FRIDAY 13 RULES CHANGES (OR, CLARIFICATION)...

I don't know the history of why "Friday the 13th" should be a bad day. In fact, I always expect good things, I am not superstitious (I was once told that it is bad luck to be superstitious, so there). If I hit a bad shot on the course, I always yell, "get lucky!" instead of "go ahead, go in the water!" If I had a cat, it would be a black cat. And I don't walk under a ladder only because it is not very smart, not because it is bad luck (maybe it is bad luck not to be smart when you need to be smart).

Anyway, since the last few weeks have been slow, I've taken time to play a little golf without worrying about the shop so much, and have enjoyed the company of different golfing members, one of whom I cost money to because he chose me in the last two holes of a "Wolf Game", and I three putted 17th, and failed to make a 7 footer on 18 (I guess that is why he calls me "Sergio"... sometimes "Julio"). Sorry, I'll try better next time... but the truth is that I blame my bad putting on the greens, and that is why I am writing this:

Let me say that Ed Hughes and his staff are not at fault here. My bad putting happened because there seems to be the understanding that there was an old law that read as follows: "In the interest of fast play, members and visiting golfers are strictly forbidden of wasting time in fixing ball marks" The next line read: "do not rake bunkers either, for the same reason as above".  I am here to say such law never existed, and if it ever did, it has been abolished from the books the way old laws have that do not apply any more. This is effective the first Friday 13th of 2012, which means today.

I don't know about you, but I hate putting on greens that are peppered with ball marks, especially on the course I work for and which by nature, I am really proud of. Here is another law that seems to be in effect, for which, as the first one, I haven't found anything to support its enaction: It reads, "Speed Limit on the course: Groups must play at their own pace, unless there is a slower group in front, then, your luck just changed and you must now play at their pace for the rest of the round".

Now, wouldn't this very rule go against the previous one?  Where do you think golfers get these ideas? Really, I haven't seen anything in writing. Here is an example you'll understand: you are in a hurry to go to Oklahoma City and drive east on I-40 on a beautiful day, and hardly any traffic on the road... that is until you catch this car that is driving at the same speed as the 18 wheeler on its right (60mph) and you can't go anywhere! (By the way, it seems that the slow car is usually driven by someone who can barely see over the dashboard, or on their cellphone and are driving without paying attention to anything or anyone else). You feel like yelling, "GET OFF THE CELLPHONE YOU TWIRK, PUT A THICK TELEPHONE BOOK UNDER YOUR REAR END, PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD AND GET OUT OF THE WAY SO FASTER CARS CAN GET GOING."

In a golf course, there is nothing illegal about going faster than other groups, there aren't any speed limits. The only time, and I mean THE ONLY TIME when slow play is understandable, is when the golf course is so busy that there is no way to play faster.

So here are the three golden laws that the Board of Directors will most likely approve unanimously:

1.- LEAVE THE COURSE BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT. This means it is perfectly legal to take time to fix ball marks, rake bunkers and fix divots while the rest of your group is hitting their shots.  In fact, BY LAW, not leaving the course better than you found it will earn you a place in our "Black Book".

2.- Speed limit abolished unless course is busy. Always play as quickly as you can, while enjoying yourselves. When Walter Hagen said, "take time to smell the roses" (there are no roses on Elk City Golf & Country Club anyway), he was not speaking literally, he was speaking figuratively about life.

3.- If you are teaching someone to play golf, do it on the practice areas!

To close, it all boils down to two golden words in golf: COURTESY & ETIQUETTE! If you are one of the 300+ members, this is your course, be a gracious host and "keep your house clean". And if you are a guest, make it easy to be invited again! 

ENJOY YOUR "FRIDAY THE 13th", SOMETHING GOOD IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ALL OF YOU TODAY!