February Update

It’s Ground Hog Day eve. I’m sure none of you will be able to sleep tonight in anticipation of the big day. Personally I don’t put to much credence in a pampered varmint in Pennsylvania being able to predict the end of our winter but then neither can our local weather forecasters.  When it’s below zero and there are piles of snow at the end of the driveway it’s almost a sure thing we will have at least 6 more weeks of winter. Knowing that inevitability makes this a great time to begin preparation for the golf season. Whether you hit the gym, an indoor range or simply move to the other end of the couch.
Following last months’ suggestion for improving your knowledge of the Rules of Golf, here are a couple of topics you should be familiar with. First let me share those general principles I mentioned.

• Play the course as you find it - every course has it’s challenges and that’s part of the game
• Play the ball as it lies - hit your tee shot and don’t touch your ball until you take it out of the hole.
• When you can’t do either of the above, play fair

Of course it’s the last one that creates the need for learning the Rules. They describe when and how you get relief from abnormal course conditions, where you must play from when you can’t play the ball as it lies and how you get your ball back in play. There are excellent videos addressing each of the following at www.usga.org/rules-hub.html

• Rule 23 - Loose Impediments
• Rule 24 - Obstructions
• Rule 25 - Abnormal Ground Conditions, Embedded Ball, Wrong Putting Green
• Rule 26 - Water Hazards
• Rule 27 - Ball Lost or Out of Bounds
• Rule 28 - Ball Unplayable.

Rule 20 is one that every golfer should be very familiar with as it describes how you handle the ball when it needs to be Lifted, Dropped or Placed and when you’ve Played from a Wrong Place. Where you drop or place the ball is determined by the Rule involved. Some rules require the ball to be put in play at a specific spot others define an area where the ball may be dropped. For example;

• Rule 18, Ball at Rest Moved, requires the ball to be replaced at a specific spot.
• Rule 27 requires you to return to the spot you last played from under Stroke and Distance and you must drop the ball as near as possible to that spot (unless you are returning to the teeing ground). Rules 26 & 28 also offer Stroke and Distance as one of several relief options. Rule 25 requires you to drop as near as possible to the spot where the ball lay for relief from an Embedded Ball.
• Rules 24, 25, 26 & 28 define a relief area as a number of club lengths from a specific reference point. 24 & 25 tell you to drop the ball within one club length of the Nearest Point of Relief while 26 & 28 offer an option to drop the ball within two club lengths from a specific reference point.

Many of you have heard me over simplify the club lengths in the past as "1 club if it’s free relief and 2 clubs if it’s a penalty". As you can see in the second example there are no club lengths involved other than to determine if the ball rolls too far away from the point where it first struck a part of the course. When a ball is dropped it must first touch the course where the Rule requires, not nearer the hole than the spot, nearest point of relief or reference point. When a ball is dropped in the correct area it may roll no more than 2 club lengths from where it first struck the course. This means that in Rules 26 & 28 a dropped ball could wind up nearly 4 club lengths away from the reference point or nearest point of relief. 2 club lengths for the area where the ball is to be dropped and another 2 club lengths more the ball may roll before it comes to rest.
Most of you know that the ball must be re-dropped if it rolls too far. Rule 20-2c requires you to re-drop the ball. If the second drop also rolls too far you would then place the ball as near as possible to the spot where it first struck the course when re-dropped.
There are several other times you must re-drop when the ball;

• rolls into and comes to rest in a hazard
• rolls out of and comes to rest outside a hazard
• rolls onto and comes to rest on a putting green
• rolls and comes to rest out of bounds
• rolls and comes to rest where there is still interference by the condition from which relief was taken
• rolls and comes to rest nearer the hole

Did you know Rule 20-6 requires you to re-drop the ball if it wasn’t dropped in the correct place? For example if you drop it and it first hits the course nearer the hole or outside of the drop area. There is no limit to the number of times a ball must be re-dropped if it doesn’t first strike the course in the correct area. You or your fellow competitor should be watching for this on every drop. If you fail to re-drop the ball and play it then Rule 20-7 indicates you’ve played from a Wrong Place, a 2 stroke penalty. If that wrong place gave you a significant advantage you’ve committed a Serious Breach and are subject to disqualification unless you correct the error before teeing off on the next hole or in the case of the 18^th you must declare you intent to correct the error before leaving the putting green.
So there are a lot of moving parts to Rule 20. A rule everyone should know well.
Welcome to our newest members;

• Larry Caldwell of Chaska will compete in Sr. Hogan
• Bill Kelsey of St. Louis Park will take on the Hogan flight
• Jon Huinker of Bloomington will play in Palmer
• Gerrit Hooker of Apple Valley to join the Hogan flight

Many of you are due for renewal in the next few months. Please take a moment to make sure you’re shirt size and address are correct in your profile so the Players Welcome package gets to you in a timely manner. Of course while you’re there you should check all the other parts of your profile including your e-mail and equipment. If your e-mail isn’t correct you won’t have gotten this message so …
Regards,
Bruce