ON THE RULES...

His ruling on the 2013 Masters was wrong from the beginning. Had he
followed simple steps,he would have saved his own embarrassment and
that of Tiger, who also did not know the rules.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people mess up a tournament or a casual round by totally ignoring, misinterpreting, misrepresenting or by thinking they know the rules of golf, but they don't. Even at the professional level, people who should know the rules well (players and referees), often need a second opinion on something that should be pretty logical.

I am one person who thinks that the rules of golf follow a logic, but truly, I am in the minority as most people think that the rules are too complicated. I am beginning to wonder whether or not they are right. True, there are rules situations -some hypothetical- that one scratches his head as in, "how in the world could that happen"? But, concerning some of the simple rules, I just don't know how some people really mess up.

No, you don't get a free drop!

Recently, during a high school tournament at a sister city, a kid's hybrid broke during a stroke (the head came off). The kid signaled his parents nearby to see if they could get him a replacement as soon as it was possible while he continued his round. Pretty simple and logical. He was not going to hold play up, but he wanted his club replaced in case he needed a hybrid later in his round. It so happens that a coach from another school was nearby and was told by one of the other students what had happened, so he came to the kid and told him that he could not replace his broken club. The kid, who had started with less that fourteen clubs to start with then asked, "well, can I add a club to my set since I started my round with 11 clubs?" "No", came the answer, then added, "if you start with less than 14 clubs, you have to stay with less than 14 clubs the whole round. That's the rules".... WHAT RULES!! His?

A ruling here depends on whether or not
this bridge is part of a hazard or not.

In just a couple of minutes, he made two decisions that were completely wrong. First, if a player's club breaks during the normal course of play, he may replace it if in doing so he does not unduly delay play. In this case, his parents, or spectators, could have gone to his car, or their car, and borrow a club from someone else not in the tournament, or even buy one at the course. He was going to continue playing and walking and anyone going away to get a club was not going to delay the play of the group. Then, as far as a player adding a club to his set if he started with fewer than 14 clubs, it can also be done, without penalty, also as long as he does not delay play.

The rules are simple here: the maximum number of clubs a player can start with is fourteen. There is no minimum, you can start with five or one, for that matter. But you can add as many as you are short of fourteen. In other words, even if the kid broke the club in anger, in which case, the club cannot be replaced, the player could have added a club to his bag since he started wit 11 clubs.

Clearly, the coach was in the wrong in more than one way, first, he doesn't know the rules so he should never do a ruling and second, since he does not know the rules, he should ask someone who does, so there can be a correct, logical ruling.

In the same tournament, a kid hit his second shot way right and it was on its way out of bounds when it hit a lucky tree and the ball came to rest in the fairway.... a coach told this other kid, "you need to add a penalty stroke because that ball was going out of bounds. You hit a "rub of the green" so you are lucky that it wasn't two penalty strokes". OMG!!!!!! I bet it was the same coach!

Note: If you know the definitions in the rules of golf, your will have most of the tools needed to understand the rules, that said, the rules are rather complicated for the average golfer who merely goes around the course worrying more about making contact than whether or not he is actually hitting a ball that is in bounds. But, I suggest to all of those who play the game, learn your basic rules and enjoy the game. And never, ever, pay attention to a coach on a golf course who just happens to be around. If you need a ruling, ask someone who actually can show you a rules book and show you what it says concerning your situation.