Spring, Tournaments & Rules Changes

Well, it has been nearly 10 days since my last post and it seems the world has gone through some radical changes. We (the MGA) started accepting tournament applications, I conducted the first MGA Rules Workshop of the year, Stewart Cink was disqualified as a result of an obscure, yet not too uncommon, rules violation, the Joint Rules Committee (JRC) has issued a ruling on Cink's incident, and lastly the Masters is upon us. Wow, I'm tired just listing them all.

The official start to the MGA Tournament Season happened back on April 1 when entries started to roll in. In an effort to make the process more user friendly, the MGA has streamlined its on-line application process, and it must be working. After only one week, we have received over 400 entries and many of them on-line. It's always an exciting time for the MGA staff!

The first of seven MGA Rules workshops for the 2008 season was held last Thursday at Edina CC. Twenty individuals ranging from my fellow golf professionals to MGA volunteers to others simply interested in knowing more about the Rules attended. There are more scheduled, so don't miss the opportunity to improve your rules knowledge.

Speaking of the Rules, we have already had two rulings on the PGA TOUR this year that have received discussion. The first was the Ken Duke situation at Bay Hill where he had to lift his ball from a hazard ("beach bunker") in order to identify it. The second just happened down in New Orleans when Stewart Cink was disqualified.

The facts of the Cink incident are as follows. He had played his tee shot close to (but not in) a fairway bunker. While assessing his options, he walked into the bunker, creating footprints. He then played his next stroke into a greenside bunker. After playing the shot, his caddie raked the footprints. Unfortunately, since Cink's ball had come to rest in a bunker, his caddie's actions constituted "testing a similar hazard", a violation of Rule 13-4, for which the penalty is two strokes. Cink became aware of the potential problem while talking to Zach Johnson the next day and immediately notified a Tour official. After reviewing the situation, the Tour concluded he breached 13-4, resulting in a penalty that was not added to his score for the hole. Since Cink had now signed for a score lower than he had actually made for the hole, he was disqualified.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when looking at the ruling. For example, had Cink played from the fairway bunker (that is, had his ball been IN the bunker), there would not have been a penalty as the Rules permit the player to smooth the area even though the ball ended up in a bunker. Also, had the caddie raked the bunker prior to Cink playing the stroke, there would not have been a penalty. And finally, although this happened due to a combination of events taking place, it is not unreasonable to imagine this happening somewhat frequently.

The situation created considerable discussion, and outrage by some, leading to the very unique situation that just occurred. Typically, the Joint Rules Committee (the group of individuals representing both the USGA and R&A in discussions on the Rules) meets each year at Augusta to discuss items of note. As you might expect, this was on the list. As a result, they issued this announcement regarding Rule 13-4a (testing the condition of a hazard). In essence, it is now okay for a player (or caddie) to "tidy up" a bunker as long as the ball does not lie in or touch the same bunker. I applaud the JRC in taking quick action in this case.

Lastly, we all will be "glued to our TVs" this weekend watching The Masters. I'm sure it will give us it's customary share of spectacular shots - like Tiger's hole out on 16 from 2005. Let's hope they have the sun and warmth we are so longing to have up here in Minnesota - despite our Saturday's predicted snow.

Until next time-

Doug