The Best In Golf » Rules

Wie Watcher

thebestingolf — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:01:33 +0000

As my friends know I am borderline, OK maybe not so borderline, obsessed with Michelle Wie.

After her DQ in her last outing (where she was in or near the lead after three rounds by the way) she’s now on the verge of making a cut in a PGA tour event.

I have to pause this post to rant a little on the ridiculous DQ for not signing her scorecard a couple weeks ago. Without a doubt the worst rule in golf…maybe sports. This is their living we are talking about, not the Crump Cup for rich guys at Pine Valley. You shoot the score with hundreds or thousands of fans, reporters, photographers, TV cameras, and other players watching.

The scores are entered correctly and the person who kept score for you has signed the card to verify its accuracy. You’ve done all this except sign it yourself and you’re Dairy Queened…slamming the trunk. I know I know golf is different. It’s about integrity, honesty, calling penalties on yourself…all the other BS. It’s true golf is unique…but it’s more than all that to tour players. They are there to make a living. We may think they’re overpaid…but that’s just jealousy.

If someone took away your paycheck for a technicality at work, what would you do? How insane.

Back to MW. She’s starting to finally show why The Swoosh pays her all those millions. The stories on the Reno Tahoe Whatever Classic don’t start with who’s leading the tournament…after all other than his mother who really cares?

No, the story is Michelle Wie and her chance of making a cut in a men’s event, winning on the LPGA tour, etc. She’s news man, case closed.

Our Rules Need Help

thebestingolf — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:42:00 +0000

Last week there was a funeral in Waycross, GA. Forty year old former tour pro Taylor Smith passed away from as of yet unkown causes. Who was Taylor Smith? You’ll remember when you read Bill Field’s column in the upcoming issue of Golf World.

In Tiger’s rookie season he was tied for the lead at the Disney World tour event with Smith. On the 63rd hole, Lennie Clements reported to a rules official that the grip on Smith’s long putter was illegal. The fact the whole freaking putter should be illegal is another subject. Anyway, Taylor birdied 18 to force a playoff with Tiger…but was disqualified for the putter grip. After that day in Rattown, he never won an event, got hooked on painkillers, drank too much, and just died.

Not blaming Lennie Clements here although you have to wonder how he took the news.

I have a weird affection for the rules. I’ve been to USGA rules seminars, one of them 3 days. The Rules are fascinating to me and I’m not a little bit embarrassed about it.

But I’m positive the rules need to be applied fairly…not uniformly or consistently…but fairly.

Roberto DiVicenzo could have won the Masters but didn’t because he signed a wrong scorecard. He wasn’t keeping score (his fellow competitor was), the score he signed for wasn’t lower than the score he made…it was higher…yet the rules must be applied. He was Dairy Queened and Bob Goalby got fitted for a 44 long, green. Read it in his own words here.

As unfair as it was to the Argentine, it was equally unfair to Goalby and to golf itself. Forty years distant Goalby has the knowledge he didn’t exactly win The Masters but also a lot of golf fans think he lost to DiVicenzo…not true, they had the same exact score….but no playoff to see who would have won…that’s not fair.

Let the players decide who wins, who loses, and who ties…not a ridiculous rule. Good people who run tournaments can assess the situation and make the fair decision. Here’s another example from just this week…stupid!

If you’re a regular visitor to Best In Golf you may notice the lack of any photo in this post. The reason is simple…when you Google Taylor Smith you get a principal in Kentucky and a Pastor in
Indiana…no golfer from Georgia.

Wonder if he had a rounder grip that day in 1996 if that would be the case.

Kiawah

thebestingolf — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 22:56:00 +0000

You no doubt have seen the list of things to do before you die. It includes playing 36 at Great Wall CC and an emergency 9 at Taj Mahal National.

You have at it…for my money I’ll take the really great places to sip an iceberg cold martini every time .

I’m talking cold here…so frigid the Polar Bear in the stool next to you would take a sip, look over at you, and shudder “Damn bubba that’s cold!”

Played The Ocean Course yesterday. I’ve played it a fair amount over time but never on a better day. It had it all…a little sun, a little rain, and a lot of wind. I love the Ocean Course. It has what I think are some of the best holes in golf.

Number 4 is a par 4 of 430 or so, straightaway and almost always into the wind. The next is a par 3 where 6- irom is usually plenty but a 3-finger driver was the club yesterday…awesome.

My friend and client Tom Bewley (pictured here) had me and Leon Leggett (another friend and BBQ advisor) out for the day. The weather was so bad that on the back 9 we played a game suggested by Tom…whoever made the most pars won $5 from the other two.

Except for almost holing a 40 yard wedge on #11 I didn’t sniff a par until 18. Leon the Wedge got it up and down on the same hole to take the lead…Tom played 11 from the left side of the dunes…we thought we lost him for about 10 minutes…he resurfaced on the next tee though.

Then the rain started…hard. Tom smoothed a 5 iron on the par 3 (where 8 is usually the club) and lagged it up there for his first (and only) par. Leon hit a sweet lob shot from the left side of the green to about a foot.

So on it went and the winner was Leon 2-1-1. A bunch of good golf shots were played, you just couldn’t tell it from the scores.

But back to the martinis. The list of good spots to sip a Ketel One is impressive…the bar at The Homestead rocks…we call it Dead President’s Pub…if you’ve been there you know why. The Arizona Biltmore is very cool…was that Cary Grant in the next urinal?

But the best of them all is the bar at The Sactuary. The room is awesome.

I was there once on business waiting for a colleage for dinner…it was early, probably about 6:30, so I was the only one there.

When the pretty blond bartender walked up, placed a napkin in front of me and said “Good evening sir” all I could think of was The Shining.

So I looked right back at her and said “Set ‘em up Lloyd.” She got it and we laughed for 5 minutes. Cool spot…cool bartender.

Get to Kiawah soon for The Sanctuary and The Ocean Course…the combo is one of the very Best In Golf…and say hello to Lloyd.

thebestingolf — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 22:50:00 +0000

As egregious an error that perhaps has ever been thrust on tournament golf, Stewart Cink, Jim Furyk , and the other 100 or so players in the Bridgestone Invitational took place this week.

As we all know by now Tiger has won 50-something tournaments and 12 majors in 10, count them, 10 years!

Spotting Tiger even one shot in any event is like giving Roger Clemens a 2-strike strikeout, 5 downs to the Steelers or an extra free-throw to Shaq Diesel…OK, the analogy is stretched too thin there but you know what I mean…

…of what error do I speak? The off the clubhouse-through the parking lot – into the pocket of the cook shot-nothin’ but net…you know those high-fashion black and white check numbers chefs wear?

The clubhouse wasn’t out of bounds…that much we know…it should have been, and Tiger said so…or chuckled so…that’s not the issue.

I went to a rules seminar one time years ago where the instructor was rules expert and Athens CC pro Ed Hoard. Ed told us when you are officiating at a Tour event the players will expect a ruling by who they are and how many tournaments they’ve won…a couple of majors, according to Ed, and they call you “Son”.

Not the case here…his Tigerness abided by the ruling of the official…that’s what’s expected…no problem there.

What I don’t get is every day we play and I hit it into the woods, you act like you’re helping to find it…looking at the shine on your FJs is more like it…at about 3 minutes it feels like we’ve been looking for 20 so I say. “It’s gone, let’s go”

When the dust cleared on number nine at Firestone…35 minutes had passed…last time I looked a ball is lost after 5? So what happened?

Father’s Day

thebestingolf — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 21:23:00 +0000

My friend and partner, Blair Leburn, has one of the truly great dad’s in golf…his mom and the rest of the family are two-under also but it is Father’s Day after all.

Blair, Dad, and brother Kevin are pictured here, credit to Mark Burris.

In 1960 “Lord” Leburn began a group at his home club, Royal Troon, that he dubbed the Pink Elephants.

He described it to me once as “You know the guy who finally gets into the club after years on the waiting list and is somewhat of a dolt? He can’t ever find a game because he’s just not very smart, pleasant, funny, or a good golfer?”

“Yes”, I replied, I know what you mean.

“Well”, Mr. Leburn continued, “we make him a Pink Elephant”. Ah, I get it.

I also had one of the great dads in golf, and I’ve missed him every day in the 20 years he’s been gone. I don’t always behave correctly as my friends will attest but when a big life decision needs to be made I simply think of what my dad would do…he was a man who never intentionally hurt anyone and treated people the same no matter who they were…superb guy.

Back to John Leburn. He has a silly way about him…boylike in so many ways. The way he pretends to hide from the press at the British Open because he’s afraid he’ll be recognized, to the way he says after every driver swing (with ball still in mid-air) “Oh No! Oh No!, Oh, it’s perfect!!”

He will “shush” you if you describe a match you’ve won…he says gentlemen never talk about the opponents they’ve beaten…he has a sheepish smile on his face when he says this but if you pay attention, you just might learn something important.

Blair knows how lucky he is to have the family he does, we talk about it often…so as a representative dad on Father’s Day, let’s agree that Mr. Leburn is a Best In Golf.

Father’s Day

thebestingolf — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 21:23:00 +0000

My friend and partner, Blair Leburn, has one of the truly great dad’s in golf…his mom and the rest of the family are two-under also but it is Father’s Day after all.

Blair, Dad, and brother Kevin are pictured here, credit to Mark Burris.
.

In 1960 “Lord” Leburn began a group at his home club, Royal Troon, that he dubbed the Pink Elephants.

“Yes”, I replied, I know what you mean.

“Well”, Mr. Leburn continued, “we make him a Pink Elephant”. Ah, I get it.
.
I also had one of the great dads in golf, and I’ve missed him every day in the 20 years he’s been gone. I don’t always behave correctly as my friends will attest but when a big life decision needs to be made I simply think of what my dad would do…he was a man who never intentionally hurt anyone and treated people the same no matter who they were…superb guy.
.
Back to John Leburn. He has a silly way about him…boylike in so many ways. The way he pretends to hide from the press at the British Open because he’s afraid he’ll be recognized, to the way he says after every driver swing (with ball still in mid-air) “Oh No! Oh No!, Oh, it’s perfect!!”

Blair knows how lucky he is to have the family he does, we talk about it often…so as a representative dad on Father’s Day, let’s agree that Mr. Leburn is a Best In Golf.

Father’s Day

thebestingolf — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 21:23:00 +0000

My friend and partner, Blair Leburn, has one of the truly great dad’s in golf…his mom and the rest of the family are two-under also but it is Father’s Day after all.

Blair, Dad, and brother Kevin are pictured here, credit to Mark Burris.
.

In 1960 “Lord” Leburn began a group at his home club, Royal Troon, that he dubbed the Pink Elephants.

“Yes”, I replied, I know what you mean.

Blair knows how lucky he is to have the family he does, we talk about it often…so as a representative dad on Father’s Day, let’s agree that Mr. Leburn is a Best In Golf.