Filed under: PGA, European Tour, Golf Rules
Dave Stewart, PGA Tour professional at Florida's Kissimmee Golf Club and rules expert, helps break down the ever-complicated golf rulebook in "Inside the Rulebook" for FanHouse.
The game of golf is unlike any other. Players compete on a playing field covering hundreds of acres without always being under the watchful eyes of a cadre of officials. Familiarity with the Rules of Golf and the "Notice to Competitors" issued to each player at each tournament, players may be able to save themselves strokes, thousands of dollars, and possibly even a chance to win a major championship. Just look at some of the major rule snafus from the 2010 season.
The PGA of America went to super-human lengths to notify all players in the 2010 PGA Championship of the unusual circumstance declaring all of the thousands of sandy areas scattered over the Whistling Straits course as bunkers. Despite their persistence, at least one player didn't get the memo.
On the 72nd hole of the Championship Dustin Johnson grounded his club in a sandy area, not realizing that he was in a bunker. Adding 2 penalty strokes to his score for the hole resulted in Johnson missing out on the playoff and a chance to win his first major championship.
While playing a European Tour event in China, Ryuji Imada was under the assumption that the PGA Tour and the European Tour used the same procedure for "Lift, Clean and Place" when playing in soggy conditions. While the PGA Tour allows players to move their ball 1 club length, the European Tour allows only 1 scorecard length. By the time Imada realized his mistake, he estimated that he committed 13 violations during the round, for a whopping 26 penalty strokes and a total score of 97!
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Source: http://golf.fanhouse.com/2011/01/12/inside-the-rulebook-did-you-get-the-memo/
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