think if you get a group to move a boulder for you, most would call it cheating. That's not my belief, but many people think rules follow common sense, and if they don't follow the logic it must be cheating. 

If the USGA/R&A thought that rule should be changed, they'd have done so. Instead, this is still current:

 

Quote

 

23-1/3  Assistance in Removing Large Loose Impediment

Q.May spectators, caddies, fellow-competitors, etc. assist a player in removing a large loose impediment?

A.Yes.

 

 

[Broke100Once]

Ernie Els, seemingly the most laid-back guy in the world, is the one PGA players would want backing them up in a bar fight?  Still waters run deep!

[boogielicious]

5 hours ago, Broke100Once said:

Ernie Els, seemingly the most laid-back guy in the world, is the one PGA players would want backing them up in a bar fight?  Still waters run deep!

Ernie is a big, strong dude. Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee. That being said, I would pick Gary Woodland. He's a big dude too and has more of an attitude.

[Rainmaker]

My first reaction was - no way could there be cheating on Tour because it's too easy to get caught and the penalties are too severe.  But, if we're talking about some player out of contention who's ball moves a fraction of an inch and he doesn't call it on himself . .yeah, I believe that. 

Don't forget that the other aspect of an anonymous poll is that you don't have to face up to your accusations.  If a player said he witnessed cheating, he would immediately be asked "who", "when" ,etc.  He may feel like somebody cheated but perhaps he can't back it  up - or he would probably have done so.  An anonymous poll let's him say "yeah - I've seen cheating" . .even though, he may have never really seen cheating that he could prove. 

[RFKFREAK]

Hillary Clinton was definitely getting the love. 

[Patch]

27 minutes ago, Rainmaker said:

My first reaction was - no way could there be cheating on Tour because it's too easy to get caught and the penalties are too severe.  But, if we're talking about some player out of contention who's ball moves a fraction of an inch and he doesn't call it on himself . .yeah, I believe that. 

Don't forget that the other aspect of an anonymous poll is that you don't have to face up to your accusations.  If a player said he witnessed cheating, he would immediately be asked "who", "when" ,etc.  He may feel like somebody cheated but perhaps he can't back it  up - or he would probably have done so.  An anonymous poll let's him say "yeah - I've seen cheating" . .even though, he may have never really seen cheating that he could prove. 

I agree with your thoughts on anonymous polls. I discount them every time. Just no credibility when no name(s) are associated with the poll.  Especially when the poll carries some importance to it.