March Update

WOW! Where did February go? The snow pile at the end of my driveway has gotten bigger. Sure, it’s melting, but there is still snow in the forecast. After a couple of seasons where we were able to get on the golf course in March this could be a painfully long month. Thank goodness there will be some great basketball to watch if we wind up stuck indoors.

A number of MN Am Tour members aren’t waiting however. Best of luck to them.

• Paul Alexander, Dr. Paul Cink, Ed Favorite, Warren Ferber, Todd Klocke and Pete Rojas are playing this weekend at the major in San Antonio.
• Ben Grant and Steve Schubert are playing this weekends’ major in Myrtle Beach
• Dr. Cink, John Juntilla and Jeff McVay will play in the Western Amateur major at PGA West in the middle of the month.

Some of our MN Am Tour members have been playing in warmer places this past month.

• New member Jon Huinker was Palmer flight runner up at the Hill Country Winter Championship in San Antonio with a fine 80 given the rainy conditions.
• John Juntilla is making the most of his winter getaway with a 78 at the Cathedral City Open for a T-4 finish in Champ flight.
• Sean Hazen escaped Winnipeg for California to play in the Ranch Bernardo Amateur where he finished 8th in Palmer shooting an 87.

• Jason Rhoades played twice in FL finishing 2nd both times in Champ flight. He shot 78 in Jacksonville at Glen Kernan and a 76 at Black Bear where he was involved in a 4 way playoff.

• Robert Gardner was T-4 in AZ at the East Valley Championship shooting a 78 in Sr. Hogan.
• Ed Favorite was at the East Lake Woodlands resort in Oldsmar, FL where he placed 12th in Sr. Sarazen with a 96.
• New member Carroll Howling Wolf of New Town, ND finished 5th in his first Am Tour event. He played in Sarazen at Las Vegas National.

We’ve had 4 new members join us in February. We currently have 83 members. Welcome to the Am Tour;

• James Becker of Plymouth joining the Sr. Jones flight
• Zachary Johnson of St. Cloud playing in the Championship flight
• Santino Vasquez of St. Paul will play in Palmer
• Erik Jordahl of Vadnais Heights will play in Sarazen

Last month I provided a lengthy dissertation on Rule 20 which is the procedure and guidance for how the ball is to be dropped or replaced and when it would need to be redropped. All of that necessitated by not being able to play the ball as it lies. Other Rules tell you when you get to drop or replace a ball and where. Rule 20 is the sub-routine you go to for actually doing it.

I put the cart before the horse, so to speak, by not first discussing the lifting part of the Rule. It was intentional as Rule 20 doesn’t tell you when you may lift your ball. That’s done by one of the other Rules like 5, 12, 16, 18, 19, 22 and 24-28.  Rule 20-1 simply says that you must mark the ball before you, or someone you authorize, lifts the ball. In some cases the Rule that allows you to lift the ball provides additional requirements. For example, Rule 12-2 allows you to lift a ball in order to identify it but only if you can’t without picking it up. It provides several additional requirements to avoid a penalty;

1. you must announce your intentions to your marker or fellow competitor, giving them the opportunity to observe the lifting and replacement
2. you must mark the position of the ball (redundant but important)
3. you may not clean the ball any more than needed for identification
4. the ball must be replaced (sending you back to Rule 20-3)

Rule 20-1 also lets you know what to do if you move your ball or ball marker in the process of lifting or marking.

There is even more to Rule 20.

• 20-4 tells you when the ball is in play after dropping, placing or replacing.
• 20-5 tells you how to proceed when you choose, or are required, to play from the previous spot
• 20-6 (known as the “eraser rule”) gives you a do over if you incorrectly substitute, drop or place your ball in the wrong place but haven’t made a stroke at the ball.
• 20-7 tells you what trouble you’re in if you didn’t take advantage of 20-6 and made a stroke at the ball from a wrong place

Remember you can review all of this and more at www.usga.org/rules-hub.html

Here’s hoping for a steady but gentle spring thaw.