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Changes were made in the off season to the OGA Pace of Play Policy and they were front and center during our recent Oregon Amateur Qualifier. Only one group missed a checkpoint and received a potential penalty for slow play. After their round, in the scoring area, the players had a right to submit an appeal. They all felt they could explain why they were not at fault for slow play. After reviewing their written appeal and a short private discussion by The Committee, the penalty was not applied.
A large change in the Pace of Play Policy is the change from automatic penalties to potential penalties. This is much easier on the player’s and allows the Committee time to determine what occurred leading up to the missed check point and arrive at a well thought out decision.
Our TAG Team (Tournament Assistance Group) helped to pilot new pace of play tracking charts provided by the USGA and used in their US Championships. They allow The Committee, at a brief glance, a overview of the entire field’s progress in relation to the maximum time we have allowed for them to complete the stipulated round.
If you are a tournament golfer and compete in OGA Championships, I encourage you to take a look at the revised Policy before you come to your next event - link to Policy below. If paired with a slow player and struggling to keep pace, you’ll appreciate knowing your options.
http://www.oga.org/club/scripts/library/view_document.asp?S=NAV&DID=24246&GRP=1125&NS=RG
It always helps to be comfortable with your surroundings.
This past weekend, I helped assist Brent Whittaker, the OGA’s Director of Tournament Operations, with course set-up and Rules officiating at Diamond Woods Golf Course in Monroe, just NE of Eugene. Having lived in Eugene for over 10 years, I was very familiar with Diamond Woods and the venue served as a perfect location for me to begin my first full OGA Championship Season.
I learned you see a lot more of a golf course working with a can of paint than carrying a bag of clubs. This weekend, we were left with a decision as to how we would mark small trenches, about 8″ x 8″, some contained water, most did not. Diamond Woods is built at about 400 feet, in the foothills of Win Ridge. The trenches have helped to speed drainage during our wet spring. They are located off tee boxes, next to cart paths and on the periphery of greens. I have played Diamond Woods close to twenty times and have never given them a second thought. During the qualifiying, we defined them to be Ground Under Repair. Free relief (a “free drop”) was an option should the trench interfere with the lie of their ball, stance, or area of intended swing.
Outside of a long Friday marking the course, the event was extremely smooth. I spent most of Saturday’s early morning ahead of players checking course set-up. The afternoon I spent roving, monitoring pace of play, assisting players with rulings and watching some great golf.
Last year’s 4A High School Champion, Brandon Taylor, shot 35-33 – 68 for low score of the day. He and 23 others have advanced to play in the 99th Oregon Amateur Championship at Bend Golf and Country Club, in Bend, Oregon this June 16th – 21st.
Hopefully by then, the sun will be out.
Link to Qualifier results: http://www.oga.org/custom/bluegolf/oga_frames.asp?TYPE=&YEAR=2008&DESTURL=http://oga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/oga8/schedule/index.htm
Link to Diamond Woods Golf Course: http://www.diamondwoods.com/golf/proto/diamondwoods/
Link to Bend Golf and Country Club: http://www.bendgolfclub.com/viewCustomPage.aspx?id=79
I received a question from a Central Oregon golf course asking what a player’s options are when their ball lies on or their is interference from cart paths that run through a bunker (I will have a site visit in the second week of May and will add pictures to update this post upon my return).
- “If a ball lies on the cart path can I take relief from the immovable obstruction outside the bunker without penalty?”
The short answer is no but many additional questions quickly followed:
- “Can I ground my club on the cart path?”
- “What options do I have for relief?”
- “Can we make a local rule to grant relief?”
The Note under Rule 13-4 reads:
“At any time, including at address or in the backward movement for the stroke, the player may touch, with a club or otherwise, any obstruction, any construction declared by the Committee to be an integral part of the course or any grass, bush , tree or other growing thing.”
Without penalty, a player may ground their club on a cart path, even though it may run through a hazard. This concept is reinforced through Decision 13-4/30 – Grounding Club on Bridge in Water Hazard.
In addition, decision 13/5 – Ball Lying on Obstruction in Bunker, further clarifies a player’s relief options by stating:
“Although the margin of a bunker does not extend upward, a ball lying on an obstruction in a bunker is in the bunker.”
Deeming the ball in the bunker, even though both the player and the ball may not be touching the sand, significantly alters a player’s relief options.
Rule 24-2b(ii) allows a player two options for relief from an immovable obstruction when a ball lies in a hazard. Below, (a) is paraphrased from Rule 24-2b(ii) and (b) is as the Rule states:
(a) Free relief is allowed by determining the nearest point of relief, no nearer the hole, that provides complete relief from the obstruction. This reference point must remain in the bunker. After determining the nearest point of relief the player may drop a ball one club length, no near the hole than the reference point that allows complete relief. The ball must first strike the course in the bunker.
(b) “Under penalty of one stroke a player may drop a ball outside the bunker keeping the point where the ball lay directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the bunker the ball may be dropped.”
In some cases, a player choosing to take relief would not be able to achieve complete relief, no nearer the hole, and still drop within the bunker. In this situation the player would either have to play the ball as it lies on the obstruction, drop under option (b) above, or proceed under Rule 28 – Ball Unplayable.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe a Local Rule is possible without breaching the Rules of Golf, though, I’m certain to have additional thoughts and a few pictures to post after viewing the condition in person.
I am extremely excited to have the support to implement a professional, complete Rules Education Program throughout the area served by the Oregon Golf Association. In the next few months, I will keep members up to date with progress made towards creating a multi level program designed not only for nationally experienced Rules Officials but also for those new to the Rules of Golf or the game in general.
The Rules of Golf can appear extremely confusing and bloated upon initial contact but with a small investment of your time, their application becomes second nature in nearly all situations encountered during a round of golf.
