dv7834

I've yet to forgive Stewart Cink for winning that year. What happened to his wife?

I love watching 'The Open", in part because of the crappy weather most years and watching the pros deal with it. But I have to ask: Who the hell wants to live with weather like that in July? Canada is tropical in comparison.

When the argument is lost, attack the poster.

This what I find hard to believe although I guess it's possible. I'm just an ordinary hack, yet I know the rule. He is a pro; it's his livelihood. I find it hard to believe that neither he nor his caddy knew the rule. This is not an obscure rule. However, I will mention that after Azinger's rules gaff during the Open, the possibility exists that a lot of these players are not well versed with the rules.

http://www.barryrhodes.com/2012/06/must-you-search-for-your-lost-ball.html A well-explained answer can be found here, along with other burning questions.

During our round today, a hypothetical scenario was discussed: A ball is within a WH or LWH and the player decides to play it as it lies. The result of his stroke is that the ball remains within the hazard but is now in a worse position, one which negates an attempt at another stroke. How does the player now proceed? Is the original point of entry into the hazard still in effect as far as taking a drop etc., or would the new position of the ball within the hazard determine where a drop could take place? Apologies if this has been covered in a previous thread but I found nothing referring to this situation.

CCR, 1970 or thereabouts.

Boo Weekley was doing stats for them, Hey, why not? If they can use a rules guru like Azinger, why not a numbers guy like Boo?

Let me put it this way: I never consume alcohol when I play golf. However, during scrambles I drink with abandon.

That's interesting. As far as my situation goes, I'm "virtually certain" (ha ha) that no such local rule is in force at our club (it's not listed on the score card), but I'll enquire nonetheless. Anyone have any ideas as to the reasoning behind such a local rule? Would it be to prevent players from cherry picking?

This is exactly how I thought it should have been played. Thanks.

Yes, this was exactly what I thought. I nor any of my FC's saw the ball enter the hazard after hitting the tree. As far as I was concerned, the ball could have been anywhere.

I was playing in a qualifying round for interclub competition. On one hole, my tee shot hit a tree that is in the right side of the fairway, after which the ball disappeared from my view. I asked my fellow competitors if anyone saw my ball drop or go to the right into the red staked area (the red staked area does not contain any water... grrr.... but that's another issue). None of the others saw the ball after it hit the tree. My response was that in that case the ball may be lost and I should hit a provisional. One of the fellow competitors said, "That's fine; however, if you hit a provisional but find your original ball in the lateral water hazard, then you must abandon the provisional and play the original ball as it lies. " I agreed with him, but added that the rules allow for a number of one-stroke-penalty options when a ball lies in a lateral water hazard and that I have a right to exercise those options. He countered that he read in the rules that hitting a provisional in this case would negate those options. I was stunned. We went back and forth on this. Another of the fellow competitors sided with him but the other did not get involved. I've never heard of such a rule, and I'm convinced it's nonsense. For example, what if the red staked area actually contained water and my ball was in 3 feet of water? According to my fellow competitor, I would be required to play it from that position had I hit a provisional!?!?!?!? Anyway, the outcome, if anyone is curious, was that my 3 fellow competitors were in agreement that if the ball was not the fairway/rough then it must be in the lateral water hazard (a very faulty assumption in my opinion) and that I should simply take a two-club drop from the red stakes near the tree. For the sake of harmony and moving the round along, I proceeded as they suggested.

Ex Geology professor who quit academe to sell his soul to industry (and I've not regretted a day of it).

I'd like to see a reality show on the golf channel in which three slow players and a very acerbic, cutting, and insistent etiquette coach play a round and the coach just tears into them. Makes them cry. Yes, that's what I want to see: slow players cry. I think it would be a hit. A guy (I imagine a Dennis Leary type; Don Rickles would have been ideal but he's too old) who totally unloads on slow players, who says all the nasty things you've wanted to say. I'd watch. "Hey, how much do you think that flag stick weighs?" "uh... i don't know.." "Well that's because you haven't picked the damned thing up all round! Closest to the hole gets the flag! First in the hole puts it back in! Is that too complicated, or do you think you can get that through your thick head?" etc., etc., etc. To the OP, maybe play would speed up, but as someone cynically and accurately stated, the courses would just shoe horn in more tee times.

This!

Oddly, the only real time I seem to have an issue with slow play is when I'm playing with a good friend who's recently taken up the game. Joe is a great guy: intelligent, witty, and both my wife and I enjoy his company (off the golf course!) and that of his wife. But God, I hate playing with him. His routine consists of standing behind the ball for what seems like about 30 secs, contemplating his shot and god knows what else. Of course he never does this while others are hitting; instead he waits until it's his turn, prolonging the agony for the rest of us. When he finally steps up, he'll take one, two, three, four and sometimes five practice swings. After that, sometimes he'll address the ball and actually hit it. Other times he'll address it and then decide he should check his alignment. He does this by placing the club across his thighs. How the f&^% you can see anything by doing that is beyond me, but I digress. Instead the question should be, "WTF? Did you not consider alignment during your 30 second meditation?" Anyway, what I find is that his slow play makes me speed up my play in the vain hope that somehow we're going to keep pace. I rarely play well when I play with Joe. Also, when I play with Joe it's a given that we will lose touch with the group ahead of us and have the group behind us waiting. I hate it. If I have to play a slow round, I'd much rather be waiting for the group ahead of us than scurrying to get out of the way of the group behind us. So next year, I will be playing fewer rounds with Joe. It's too frustrating.

Elin found out?

Which Craig Stadler? I know you can't possibly be referring to the one who had 13 top-ten finishes in the majors and 29 professional wins with 13 of them on the PGA Tour.

A couple of years ago during regular match play competition at our club, my opponent (who has been playing golf ~ 4x as long as I have) hit his drive which flew down the left side and hit his bag, which he'd left there. That, of course, is automatic loss of hole. I asked him, "Did that hit your bag?" He answered, "Yes," and said nothing more. He continued playing as if nothing were amiss. I didn't pursue it--we weren't playing for house keys or wives. But I do find myself smirking every time I see him, because I know that he knows the rules. Another night, I hooked wildly to the left into trees beyond which there was a lateral water hazard. In my mind, the ball was lost since no one saw it actually go into the hazard. My opponent wanted me to play it as if it went into the hazard and said that I could go on a line from point of entry to where I had originally hit from. My jaw dropped; he clearly did not know the rules. We got into a debate over the options from a lateral water hazard. He could not be swayed, so I gave up arguing: I went back and hit from where I'd originally played my last shot. But I was struck by the fact that someone who played in a competitive environment on a regular basis was so unaware of the rules. Not really a case of cheating but certainly one of ignorance.

Was my 1st or 2nd time golfing, about 30 yrs ago. All day I was clobbering balls in the forehead, making them run along the ground about 30 yds at a time. So on a par 3, given my consistent ineptness, I decided to hit my tee shot while people were still putting on the green under the assumption that they were safe from a hack like me. Sure enough, the ball sails high and true and lands right in the middle of the group. I felt like an idiot, which I was.

When I was in university, I'd play squash with this guy on a regular basis. While we played, people would pass by, sometimes stopping to watch. I really hated that, and it affected my game. One day my opponent said, "When people stop to watch, I love it. My goal is to play so well that they keep watching." He was right. Ever since then, I try to emulate that sentiment. Some days it's easier said than done. Nonetheless, on the range or on the course, if people are watching, I always welcome it and try to raise my game. Congrats to the OP.

And he was a judge? What a wild story.

1st post, greetings to everyone I go out as a single quite often. Mostly it's a pleasant experience. A few times I've been grouped with beginners, and that's fine so long as they keep the pace. But it drives me nuts to see someone hack their way up to the green, taking 9 or 10 strokes to get there, then on the putting green marking their 4th putt when it's a few inches from the cup. Arrgggh! Pick the damn thing up or putt it out. Please, end the agony. One time I got grouped with Super Dad and Wonder Son. For 18 holes I had to listen to Super Dad tell me how wonderful a dad he was and how wondrous his rather sullen 20-yr-old son was. It was a nonstop monologue of inanities and banalities. But what really got under my skin was when Wonder Son hit deep into the woods, found 'a' ball, brought it out of the woods directly towards the pin, placed it nice and fluffy in light rough, then chipped it in. Well, Super Dad was jumping out of his shoes with excitement at how Wonder Son just scored a birdie! A birdie? I conceded that it was a nice chip but snorted at the mention of birdie. Conversely, I once got paired with a teen. He didn't say maybe 5 words the entire time, but he was really into his game, and he could really hit the ball. One of the most enjoyable rounds of golf I've played. Both of us just concentrated on our round. The absolute worst was a threesome in which one of the guys hit into the group in front on two occasions. The final straw was on the #9 tee box. We all hit, and three of us were walking ahead, when all of a sudden a ball screamed over our heads when we about 30 yds in front of the tee box. This same idiot decided to hit a second shot, couldn't be bothered to tell us, and just blasted away while we were in front of him. I lost it, yelled a bunch of obscenities at him, and walked off the course. Who needs that kind of aggravation? But like I said at the beginning, playing with strangers is usually fine. It's just on rare occasion that I've been teamed up with some strange strangers.