TV Viewers and Rules

[heddwyn]

To me grounding a club in a bunker or hazard seems ridiculous. In a bunker you wriggle your feet down so you have a stable stance which isn't 'testing', but brushing the surface with the club at address is 'testing'. In a hazard, much the same thing. Stupid to me, but in the Rules so I play to them.

[xman5]

Originally Posted by gxer

I won't even talk about wind moving the golf ball and the grounding or not grounding of a putter, that one is just too stupid to talk about.

Let me try this one. At some point in this circumstance we need to determine when the player is now responsible for the actions of the ball and not the wind. The dividing line has been determined that when the players putter comes in contact with the ground while he is addressing the ball he is basically the one in control. Mean his actions of the stroke start at the moment he made contact with the ground.

The thing is that this is one of the most well know rules and on a windy day on a hill you do not ground your putter.


The other stuff about the wind blowing the ball into the hazzard or the cup I never knew.

That is why I carry the pocket rule book in my bag.

[xman5]

Originally Posted by heddwyn

To me grounding a club in a bunker or hazard seems ridiculous. In a bunker you wriggle your feet down so you have a stable stance which isn't 'testing', but brushing the surface with the club at address is 'testing'. In a hazard, much the same thing. Stupid to me, but in the Rules so I play to them.

What you test the ground with your feet!

We all do that.

[gxer]

Originally Posted by xman5

Let me try this one. At some point in this circumstance we need to determine when the player is now responsible for the actions of the ball and not the wind. The dividing line has been determined that when the players putter comes in contact with the ground while he is addressing the ball he is basically the one in control. Mean his actions of the stroke start at the moment he made contact with the ground.

The thing is that this is one of the most well know rules and on a windy day on a hill you do not ground your putter.


The other stuff about the wind blowing the ball into the hazzard or the cup I never knew.

That is why I carry the pocket rule book in my bag.

A player knows when they have caused the ball to move with the putter, it is called putting, and has nothing to do with whether or not he has grounded his putter because of windy conditions.

IMO, wind and putter grounding is a stupid rule and needs to be changed but won't be changed until most of the old rule codgers in the USGA kick the bucket.

[heddwyn]

Originally Posted by xman5

What you test the ground with your feet!

We all do that.

Exactly! So why is grounding the club penalised?

[ctmurray]

Originally Posted by xman5

Let me try this one. At some point in this circumstance we need to determine when the player is now responsible for the actions of the ball and not the wind. The dividing line has been determined that when the players putter comes in contact with the ground while he is addressing the ball he is basically the one in control. Mean his actions of the stroke start at the moment he made contact with the ground.

The thing is that this is one of the most well know rules and on a windy day on a hill you do not ground your putter.


The other stuff about the wind blowing the ball into the hazzard or the cup I never knew.

That is why I carry the pocket rule book in my bag.

Well thanks for this explanation. There is some logic is behind the statement. The issue is that except for Nicklaus, pros ground their putter, even on the windy days as we saw with the British. Trying to not ground my putter makes me suck worse. I liked the fact that players basically refused to play because the wind was going to move the ball, bravo.

Any one remember the Sophie Gustafson incident a few years ago (when she was dating the commissioner)? On a steeply sloped putting green she marks her ball and then replaces to play (I think she had marked, does not matter for the story). She has a terribly difficult side hill lie and if she goes past the hole the ball descends to a lower level. Then the ball rolls down the hill as she addresses the ball. Video evidence is not clear if she grounded her putter and she claims no. So she has to play the ball from the new position, and in this case now has a much easier up hill putt which she makes. What a bruhaha arose. Sophie's honesty was questioned. Her relationship with the comish was claimed to have influenced the rules officials. But my solution of just replacing the ball where it first lay with no penalty solves the problem. Players could not game the system to get a better position (I am not saying Sophie did this but a player could), they just get back to where they were.

There must be a reason such a logical rule was not selected and rather we have to determine if you grounded your putter.

[xman5]

Originally Posted by ctmurray

Well thanks for this explanation. There is some logic is behind the statement. The issue is that except for Nicklaus, pros ground their putter, even on the windy days as we saw with the British. Trying to not ground my putter makes me suck worse. I liked the fact that players basically refused to play because the wind was going to move the ball, bravo.

Any one remember the Sophie Gustafson incident a few years ago (when she was dating the commissioner)? On a steeply sloped putting green she marks her ball and then replaces to play (I think she had marked, does not matter for the story). She has a terribly difficult side hill lie and if she goes past the hole the ball descends to a lower level. Then the ball rolls down the hill as she addresses the ball. Video evidence is not clear if she grounded her putter and she claims no. So she has to play the ball from the new position, and in this case now has a much easier up hill putt which she makes. What a bruhaha arose. Sophie's honesty was questioned. Her relationship with the comish was claimed to have influenced the rules officials. But my solution of just replacing the ball where it first lay with no penalty solves the problem. Players could not game the system to get a better position (I am not saying Sophie did this but a player could), they just get back to where they were.

There must be a reason such a logical rule was not selected and rather we have to determine if you grounded your putter.

I was just trying for any type of logical reason.

I think that was the Samsung. I remeber watching it. The TV guys did a horrible smear job on her. I think it was NBC. The TV shot did not show the club head at any time. What they did show was other holes that showed her normal routine was to ground her putter (just like all of us except Jack). However she and her caddie said that because the were in such a bad position on the hill on the green and with the wind they discussed before hand the possability of it occuring and she purposely did not ground her club on that hole.