One of the golfers on Saturday was posting a good score until he couldn't find his drive on the 11th hole. Upon returning to the tee to put another ball into play, he was informed by another group that he couldn't do that under the rules of golf and was now disqualified - which is incorrect.
Rule 27 of the Rules of Golf states:
"If your ball is lost outside a water hazard or out of bounds you must play another ball from the spot where the last shot was played, under penalty of one stroke, i.e. stroke and distance.
You are allowed 5 minutes to search for a ball, If it is not found within 5 minutes it is lost."
At least searching for the ball didn't take place during the onslaught of weather we had on Monday! (pictured right)
Interesting stat on Twitter this week from AimPoint inventor, Mark Sweeney:
"If a tour player 2 putts from outside 32", he gains strokes on the field"
Club golfers berate themselves for 3-putting outside this range on less perfect greens than the tour players play on, it just goes to show which areas of the game cause us all to lose the most shots compared to what we'd perceive by watching the TV. Of course, as with all stats, this doesn't mean that if you deliberately leave yourself 40 footers every hole and 2 putt, you'll win the tournament!
There's a couple of interesting tests you can give yourself if you find yourself playing on your lonesome. When you've hit the green, move the ball 40 feet away from the hole and see what you score.
Another test that I came across last week involved 'mulligans'. During an on-course lesson, the pupil hit a poor approach shot and went to drop another ball down. I said we couldn't play another and had to go and play out with the first shot - what would be the point in hitting another on the course, that would be turning the course into a driving range scenario, there's only one chance on the course. So, a good test would be to play another ball whenever you hit a bad shot or miss a short putt but then you HAVE to play out with your second go and see what you would score, even if it was worse than your first go - I bet the score would be pretty much the same.
A couple of years ago I came across a great device in developmental stage called 'Game Your Game'. Two years later and it's been released in America and is now called 'GameGolf'. There is a tag which slots into the end of each of your club grips and the wearer attaches a small tracking device to their belt. Touching the tag to the tracking device activates it and using GPS tracking, it automatically knows where you are on the course, which club you hit and how far it went. Lee Westwood, Graham McDowell and Jim Furyk have been using it in tournaments and posting the stats on the internet. I'm hoping to pick one up in the States and use it to give to my pupils so we can track their scores and tendencies in competition.
'If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.'
Tuesday Night Social Golf
For the third year, in conjunction with the Match and Handicap committee, I'll be operating the Tuesday Night Social beginning next week, 15th April. It's a 9 hole Stableford played off the competition tees and is open to all members. Tee off is between 4 and 6 pm and entry is just £2. It's a great opportunity to mix in with other golfers, get a regular game in and most stay for some food afterwards. There's prizes for the top scores and I usually throw a few rules in to stop the same ones winning each week!
The intention is to meet new golfers and mix with people outside your usual group. To that end, be prepared to split up from your normal pairings. After the first few weeks we may be introducing an order of merit and to qualify, your card will have to have been signed by a different golfer each week.
See you on the tee!
Brocton golfer Midge Inger has asked me to thank the golfer who put this message (pictured right) on her windscreen last week. The object embedded in her tyre was sure to have given way on her journey down the motorway later that week and she wanted to thank the good samaritan but we can't decipher the signature. If it's you, please let me know and I'll pass your contact onto Midge.
We had a record 163 entrants in the April Medal on Saturday, with the highest entry before being 144. That's 4 more than we had on Captains's Day last year!
Steve Hirst won Division 1 with a 69, Bill Whittle won Division 2 with a 65 and Paul Edwards won Division 3 with a 66. That's the first two names on the 'Wall of Success' this year as Steve and Bill have been working on their games with me this winter.
Surprisingly there were only 7 two's recorded which means they get over £22 each!
It was great to see so many keen golfers out in force but wasn't without incident when so many try to get on the course at once, the April Medal is always the busiest one of the year. All I'll say is there is a suggestion book in the foyer of the clubhouse which should have more effect than ear-bashing the nearest member of staff.
I got all the way down here without mentioning the US Masters! All I'm going to say is Ian Poulter is my pick to win and we could have a huge playoff this year. The Sweep has also been done, click here to see who you've been matched with. Enjoy!