CGA AM Qualifying at Fountaingrove GC

It was a very busy day at Fountaingrove GC Monday for the CGA Amateur Championship Qualifier.  It was also a treat for me, as I haven’t been on the course since my wedding day in 1985, when it was just a year or two old.

My assignment was to spot on the 14^th hole.  Fourteen is a long par five with trouble all around:  Out of bounds right, and bushes, trees, long grass, and rattlesnake country all the way down the left side.  As it would be a couple of hours before the first groups got there, I was able to take a close look at the course, and follow a few groups through the front side.  After looking at the course set up, and considering the stiffening breeze, it looked like it would be a buy day for the Tournament Officials.

I arrived at 14 while the third group was in the 13^th fairway—the first two groups were twosomes and had long since flown through.  Before long I was searching for balls in the rough on a regular basis.  In fact, three TO’s were occupied at one time on the hole.  The TO timing at the 13^th green also monitored the  14^th tee, so I could radio him when players should hit a provisional.   The TO who was roving the back nine spent much of the time with me, and there were at least three times when we were both occupied on different parts of the hole with ball searches, drop rulings, etc.

The most interesting moment, and a good one in the education of a rules official, came after a player hit a ball way left into the jungle, hit his provisional OB right, then a second provisional way left.  I radioed back that he should hit another, but he was already on his way down the fairway, so it would be find one or say goodbye.  After a five-minute search, we had found a lot of balls (I found fifteen myself), but not either of his.  I told him time was up, and he said he’d just walk the hole in, and asked if he could continue the round even after WD’ing.

I told him I wasn’t sure (I didn’t think so), and went to consult with the rover.  We radioed the rules committee, and the answer was no—because it would raise the possibility that a non-competitor could do something that gave aid to a competitor.  I drove up to the green to inform him that he had to leave the course.  After signing for the holes he had marked for one of his fellow competitors and re-distributing the score cards, we drove in.  It was actually kind of odd.  We got some funny looks from the five or six groups we passed.  I felt like I’d arrested someone—and the ride was the golf version of a “perp walk!”

I delivered the player to scoring where he explained the circumstances to the rules committee, then went back to follow the final groups in.

I appreciated that a certified rules official gave me, barely past my rookie season, the chance to handle a difficult situation on my own, and then thank me over the radio for doing so.  The TO’s are truly a team, and the support is tremendous.

Interesting Drops at the Wells Fargo Championship

The left side of the 18th hole at Quail Hollow, site of this week's PGA tournament, features a narrow creek running up most of the length of the hole.  Late in the 3rd round, I saw two players, Justin Rose and Martin Flores (who was tied for the lead at the time) hook their tee shots left of the hazard, only to see the ball bounce off the bank and into the creek.

Both players took a drop that not too many amateurs know about:  Under 26-1c, the player may determine the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard, and drop at "a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the the hole."  This was the best choice for Rose and Flores, since it gave them a much flatter and cleaner lie than dropping on the side where the ball crossed into the hazard.

This picture shows the severe bank the players would have had to play off of had they dropped on the left side.  Two club lengths from the right margin of the hazard gave them clean, level lies, and I think might have even gotten them into the fairway.

I tried explaining this option to a player in a tournament I worked last season, to be met with a very confused stare. 

2014 NCGA Four-Ball Qualifying

This was probably the most uneventful event I've worked yet, as far as rules questions went.  In a large part, that was due to the field:  It was a scratch event, played from the back tees (6800+ yards), and participants had to have indexes of 5.4 or below.  Thus, you had a field of players who kept the ball in play, and had at least a decent understanding of the rules.  An easy day for officials!

The first group went off at 8AM, and I played as a marker with the last pair at 10:10.  I spent much of the time between hanging around Paul Layrac, a certified rules official who has been my main mentor so far.  As I said, there was just plain not much going on.  Instead, we got to sit back and enjoy watching guys hit 300+ yard drives, splitting fairways or cutting doglegs.

Turns out the pair I marked for, who play out of Chardonnay, are good friends and frequent partners with my brother in law, who lives on the 10th fairway at Rancho Solano in Fairfield.  Everyone knows Jack, and everyone loves Jack.  My guys were a little over matched by the distance, and scrambled hard to shoot 75, missing the cut by four.  Without putting too much effort into it, because I mostly wanted to stay out of the way of the competitors, I shot 80 with two penalty strokes (hazards), which from 6800+ yards I'll take. 

Again, a pretty non-eventful day. 

A Free Drop That Puts You In A Worse Spot Of Bother

For all intents and purposes, my home course is now the Windsor Golf Club in Windsor, CA.  There is  an interesting spot behind the third green, a shortish par four that I've been able to get within 30 yards of off the tee.  Because it is such a short second shot, it's not unusual for a player to blade one over the green.  Behind the green, which runs roughly east-west in kind of a banana shape, is a boundary fence roughly ten yards behind the green.  Just before the fence is a cart path.  Here's a look at it from the middle of the green:

You can see that there is not a lot of room between the cart path and the fence.  Here is a better view, from the side:

It may not look like it, but there is actually room to drop on that grass strip behind the cart path and have full relief from the path.  However, if you did that, you would be in a position where your back swing would be impacted by the boundary fence, and, of course, there is no free relief from a boundary fence.  If you took this relief from the path, then wanted relief from the fence, you would have to declare an unplayable lie and take a stroke penalty.  As the path runs parallel to the width of the green, you would probably not be able to go two club-lengths either direction without (a) getting any closer to the hole, or (b) improving your situation to the point where you would actually have a clear swing.

The alternative would be stroke and distance-- go back and play from as close as possible to the spot where you hit the previous shot, the one that ended up on the cart path.  After further review, we decided that the best course of action would probably be to play it off the cart path.  After all, whose wedges aren't already pretty scuffed up?

As a second year TO, I found this an interesting situation.  It underscores the need to make sure players are aware of their options BEFORE they pick up their ball.  It's the reason one of the senior officials one told me that the last thing you want to see when you arrive at a situation is the player with his ball in his hand.

A Year Ago At The Masters...

Although the subject has been beaten into the ground, and a number of people have suffered for their actions and views of what happened, here it is again.  In the April 7th issue of Sports Illustrated, Alan Shipnuck offers a comprehensive post-mortem on Tiger's now infamous improper drop on the 15th hole of the second round.

I certainly won't claim to be a rules expert, let alone attempt to explain the details of the ruling, but there are several things that seem pretty clear to me.

First:  I have no idea what was going through Tiger's mind at the time, but he's played enough golf to know that "as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played" (Rule 26-1) means just that, not two yards back to give himself a more favorable yardage.  Brain fart?  Probably, but why didn't his caddie, Joe LaCava, who has been around the block a few times, step up?  Joe stayed with the bag at the site of the original shot while Tiger walked forward to assess his options.  He too, had to know that going back two yards was wrong

Next, what in the world was Fred Ridley thinking?  He was alerted and saw the replay.  He knew by then that it was  questionable.  Why did he not consult with the player before he signed his card, which is, as should be, SOP in such a situation, particularly in the highest profile tournament in golf and with the highest profile player in the game?  A subplot question, which Shipnuck raises again:  Was Ridley influenced by the fact that he and David Eger, who he knew was the originator of the question, have a history?  (To put it politely.  In a Golf Digest interview later that year, Eger stated "In my view, Ridley's knowledge of The Rules of Golf was, and is, suspect."  OUCH!") 

Finally, numerous commentators have made the point that it was probably a good thing for Tiger from the standpoint of his legacy that he didn't go on to win, since many would have viewed such a victory as tainted.  I am not Tiger's biggest fan, but I'm not sure I completely agree.  He did make a mistake, but he was exonerated by the rules committee and allowed to continue.  While he probably would have earned even more admiration had he stepped up and withdrawn, he did what he was allowed to do.  However, this comes close to blurring the line between golf and the ethic that prevails in pretty much any other professional sport:  That you do what you have to do and whatever you can get away with.  If it's called, fine, but if it's not, great.

As an aside, two days ago Tiger announced he would not play in the 2014 Masters, and for some time afterwards, due to his back issue and subsequent surgery.  Numerous pros have tweeted their support and their wish that he get back to competition as soon as possible.  I'm wondering if one will say what they're all probably thinking:  Don't mean to wish back surgery on anyone, but, hey, my own chances just went up a whole bunch!

Communicate With Your Players!

Just a little side note from the Goodwin Tournament.  Pace of play is a big, big issue.  I've been following college golf for years, and I've been convinced that the reason pros play so slowly is that nobody made them play faster as collegians.  Now, the expected finish time for each hole is right there on every player's scorecard.

When I was introduced to my group on the first tee, I told them, as advised, to pay attention to the pace of play guidelines, and if they ever saw me heading out down a fairway ahead of them, that would be a subtle clue that perhaps they were lagging behind the suggested pace.  On Sunday, the fifth tee was set up about thirty yards above and behind the fourth green.  Instead of going back to the tee, I headed up the fairway to spot their drives.  After they putted out on five, the first two players asked me if they were on pace.

Since they were the second group off the tee, there was virtually no chance they would be in trouble.  They were at the time, in fact, fourteen minutes ahead of their expected maximum pace.  It took me a moment to connect their question to what I had told them on the first tee.  I apologized to them for the unnecessary concern, and informed them that if I was going up to spot in the future I would let them know what I was doing.

Soooo... The moral of the story is....  Stick with, but remember, what you said.

A Wrong Ruling at Roddy Ranch

I worked a 36 hole US Amateur qualifier at Roddy Ranch last summer.  For much of the second round, I was stationed at the 14th (I think) hole.  The hole is a long par four, with tee shot over a hump then downhill to a blind landing area.  There is a spot near the bottom of the fairway which serves as a collection area for long drives.  Sure enough, two balls came to rest touching each other.  I told the player whose ball was closer to the hole to mark his position, move the mark, then replace the ball after the other player had played.  The obvious question arose:  There would be a divot where his ball was which wasn't there before.  I was certain the player was entitled to the original lie, but was unsure whether it would be a placement or a drop.

We were at the bottom of the course, and out of radio range due to topography.  I tried for a minute to get a response, then discussed it with the player.  He was likewise unsure.  We agreed that he would drop, choosing to err on the side of caution.  He would likely not be disadvantaged, since there was a pristine area right near where his ball originally lay.  His ball ended up in as good a lie as the original, and he almost pitched in for eagle.

On my way back to the clubhouse after the last group was through, I ran into a certified rules official.  I explained what I'd done, and the official told me I'd done the right thing, which made me feel better.  Before I got to the house, however, the official called me back and said it should indeed have been a placement.  Here's the rub:  If the ball had been in a divot, and the first player to play made a bigger divot, and there was no similar lie nearby, he would have been required to place it in the now deeper divot.

What did I learn?  When in doubt, ask, and even if you get an acceptable answer, ask again, as it may not be right.  Kudos to the official I asked for getting double-checking and getting back to me.