Mar 04
War Over New Rules Obscuring the Game Rule changes occur once in a while, we all know that. And, from time to time, someone goofs up and incurs a penalty. In the old days, it didn’t happen so often that one might think it was the order of the day, but in the past few …
Apr 04
The Most Traditional Tournament of all, the Masters Requires Semblance of Civility It all begins tomorrow, the most spectacularly cultural celebration golf has to offer outside of St. Andrews itself. The old south’s cultural code, sustainable only through a great deal of wealth, is high church all the way, and those unfamiliar with the ropes …
Jan 17
What We Don’t Know About the Rules Might Amaze Us Most of us have, without a doubt, run into the vast variety of quizzes available on the internet, and often spread on Facebook, that test our general world knowledge. We are tempted with “I’ll bet you can’t beat this score.” And, if you do, the …
Dec 13
Rules change in the golf world, and some unfortunate habits as well The governing body of golf and its rules didn’t call me personally to tell me the news. However, they made it perfectly clear that I am no longer welcome to call in with my replay observations about anyone’s golf game. Apparently, the players …
Sep 20
More Thoughts About Penalties After the Ben Crane Incident I read this morning that the fossilized USGA is finally modernizing the rule book. Naturally, I must temper my criticism of the grand old institution, as it really does do everything possible to preserve the integrity of the game. However, the weirdness of some of the …
Sep 17
Ben Crane and His Two-Stroke Penalty for Technology Beyond Our Understanding It used to be that technology was largely confined to the development of clubs and balls, a long slow evolution that brought us our metal woods, sure-fire putters, and mega Titleist ‘watcha-call-its.’ It used to be that the worst thing that could happen, in …
Mar 12
Golf Rules Changing That Were Set Centuries Ago I suppose that I am the only person remaining in the golf world who does not want the game of golf to go faster, be a lot more “fun” and less “difficult.” I’ve said it a thousand times, so I won’t elaborate, except to say that the …
Dec 20
When to Play the Lie Respecting the Rule Book is Fine, but Sometimes It Surpasses Ridiculous I watched a youtube video the other day that in terms of logic, was an absolute horror. Somehow, a young golfer got out onto a frozen lake or large pond, where his golf ball sat. His intent, of course, …
Nov 15
Some Golf Rules Just Need to Go, While Others Need to be Enacted Josh Sens of Golf.com wrote an article this week entitled the 8 Supidest Rules in Golf, and boy howdy did he ever nail it! Weekenders like me watch the pros go through these terrible trials, in which they are sometimes unjustly punished …
Sep 24
Golf’s Rules Costs Strokes Losing Strokes to ‘Outside Agents’ After years, and particularly the past few weeks, of watching penalty strokes being assessed or not being assessed based on a variety of incidents, I’m starting to fray at the ends trying to understand one’s responsibilities where the results of his game are concerned. For a …
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