Ready for Spring Opener

What a great weekend! I hope you had a chance to enjoy family and get in a round of golf. A rainy Monday is the price we have to pay to have beautiful golf courses. So while I’ll be practicing in the dining room today I thought I’d share a few things with you.

First and foremost we are now less than 2 weeks away from our spring opener. Registration deadline for the Northwoods Classic @ Refuge is this coming Saturday night at midnight. The new signage and trophies are in and gift cards have arrived. I’m ready. How about you?

I spent 3 days last week in a Rules workshop put on by the MGA. One of the central themes of the meeting was how much more player friendly the modernized Rules of Golf are. Below is an example that perfectly illustrates this point. This is a question typical of what would be found on a Rules test. If you are familiar with the new Rules then you will recognize the point quickly. If not, I’ve put an explanation at the bottom of this email. Is this player having a blow-up hole or not?

NOTE: (there are no local Rules in effect)

The player tees the ball in the teeing area and attempts to make a stroke but misses the ball. The player picks up the ball and re-tees it at another spot in the teeing area and plays from there. The tee shot comes to rest in a bunker. The player uses a range-finder to determine the distance to the hole with no other features on the device activated. The player removes several stones around the ball and plays the stroke. Video evidence reveals that the player actually touched several grains of sand behind the ball during the backswing, but could not be seen by the naked eye, and the player was unaware. The ball embeds in its own pitch-mark in the rough. The player lifts the ball, cleans it and drops it within one club-length of the spot directly behind where the ball was embedded and plays it to the green. The player marks and lifts the ball on the putting green and then replaces it. A gust of wind moves the ball an inch from its original spot. The player replaces the ball on its original spot and proceeds to repair several spike marks on the line of play. The player leaves the flagstick in the hole and putts. The ball comes to rest against the flagstick with half the ball below the lip. The player lifts the ball and makes a stroke from the next teeing area to start another hole. What is the players score? (see answer at end of this email)

Welcome to these new members;

Tyler VanHecke of Mitchell, SD – Championship

David Zetah – Monticello – Sarazen

Daniel Rasmussen – Maplewood – Championship

Chris Brom – Apple Valley – Championship

Ahmed Helmy – Eden Prairie – Hogan

Eric Williamson – Cottage Grove - Palmer

We can always use more members. Please make sure to talk up the Am Tour to your buddies or fellow league members in the next few weeks. If they want to know more direct them to our website or me. I’m happy to try and close the deal for you.

Wondering what the competition looks like this year? Here is a snapshot of our 71 members today. Thanks to those of you who have been recruiting this off season.

NOTE: Some of you have the option to move to a different flight based on your tournament handicap index. I’ll be contacting you before your first event this year to discuss.

Championship – 7

• Chris Brom
• Jack Buan
• Jeff Gallagher
• John Melvin
• Daniel Rasmussen
• Jason Rhoades
• Tyler VanHecke

Sr. Championship – 0

Palmer – 13

• Josh Bennet
• Mitchell Gothier
• Sean Hazen
• Peter Heller
• Anthony Hugelen
• Jon Huinker
• Mike Kelley
• Darren Kress
• Adam Locketz
• Bob Murphy
• Scott Schirmers
• Steve Schubert
• Eric Williamson

Sr. Palmer – 3

• Cliff Anderson
• Dan Barrett Sr.
• Greg Gebert

Hogan – 19

• Gary Braun
• William Brown
• Steve Buan
• Larry Caldwell
• Greg Gopal
• Matt Harter
• Ahmed Helmy
• Tanner Jandro
• Aubrey Johnson
• Erik Jordahl
• Bill Kelsey
• Jong Kim
• Peter Martinez
• Jonathan Nyquist
• Nate Plagge
• Bryan Poetsch
• Jon Sanz
• Buck Sexton
• Tommy Ulset

Sr. Hogan – 3

• Dean Dubreuil
• Robert Gardner
• Steven Holland

Sarazen – 12

• Fredy Alvear
• Douglas Bird
• Joe Christy
• Jeff Loeffler
• Tim Palya
• Sean Passingham
• Jeremy Peterson
• David Slininger
• Steve Springer
• Chris Stanley
• Barry Wadsworth
• David Zetah

Sr. Sarazen – 3

• Ed Favorite
• Warren Ferber (2015 Sr. National Champion – Sr. Jones)
• Michael Miller

Jones – 0

Sr. Jones – 4

• Dr. Paul Cink
• George Hardgrove
• Paul Smallwood
• Hobie VanValkenburg

Snead – 1

• Jeff McVay

Sr. Snead – 6

• Paul Alexander
• Amy Bauch
• Todd Klocke
• Steve Oborn
• James Olichwier
• Pete Rojas

Explanation of the Rules Question above.

Under the new Rules of Golf the player had no Rules infractions resulting in a score of 5 strokes. Under the old Rules the player would have been penalized, for each of the actions shown in italics and finally disqualified for not holing out. I don’t want to confuse anyone by explaining the old Rules. Here are the reasons the player wasn’t penalized under the new Rules

• Anytime your ball lies in the teeing area you may move it anywhere within the teeing area and you may tee it up. (Rule 6.2 and definition of Teeing Area)
• The use of a distance measuring device (DMD) is allowed. It is still a penalty if you use a DMD that measure anything other than distance. If you play other tournaments, be sure to check for a local Rule prohibiting use of a DMD. (Rule 4.3)
• You may remove loose impediments anywhere as long as they don’t, or wouldn’t, cause the ball to move. (Rule 15.1)
• A rules violation that your are unaware of and can’t be seen with the naked eye is not penalized. (Rule 20.2)
• Rules, requiring a ball to be dropped, identify a relief area to be used when putting the ball back in play under Rule 14.3. (Embedded ball Rule 16.3 and definitions of Relief Area and Club-length).
• Once you have marked, lifted and replaced your ball on the putting green you are entitled to that putt regardless of any accidental movement. (Rule 13.1d and definition of Natural Forces)
• You may repair any damage to the putting green taking reasonable actions to restore, as nearly as possible, to its original condition using any body part, ball-mark repair tool, tee, club or similar normal equipment without unreasonably delaying play. You may not create a pathway to the hole, meaning create a trough to guide your ball to the hole. (Rule 13.1)
• You may leave the flagstick in the hole when putting. You may not try to gain an advantage by deliberately moving the flagstick to a position other than centered in the hole. (Rule 13.2)
• If your ball comes to rest against the flagstick left in the hole and any part of the ball is below the surface of the putting green the ball is considered holed. (Rule 13.2c and Definition of Holed)

So let’s not hear a lot of complaining about the new Rules regardless of the whining being done by the Pros. They have been simplified and are more friendly towards the player. Sure they are different but we will all learn from our mistakes just like anything else and should fairly quickly. As always, in one of our tournaments, when in doubt play 2 balls (Rule 20.1c(3)) and tell me about it before you turn in your scorecard.  

Looking forward to Refuge.