This N That
Newcomer’s Corner
Hole in One Club
Another member of PB Lady Niners scored a hole in one today, July 9, 2019. Congratulations to Judy Christ who hit a solid 7 iron 136 yards on PB hole #3. Not only can she play baseball, she is a fabulous golfer too! Way to go Judy!!
“Ask Linda” Golf Blog Entries
Don’t make your fellow golfers wait while you wander back to your bag or cart for another ball when you have hit your first out of bounds or want to play a provisional. It’s such an unnecessary waste of time, particularly as we are doing everything we can to speed up play.
Always carry an extra ball in your pocket. It should be distinct from your “normal” ball both in make and color so, on the rare occasion when you do have to hit a second ball, (a) you have it to hand and can hit it when it’s again your turn to do so; and (b) it’s never confused with your first … nor for that matter with any of your fellow players. Be sure it is different from balls being used by anyone in your foursome!
Monday, March 11, 2019
Ask Linda 1872-Should you ever hit a provisional ball?
Linda,
Happy to hear from you as we venture into 2019 rules.
How do you see the usefulness of a Provisional Ball under the new Local Rule? Should a provisional ever be called for at the club/casual level?
Lou from Hackettstown, New Jersey
Dear Lou,
Yes.
Consider the example of a player hitting a wayward tee shot that might be out of bounds not far from the teeing area. He might want to play a provisional ball to try to get better distance out of his tee shot.
For another example, a player may have lost his ball in some rough behind the elbow of a dogleg, such that relief two club-lengths out onto the fairway would not give him a clear shot to the green.
The Local Rule referenced by this reader is E-5: Alternative to Stroke and Distance for Lost Ball or Ball Out of Bounds.
Linda
Copyright © 2019 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
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2019–Chart of major changes to the Rules of Golf Posted: 06 Dec 2018 12:00 AM PST The button is a link to a USGA/R&A chart of the major changes to the Rules of Golf for 2019. After you read it, you might want to print it and keep it in your golf bag for easy reference.
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Posted: 11 Dec 2018 04:57 AM PST When you take relief under a Rule, each Rule will require you to drop a ball in a specific relief area. While the size and location of that area will differ depending on the Rule, you will always determine your relief area by following this procedure:
(1) Establish a reference point. The Rule you are playing under will tell you where this point must be (e.g., back-on-the-line, within two club-lengths of where the ball crossed an edge, right behind where the ball was embedded, etc.). It is recommended that you place a tee (or other object) in the ground to mark your reference point; this will save you time-wasting arguments about whether your ball rolled closer to the hole.
(2) The size of your relief area will be either one or two club-lengths from the reference point. All relief areas are one club-length except for the two lateral drops that are two club-lengths: lateral relief from a penalty area, and lateral relief for an unplayable ball. The relief area may have other limitations such as:
• on which area of the course you must drop the ball (e.g., general area; in or outside a bunker or penalty area)
• not nearer the hole than your reference point
• no interference by the condition from which you are taking relief
No matter what club you use to measure the size of the relief area, the actual relief area is the length of your longest club (except a long putter). When you drop your ball in the relief area, you must drop it from knee height (the height of your knee when you are standing straight, not kneeling), it must fall straight down (you may not throw, spin, or roll the ball), it must hit the course in the relief area, and it must not touch any part of your body before it touches the relief area. If the ball hits you or your equipment after it hits the relief area, it is in play, provided it remains in the relief area. The ball must come to rest in the relief area. If the ball is dropped correctly (the rulebook calls this the “right way”) and rolls out of the relief area, you must drop it a second time. After an unsuccessful second drop, you must place the ball where it hit the relief area after the second drop.
If you do not drop the ball in the “right way,” it does not count as one of your two drops. There is no limit to how many times you may drop a ball in the wrong way. If you drop in the wrong way and hit it, you will get a one-stroke penalty if you hit it from within the relief area, or a two-stroke penalty if you hit it from outside the relief area. Click on the link to watch a USGA video explaining how to measure the size of your relief area and drop your ball:
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USGA’s highlights of the new changes to the Rules of Golf for 2019.
Golf Jokes
A little golfing humor!
PGA Tour career earnings Through 2018 (historical animation) This is awesome…. watch the top 10 change……
Eggs..?
Golf balls are like eggs.
They’re white.
Sold by the dozen.
And a week later you have to buy some more.
Not what you think
Golfer to caddie: “Why do you keep looking at your watch? I find it very distracting.”
Caddie: “It’s not a watch, madam – it’s a compass.”
Slow play
The problem with slow groups is that they are always in front of you, and the fast groups are always behind you.
GOLF PHILOSOPHY
Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.
Golf you hit down to make the ball go up. You swing left and the ball goes right. The lowest score wins, on top of that, the winner buys the drinks.
Golf if you find you do not mind playing in the rain, snow, even during a hurricane, here’s a valuable tip… Your life is in trouble!
Golf–ers who try to make everything perfect before taking the shot rarely make a perfect shot.
A ‘gimme‘ can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers… Neither of whom can putt very well.
Golf’s an interesting thing.. no matter how badly you play, it’s always possible to get worse.
Golf’s a hard game to figure. One day you’ll go out and slice it and shank it, hit into all the traps and miss every green. The next day you go out and for no reason at all your game really stinks!
If your best shots are the practice swing and the ‘gimme putt’, you might wish to reconsider this game.
Golf is the only sport where the most feared opponent is you.
Golf is like marriage, If you take yourself too seriously it won’t work, and both are expensive.
The best wood in most amateurs’ bags is the pencil.
My boss phoned me today.
He said, “Is everything OK at the office?”
I said, “It is all under control. It’s been a very busy day. I haven’t stopped to take a break all day.”
“Can you do me a favor?” he asked.
I said “Of course, What is it?”
“Pick up the pace a little. I’m in the foursome behind you.
A gushy reporter told Phil Mickelson…
A gushy reporter told Phil Mickelson, “You are spectacular, your name is synonymous with the game of golf. You really know your way around the course. What’s your secret? Mickelson replied – “the holes are numbered”!
A young man and a priest are playing together. At a short par 3, the priest asks what club are you going to use? The young man answers “an 8 iron, how about you?”; the priest says, I’m going to hit a soft 7 and pray. The young man hit his 8 iron and put the ball on the green. The priest tops his 7 iron and dribbles the ball out a few yards. The young man says “I don’t know much about you father, but in my church, when we pray, we keep our heads down!”
Police are called to an apartment and find a woman holding a bloody 3 iron standing over a lifeless man. The detective asks if it is her husband and did she hit him with that golf club. She answers “yes, yes, I did. She begins to sob, drops the club and puts her hands on her face. The detective asks how many times she hit him. “I don’t know, put me down for a 5!”
A golfer teed up his ball on the first tee, took a mighty swing and hit his ball into a clump of trees. He found his ball and saw an opening between two trees he thought he could hit through. Taking out his 3 wood, he took a mighty swing. The ball hit a tree, bounced back, hit him in the forehead and killed him. As he approached the pearly gates, St. Peter asked: “are you a good golfer?” The man replied: “Got here in two, didn’t I?!”
The bride was escorted down the aisle and when she reached the altar, the groom was standing there with his golf bag and clubs at his side. She asked, “what are your golf clubs doing here?” He looked her right in the eye and said “this isn’t going to take all day, is it?
THE OUTDOOR MAN
Two old men had been friends most of their lives…
Two old men had been friends most of their lives. When it was clear that Frank was dying, Leonard visited him every day. One day Leonard said, “Frank, we both loved playing golf all our lives, and we started playing in high school. Please do me one favor: when you get to heaven, somehow you must let me know if there’s golf there.”
Frank looked up at Leonard from his deathbed and said, “Leonard, you’ve been my best friend for many years. If it’s at all possible, I’ll do this favor for you.”
Shortly after that, Frank died.
A few weeks later, Leonard was awakened from a sound sleep by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to him, “Leonard!”
“Who is it?” asked Leonard, sitting up suddenly. “Who is it?”
“Leonard — it’s me, Frank.”
“You’re not Frank. Frank just died.”
“I’m telling you, it’s me, Frank,” insisted the voice.
“Frank! Where are you?”
“In heaven,” replied Frank. “I have some really good news and a little bad news. “Tell me the good news first,” said Leonard.”The good news,” Frank said with joy and enthusiasm, “is that there is golf in heaven. Better yet, all of our old buddies who died before me are here too. Even better than that, we’re all young again. Better still, it’s always Summertime and it never rains. And best of all, we can play golf all we want, and we never get tired. And we get to play with all the greats of the past.”
“That’s fantastic,” said Leonard. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams! So what’s the bad news”
“You’re in my foursome this Saturday.”
A golfer was polishing a lamp…
A golfer was polishing a lamp and, poof!, out popped a genie who said, “I will grant you one wish.” The golfer unfolded a map of the world and said, “Let all of these countries live in peace and harmony.” The genie responded, “You’ve got to be kidding, I’m only a genie.” The golfer thought for a while and then suggested, “OK, then make me a winner on the LPGA tour.” “Hmmm,“ said the genie, “Let me see that map again!”
RULE CHANGES IN EFFECT FOR GOLFERS AGE 60+:
Rule 9.k.34(a): If a tree is between the ball and the hole, and the tree is deemed to be younger than the player, then the ball can be
moved without penalty.. This is so because this is simply a question of timing; when the player was younger, the tree was not there so the
player is being penalized because of his age.
Rule 1.a.5 – A ball sliced or hooked into the Rough shall be lifted and placed on the Fairway at a point equal to the distance it carried
or rolled into the Rough with no penalty. The senior player should not be penalized for tall grass which ground keepers failed to mow.
Rule 2.d.6 (B) – A ball hitting a tree shall be deemed NOT to have hit the tree. This is simply bad luck and luck has no place in a scientific game.
The senior player must estimate the distance the ball would have traveled if it had not hit the tree, and play the ball from there.
Rule 3.B.3(G) – There shall be no such thing as a lost ball. The missing ball is on or near the course and will eventually be found and
pocketed by someone else, thereby making it a stolen ball. The senior player is not to compound the felony by charging himself with a
penalty.
Rule 4.c.7(h) – If a putt passes over a hole without dropping, it is deemed to have dropped. The Law of Gravity supersedes the Rules of
Golf.
Rule 5. – Putts that stop close enough to the cup that they could be blown in, may be blown in. This does not apply to balls more than
three inches from the Hole. No one wants to make a mockery of the game.
Rule 6.a.9(k) – There is no penalty for so-called “out of bounds.” If penny-pinching golf course owners bought sufficient land, this would
not occur. The senior player deserves an apology, not a penalty.
Rule 7.G.15(z) – There is no penalty for a ball in a water hazard, as golf balls should float. Senior players should not be penalized for
any shortcomings of the manufacturers.
Rule 8.k.9(S) – Advertisements claim that golf scores can be improved by purchasing new golf equipment. Since this is financially
impractical for many senior players, one-half stroke per hole may be subtracted for using old equipment.
Please advise all your senior friends of these important rule changes and keep multiple copies in your golf bag. Those not following the
rules need to be provided a copy.
Golf is…. above all…. a game of integrity.
Scottish Golf:
John, who lived in the north of England , decided to go golfing in Scotland with his buddy, Shawn.So they loaded up John’s minivan and headed north. After driving for a few hours, they got caught in a terrible storm. So they pulled into a very large nearby
farm and asked the attractive lady who answered the door if they could spend
the night.“I realize it’s terrible weather out there and I have this huge house all to myself, but I’m recently widowed,” she explained, “and I’m afraid the neighbours will talk
if I let you stay in my house.”
“Don’t worry,” John said. “We’ll be happy to sleep in the barn. And if the weather breaks, we’ll be gone at first light.”The lady agreed, and the two men found their way to the barn and settled in for the night.Come morning, the weather had cleared, and they goton their way. They enjoyed a great weekend of golf. But about nine months later, John got an unexpected letter from an attorney. It took him a few minutes to figure it out, but he finally determined that it was from the attorney of that attractive widow he had met on the golf weekend.He dropped in on his friend Shawn and asked, “Shawn, do you remember
that good-looking widow from the farm we stayed at on our golf holiday in Scotland about 9 months ago?’
“Yes, I do,” said Shawn“Did you, er… happen to get up in the middle of the night, go up to the house and pay her a visit?”“Well, um… yes,” Shawn said, a little embarrassed about being found out, “I have to admit that I did.”“And did you happen to give her my name instead oftelling her your name?”Shawn’s face turned beet red and he said, “Yeah, look… I’m sorry, buddy. I’m afraid I did. Why do you ask?“She just died and left me everything.”(And you thought the ending would be different, didn’t you; you’re smiling, aren’t you?