So - what's opinion on the (un)marked area on 18th controversy

[karl]

Originally Posted by LoJo

And that agenda is hatred of Michelle Wie.

Karrrlllll....give it up. You've been given folders for your favorite players. Why don't you post things there, and leave Michelle out of your life?

Don't worry, I won't comment on Wie anymore -- too frustrating and pointless.

Congrats, Lo "Korean of the week" Jo.

[LoJo]

Originally Posted by karl

Don't worry, I won't comment on Wie anymore -- too frustrating and pointless.

Congrats, Lo "Korean of the week" Jo.

Thank you, Karl. There are those of us who'd like to enjoy the Solheim Cup without all the sniping at certain individual players.

[lumazi]

Originally Posted by karl

You got that right. I do have an agenda. I would like to see all players treated equally (by the media, tournament organizers, and others) -- or, to be more precise, I would like to see media attention based on performance on the course, and not on perceived popularity and marketability, "potential", national origin, or English speaking capability. Maybe you don't live in the US, but if you lived here, you might be able to understand my point, for here, according to the media, woman's golf = Wie.

Once again, my favorite quote:
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"
Animal Farm - George Orwell

Those are very lofty ideals Karl. And I do agree with you that the media could do better. Nonetheless, I do not believe that you making snarky remarks about MW in every post will achieve said goals.
I would recommend the following instead:

• Create a petition and have 1,000,000 of your close friends and relatives sign it. Send the petition to every media channel.
• Have the same 1,000,000 friends and relatives boycott every sponsor of Michelle.

I am the first to admit that my knowledge of golf is very limited. But it is getting very tiresome to read your anti-Wie rhetoric. There are posters here that at one point or another have questioned team Wie’s actions. At least they provide well reasoned arguments.

Originally Posted by LoJo

I am in agreement that it was a very dicey call, and I feel the officials should have marked it earlier -- since they obviously had discussed the area earlier. I think it was a misjudgment on their part not to think "anyone would be there." It's in the fairway!! And, as one of the Euros pointed out, if someone was going to have to pitch out into the fairway (as Wie did) that's likely where they'd end up.

As to whether she should have been given relief ..... that's a rather 'maybe' situation. An area doesn't have to be marked off in order to obtain relief from damaged ground, etc. , so it would have been a judgment call by the officials if relief was sought.

I, too, am happy that Catriona made her birdie so that the rules call didn't affect the outcome.

Judy Rankin felt Michelle should have played it from its original position because that was a better area than where she was to drop, which was slightly downhill.

Thanks for the reply. Relevant to this thread and what I was asking about and what I wanted opinions on unlike you know who.

[MarinePaul]

Karl, I'm far from a Wie fan, but I do wish you'd give it a rest.

The comment regarding Wie being involved in this controversy really had nothing to do with Wie herself, but a rather ironic point that, of all the possible players, it had to be her in that spot. She's like a magnet for controversy.

I've been as critical as anybody on this site of Wie's "team," and have a problem with her garnering more media attention than any other player. Still, we should at least try to appear somewhat objective.

[karl]

Originally Posted by MarinePaul

Karl, I'm far from a Wie fan, but I do wish you'd give it a rest.

You won't have to worry about that.
Eventually, even I, realizes if something is futile.

Bye.

[ctmurray]

I missed this play today. Can someone describe a bit more or point to a video? I looked on YouTube and did not find.

[LoJo]

ct...it was not a big deal really.

Wie hit her tee shot in a horrible place way right of the fairway. She had no option but to pitch it out back to the fairway so she'd have a shot to the green. No chance to go for it in two as most of the big hitters were doing.

Morgan, of course, couldn't go for it in two so was playing the hole as a 3 shot hole...par 5....and hoping to get it close enough to birdie.

OK....so Wie pitches back to the fairway and lands in a crappy area in the fairway. Someone...I'm not sure who....called over a rules official to see if she could get relief from the area. The RO said that they had discussed this area and though that no one would be playing from there, so they hadn't marked it as GUR. It was a pretty lame thing to say, IMO. But...anyhow...after all this consultation w/ some other RO, they said she could get relief and that any other players would also get relief.

The Euros and the Capt argued that it wasn't marked so she shouldn't get relief. Back and forth...blah, blah, blah. And finally it was determined that she could drop from the area. As Judy Rankin stated, it might have been better for Wie to play it as it was, since dropping it would put her on a more downhill lie.

The Euros were not happy about it....rightly so. But....Wie didn't hit a brilliant shot and it was in the bunker. Morgan also hit a so so shot and didn't reach the green in reg. So...probably best was that both of them would make par.

To make a long story short....Catriona Matthew put her 3rd shot about 10-12 feet from the hole and made the birdie putt. Both Wie and Pressel best they could do was par. So they lost that hole, and the match was halved.

Turned out that the ruling didn't adversely affect the play of the hole and didn't give Wie any advantage.

IMO...the RO's were wrong not to have marked the area in the first place.

Hope this helps.

[ctmurray]

Thanks. I run our club championship and one year two of us decided to mark the GUR (it was a particularly bad year for grass). Anyway we rode around and once we got started it was obvious the two of us would never finish. We had thought there would only be a few large zones which we recalled from playing the course over the summer. But if you mark big zone x as GUR, then the small patches with the same defect had to be marked.

We now just have the foursome decide - if they all agree then the player can take as GUR. Most of the time it is obvious, but the group can decide. It is the same with deciding of a players ball is OB or in a hazard. Not quite as good as having staff to mark GUR and rules officials, but the best we can do.

[LoJo]

One other thing, ct. Wie completely took herself out of the discussion about all this. It was being argued by the Euros and their capt, Nicholas, as well as asst. US Capt Kelly Robbins. Wie was nowhere to be seen. Morgan did put her two cents in once.

As I said...IMO...the RO's were pretty lame in their reasoning for this, but still....if it was a damaged area or possibly GUR or unusual ground conditions, a player would have the right to call over a RO to determine if relief was allowed.

Again....it didn't affect the outcome of the match anyhow because Wie gained no advantage from the relief.