connor35

A leaf is a loose impediment. Rule 13-4 says you must not "Touch or move a loose impediment lying in or touching the hazard" where of course a sand trap is a hazard. Interestingly you can remove a beer can or cigarette butt (they are obstructions), but you can't remove a leaf (a loose impediment) from behind your ball (or anywhere else) in a sand trap.

It seems you and/or your lawyer friends are a proponent of neither the law nor common sense, but rather a proponent of doing what benefits you. If I damage someone's property, regardless of the probability of the accident, I would offer to pay.

With such people I've said, "No thank you, I'd rather play by the rules of golf since I'll be using this round in my handicap." It (a) says what you believe, but (b) if you're worried about seeming uptight, which you shouldn't be, explains why you just want to play by the rules. I don't care what a person writes down so long as I'm not betting him. I think the boasters (guys who improve their lies, take things inside the leather, etc) get exposed easily once they play with new guys. Golfers who know me know when I say 86 it means 86 just like when I say I shot 103, I really shot 103. If I'm betting him, I'll be quick to point out his indiscretions. Just this Sunday I mentioned to an opponent in my men's league that he was wrong to remove leaves from behind his ball in a sand trap. I've played with guys who always seem to shot in the 80s in rounds they don't play with me, but I've never seen them shot in the 80s. These people don't fool anyone.

Statistically if you're playing in a stroke play event with a large number of groups, high handicappers will usually win these events. High handicappers also have high variability. An 18 handicap may vary 30 strokes from round to round. A low handicap has little variability. So in a big group of high handicaps, someone is going to go low. He's not a sandbagger, chances are that one will have a good day.

I'm amazed at the lack of responsibility here. If my house is near a road and someone loses control of his car and crashes into it, should I the homeowner pay for his damage because my house is near a road? The golfer destroyed the home owner's personal property which was on his property. The law is quite clear. Opinions don't matter here, the law (which seems rational to me here) does. There is a chance the golfer's home owner's insurance may pay for this. I've seen this, a friend's dad hit a ball onto a road and broke a motorist's headlight. My friend's dad's insurance paid for it.

Final Rounds by James Dodson. A golf writer and his dad have long talked about a trip to Scotland, but never found the time. They finally make plans but then his dad is diagnosed with cancer. They go anyway. Beautiful book about fathers & sons and life and golf and how the three interact and what you can learn about one from the other. One of the top 5 books I've ever read, and by far the best golf book I've ever read.

I run a Mac and I'd be happy to beta test this. Please let me know how I might help.

Reid, that would be Dean Knuth, the "Pope of the Slope". If you've never been there, check out http://www.popeofslope.com/ Knuth's website.

Where in Indiana are you? Around Indianapolis The Fort (east side), Eagle Creek (west side) and Purgatory and Bare Slide (North in Hamilton County) are my favorites. Further north both Purdue (Pete Dye) and Notre Dame (Coore/Crenshaw) have great courses available to the public.