"The year 2010 will not be remembered for any particular playing accomplishment but rather for Dustin Johnson failing to realize he was sharing a bunker with dozens of spectators who had nowhere else to go on a depraved course that led mobs into hazards."
I suspect that Frank Hannigan would just point us to his timelier-than-ever Golf Digest story after some of the rules-related groveling following Ian Poulter's unfortunate "lucky" coin incident Sunday.
The Rules of Golf, it was reported in bona-fide media and anonymous blogs, are an ass. It was all very Tea Partyish in that the government, in this case the rules-making USGA, was denounced as causing nothing but harm. The rules, said the critics, were made by doddering old men in a haphazard manner designed to irk those with common sense who were sure all the publicized rules confrontations could have been handled in some ad-hoc manner resulting in no penalty for the likes of the nonreading Johnson, who, after all, didn't mean to ground his club in a hazard and surely gained no benefit in doing so.
Mind, the USGA has asked for trouble by performing badly in many areas of its provenance. It foisted upon the game a new groove rule on the basis that doing so would improve the game dramatically, whereas all it did was make golf a more expensive game by encouraging golfers to buy new clubs for no good reason. But handling the Rules of Golf is what the USGA is good at. (I exclude Rules 4 and 5 on equipment, the evolution of which has been a disaster.) Because the USGA is good at rules, the game is one of law and respect.Cheating, taken for granted not only in other games but throughout our society, is not tolerated in golf.
He goes on, as only Frank can, highlighting a baseball incident this summer and how such a thing would never be tolerated in golf.
Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 08:27 PM
Reader Comments (56)
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The USGA's paid staff is on the case daily. There are eight staff members, headed by rules director Jeff Hall, who spend all or most of their time working on the rules.
The staff answers every question, profound or trivial, submitted to the USGA. There are about 15,000 each year. Phone calls on the subject are counted. There were 8,223 in 2009; e-mails accounted for another 6,908.
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Really? Those salaries me covered by ten dollar memberships, offset by mailing labels/Christmas card samples then multiplied by hospitality tents. Did somebody say tents?:
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Rules officials have an obligation to examine all credible evidence. For them, a mean television viewer is no different from a fellow-competitor or opponent. I would ask those who would ban TV callers as follows: Suppose a drunk comes out of one of those hospitality tents and tells a member of the field staff he has just seen a clear violation on a 50-inch TV set. How is that different from the witness having seen it in person or in his home?
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No difference other than the fact that said drunk was over-served by the USGA's other "field staff".
Uncommon sense is stupidity.
The mere number of questions on the rules and the size of the staff shows to anyone with common sense, that the rules are crap.
If this were a real business, heads would roll, asses would be in a vise.
This is like the pot bs the govt lays out. By making poor rules, the masses ignore the good rules, because the know that they are being fed a line of bs like the govt 'sell' on on pot,...... or a ball moving in the wind, etc.
If preferred lies are ok for wet weather, why can the wind be a factor to alter the rules on a ball moving on the green ?
How is a ball mark repair ok, but not a spike mark. Time saved ? BS.
No penatlty for tapping the ball off the tee, but a penalty if you accidently move your ball mark?
The rules are part of why golf is a dieing quail. GOOD rules should be honored, but the BS makes a mockery of the good rules.
Frank, sorry you are just defending a crock. I admire your loyalty, but how can hitting a ball in a hole require a bible of decisions, other than paying for more anal retentive people to babble about meaningless rule decisions.
I play by the rules in tournaments and for HDCP, but, I swear, I am going to work harder than ever to see change come about.
As to the Pros, they should strike to eliminate ball close ups and super slo mo....if you cannot be aware of it with the naked eye, it is inconsequential. TV viewers are being entertained, not judges.
I am a member of the USGA, and I am embarrassed by their selective application of penalty for equalilly non advantagious action.
they look like fools, and damn if the 'looks like a duck' metapor isn't right..
fools.
end of rant
www.7amshop.com
"Bad rules are bad rules. Common sense is common sense."
For instance- white, yellow and red stakes all with different rules for crossing the imaginary line they define.
USGA needs a complete review asking the question -
If we invented golf today what rules would we have?
I know that the R and A are looking at areas in the rules where it is obvious there has been no intent to breach and are looking to downgrade the penalties there-but it wont be a speedy or simple process. ( 1 shot for hitting yourself with the ball rather than the previous 2 would be an example)
I do agree with Digs though on super slo mo etc-if it needs a microscope to spot a problem then where was the intent there?Would like to see that changed-but have no idea how to word it!Any lawyers out there with a few spare days to deliberate for me?F O C of course!
The USGA and the R&A's history of rules that lack common sense are perhaps best exmplified by this WW2 rule of golf -
A player whose stroke is affected by the simultaneous explosion of a bomb may play another ball from the same place. Penalty one stroke.
The one rule best rethought that would disqualify 99.9% of every card being turned in for HCP if it was actually followed- Rule #27..
Think of sports much simpler than golf in their basic premises which require large numbers of officials, video replays and challenges - which even exclude so called judgment calls. . . But, obviously NFL success is based upon getting away with cheating - on about every play - so they need lots of cops on their beat.
So Crenshaw's putter grip was made illegal. so wedges are now in 2 catagories of legality.
So Bobby jones could carry 30 clubs, but you cannot.
We believe in the 'honor ' of the player so much, that we must preemptively rule on every possibility of cheating.
So a dead reed touched in a hazard loses a tournament because it meant so much.
If we wish to embolden more people to play, and play by the rules, the rules need to be addressed and fixed.
@Papa Bing
no whining, but ranting, for sure. I am tired of seeing idiocy cost players a lot of money. I am tired of unequal application of 'rules'....
Why is a ball mark any different than a spike mark? More time is wasted determining marks than actually repairing them, or the subsequent extra putt(s) from balls off line.
@Chico: the closeup: simple . End it. Player strike. The call in. End it. As dumbass as it gets.
The logic behind 'all are referees slaps the 'game of honor' notion right out the door.
It is a joke, but it is not funny.
Laymen have more to make fun of about golf than Gay's bright red pants, or Fowler's county lockup orange outfits.
The friggin IRS code is simpler than the ROG. Nice try Frank, but the indefensable is what it is, as TW says.
And DJ did not need to read anything, as it was not related to the incident. He was outside the margin of the hazard.
The ROG is like the kid getting suspended for an aspirin at school. How can kids respect the really important rules when they see the lack of common sense in a no tolerance policy that punishes nothing. There's yer ROG. Punishment for nothing just because they said so.
Now go to your room without supper.
One thought.Whats worse-to lose an event because of a accidental rules breach or to be beaten by a cheat?
To whomever complained about the full-time paid rules staff of the USGA. If we count correctly, there are about 8 staffers, plus a few other administrators. And, of course many, many remarkable volunteer rules officials. That's for all of about half the golfing world.
By my exacting and fully-documented count, there are 50, 652 paid football referees in America, 28,127 paid baseball umpires and 46,968 paid basketball referees. It's enough to really piss off a small-government constitutional conservative.
Yes a real evaluation of proper wording and enforcment would be needed. Occam's Razor should apply.
If you are beaten by a cheater, you don't have yourself to blame for not knowing or having a temporary slip of some obscure rule, or accidentally touching something, or heaven forbid, being a human and dropping the GD golfball.
Who knows what IP would have done w/o the penalty, or if his competitor would have made the putt if IP was close?
Everything affects everything, as we know.
I respect playing by the rules. There are many rules I do not respect. There is a difference.
The rules have paralyzed the TV game, with too much money for a player to even make a simple drop without calling a rules official, or fear of some TV truck review. If one is monitored, all should be. Player strike. The (poor) rules and TV are killing the game, in their own way.
Dont suppose we will ever be 100% in agreement re the rules-they used to be simple once upon a time and didn't work then either!-but I respect your opinion.
I'm tired to death of the treatment of ROG here as something that is bigger than religion. One commentor noted that it was developed over hundreds of years by studied men and blah blah blah. It is this type of reverence, pomposity (is that even a word? Well, if Sarah Palin can use refudiate...oops, wrong thread!), and self-importance that makes the game of golf less appealing to many.
They're rules, and that's all. Someone posted above, brilliantly IMHO, that the rules must be so complex because the sacred knight riding on his white steed must be held in place to preserve that sense of honor.
Final thought: immediately ban the call-in protest. And if you can find that chucklehead, ban him from his course for a year and take away his USGA membership card for being such an arse.
Happy ball striking, all! :)
sacred white knight = duffer/golfer/hack/pro/etc.
steed = push cart, pull cart, motorized cart, caddy, or even humping your own clubs :)
let me present a scenario.
this involves grounding the putter/ marking the ball.
A) the current rules and current PGA TV replay usage and closeup as is.
B) super slo mo, and closeups: if the ball is not replaced within 1/64" of original lift point. penalty. Silly ? sure where does it end? The ruling bodies SAID we must use all tech available....we can time drag racers to a 10 thousandth of a second.....so heck let's say the ball has to be within 1/100 of an inch or original position. Seems fair. ;)
C) no penalty for the ball moving. The ability to replace it exacly is impossible, and when the rule was written, greens were not stimping at 9.5-11.5 or more. If the ball moves, you must replace it....no penalty.
Has a putt ever been made by 1/4 inch difference on the spot? probably. Is it worth the countless hours wasted? Not to me.
D) at the very least , suspend the current rule in specific conditions. Wind, etc.
I say keep it simple C is my vote.
I challenge anyone to tell me they have ever seen a stroke gained by a ball mark situation, the penalty stroke not counting. I am not saying you can plac e the ball closer to te hole, ec, I am saying let honor and common sense prevail.
It would seem that the USGA has all the anal retentive's on the rules committee, and they are busy bees, when they are not placing their trash in bags, folding them, and stapling them shut, before placing them in
another bag....ala SNL.
more cowbell, less rules.
1. There are no Rules
2. When in doubt, see Rule 1
In other words you play the ball as it lies, wherever it lies, be it in a water filled bunker, drainage ditch, whatever. You cannot touch the ball through the green, and then only if your opponent requests. If your ball has mud on it, too bad, hit it. I think you all get the idea.
A most refreshing way to play the game.
As an aside, this event played in September and a similar one in Cincinnati in July . Anyone from anywhere is most welcome.
Recent changes in the Decisions have been about a 50/50 mix of reactive and pre-emptive.
you learn how to pick the ball pretty clean when it's on an ant bed, or......:) ouch.
Digsouth, I don't think that DJ being outside the margin of the hazard points to any bad rules, just a bad ruling.
That will always be the first thing that springs to my mind about the 2010 PGA Championship. Bad management all around. Some of us will always see Johnson as the victim here.
If Dustin Johnson putted out on the 72nd hole and went on the playoff, would the usual rules-mongers have phoned in their alarums and excursions? I wonder.
In match play madness, 'lose your ball' = 'lose the hole'.
The rules are there, follow them.
If you don't like it, go play something else.
Poulter was unlucky, but broke a rule and paid the price. D. Johnson failed to read the local rule sheet and made a mistake, he paid a price. Rules are broken all the time, from Thursday morning to Sunday afternoon, and they all pay the price, some are just more (in)famous due to the timing.
Any idiot who can't comprehend that the rules are there to be followed probably thinks it's ok to drink and drive and use illicit drugs. Trust me, it's not OK
Nuf said
*Digsouth, I don't think that DJ being outside the margin of the hazard points to any bad rules, just a bad ruling.*
yes , I agree. It was really a non sequitur.
@Jay Townsend
Your simplistic take does not address bad rules. Yes, play by them, but that does not mean hey cannot be changed. I guess some are doomed to follow, never question authority, and ride the merry go round, while others prefer the roller coaster and the ability to actually think.
To say to play something else if you don't like the rules..... how very adult.
But if that is your opinion, you are certainly entitiled to it. You ARE aware that , even the USGA actually changes rules. Man, it must be devastating to see them alter a rule hat you feel is ingrained in stone. Conflicted feelings: I wish you well.
Seriously, Jay, bad rules need be changed. Pretty simple. It is possible to have a competition set of rules and a 'daily set' of rules as an alternative. While baseball and softball are the same game, they do typically have different rules.... ie: no sliding, no bunting , HR an out, ec, to kep the AM game on tack.. also thee are time limits on games, not a factor in MLB..
I am trying to be realistic: not just throw my hands in the air, as your post implies one should do.
Again, the bad rules make the casual player break the good rules.
quite a quantum leap.
logic does not dictate the 'reasoning' behind such a ludicrous statement.
Ever been at a 4 way stop? then they put up a traffic signal. Wow. They changed the rules.
I guess if you don't like it you can walk.
Have a good week.
Jay, it is generally hard to argue with you, but that last comment was a non sequitur par excellence.
Geoff, do you think you can refrain from posting any links to the Silliness at Sherwood this week? Please?
I do not agree with all of the rules, but I 100% believe in playing by them. If and when the ruling bodies (USGA and R & A) make changes, I will be happy to abide with the changes.
I don't see anything that needs to be changed by either the D. Johnson or Poulter penalties.
And, KY, I stand by my DUI and illicit drug statements., but I think drugs should be made legal so we can tax them :)
I DO play by the rules. I does not mean I cannot lobby or protest to see rules changes.
I really don't see the drug/alcohol connect with someone's views of the ROG. It is like the 'conservatives' who smoke. Pretty liberal habit, for an alleged 'conservative.
Or is it that we are all capable of being of more than one mind, depending on the issue, or.....
who knows?
Are there Aliens? lol.... who knows. trying to lighten to up, my friend.
Play well.