HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 1999-07-21, Page 121
12 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, July 21, 11199
Sunday's
The Open! Golf enthusiasts
around the world were
riveted to their television sets
on Sunday as they watched
one of the strangest outcomes
in Open history. .
"Carnastie", as it was
dubbed by the professionals
flailing away in its long
rough, set the stage for a
bizarre finish to one of the
most revered tournaments in
golf. Much will be written
• about the collapse. of the
French. player, and the
tenacity of the Scot who
stayed physically warm
hitting balls and putting for
over two hours, and stayed
mentally cool while
thousands of screaming Scots
"waved" and cheered him to
victory.
- The final hole of regulation.
play and thc subsequent four -
hole playoff will be watched
for years to come. Paul
Lawrie became the first Scot
. to win the championship on
Scottish soil since. Tommy
Armour in 1931. •
The Open 'on Sunday, and
indeed during thc first three
rounds. was a virtual rules
-clinic. The rules officials
"from the Royal and Ancient
as well as the many officials
that they bring in from other
countries, must be exhausted
at this, very moment.
The Carnoustie course is a
verydifficult one on the best
of days. Adding the hole
placements; the wind, the
-construction of bleachers and
tents, miles and miles,of
ropes and cables, thousands
of people tromping down
parts of the fairways'and
rough, .and then mixing this
,in with the fact that it's the
most important international
golf tournatpent of the year,
and you end up with players
requesting ruling after ruling.
Sometimes the, players
'themselves know the rule
quite well but request an
officialopinion because the
stakes are so high that the
least little mistake can ruin
their opportunity to succeed
at the Open. Better safe than
sorry is the rule of thumb.
Some of therulings were
far, more controversial such
as the ruling',to give the.
-French plaYer, Jean
Vandevelde, free relief from
, a television tower because he
said it was in his line of
sight, That ruling was
eventually declared incorrect
Sports
Open exhausted officials with complex rulings
By Carolanne Doig
•
but there
was nothing that could be
done about this after the fact:
itis complicated. The rule
book is technical and the
decisions book is thick with
precedents or "decisions"
that can be applied to similar
situations. Rules officials are
humans and they make
errors.
I will briefly point out two
areas of the rules that were
discussed and demonstrated
on several occasions. The
provisional ball rule was
used over and over again.
Rule 27-2 is about
provisional balls. Hitting a
provisional ball is really a
method to save time and the
need to walk all the way hack.
to where you hit from
previously. A provisional ball
may be hit by a player if the
player thinks.that the original
_ball might be lost or out of
bounds. That is because if the
ball is lost or out of bounds
then the player must use the
stroke and distance penalty
and play from where the
original ball was played. If
no provisional hall has been
used, then the player will
have to count a penalty
stroke and then walk all the
way back to where the last
ball was shot.
Where it gets confusing is
that you may not use the
provisional, ball rule if -the
ball may be lost in a water
hazard: If the ball is lost in
the water hazard then you
use rule #26, the water
hazard rule.
At Carnoustie the rough
was so long that many times
the player would play a
provisional ball when he
missed the fairway. The long
grass; the hummocks, the
tromping down of the grass.
all made finding the ball a
real challenge. Even having
fore -caddies did not
guarantee that the ball would
.be easily found. Remember
you only have' five minutes
to find the ball. So the player •
plays the provisional ball
making sure that it's marked
differently from the original
Scoreboard
Soccer
St. Columban Atom 2
(July 6)
St. Columbanl at
Embro 1 •
St. Columban goals: Jordan
Reddick and Chris DeVrfes, Assists:
Michelle Van Loon and Joe
DeKroon.
Coach's comments: Chris's goal
came in the last minute of play to
break the tie.
(July 8)
St. Colubmati 2 al
•
ball so that he knows which
one is which when the balls
are found.
Now here's the part that
most golfers don't know, and,
that was illustrated so well at
Carnoustie.
If the player finds the
original ball, then the
provisional ball must he
abandoned. •He picks it up
and puts it in his pocket.
-Now he must deal with the
original ball. He may declare
it unplayable and choose to
invoke the stroke and
distance 'option for the
unplayable lie rule #28 a. and
in this case you would•see
him walking back to where
he just played from too.
However, he is now dealing
with the original ball, not the
provisional
Many golfers think that.
they can just put the
provisional ball into play if
they don't like the original.
ball's location or lie. This is •
not the case. Oh and by the
way, just to make it even
more confusing. a player
may have more than one
provisional involved at any
one time: but he must be able
to clearly identify which ball
is which.
The other rule that was
constantly coming- up on
televisionwas the "line of
sight" relief procedure. Many
casual golfers are going to
cause many rules' committee
people problems at many
clubs for the next few weeks.
That is because the rule that
was being used is actually a
local rule that is set in place
for special events as
professional championships
where temporary immovable
obstructions can get in the
way of the play of the game.
The key words are temporary -
and immovable. Things like
tents, t.v. towers and
concession stands fit into this
category, while the
clubhouse, the maintenance
shed and the ball washer near
the tee, do not.
During normal playing
conditions, a golfer may
obtain relief . from
interference caused by an
• immovable obstruction if it
interferes with his swing or
stance. A golfer doesn't get
relief if thc obstruction is "in
the way". as . far as' the
direction that- the golfer
wishes to.go. In this case the
golfer may have to pitch the
hall out in another•direction
to get around the obstruction.
The only time you.get relief
.from an obstruction. in the
line or direction to the hole is
if your ball • and• the
obstruction are on the putting
green. On the PGA and other
professional tours a local rule
has been created allowing the
player to get relief from
interference with his line of
sight to the hole.
That is what caused all the.
controversy because the
French player was• given
relief from his line'of sight
for the direction he chose to
play and not the line of sight
to the hole. The R & A'rules .
committee apologised for the
error but nothing could be
done after -the fact.
The other thing that jumped
out at me on: Sunday
afternoon was- the great
"driver debate". If ever there
Was.a demonstration of why
you don't always pull out the
driver on the tee. this year's
open was it.• The smart
player was the player who
kept the ball low in the wind
by •hitting a long_ iron. The
smart player v'as the player
who used a three or five
wood • to. keep the hall
straighter andiay hp short of
the treacherous hunker, and
horrible' long.. tangled grass.
that ate' up errant tee ,hots.
Tiger .got too aggressive oft-
the
ffthe tee and put himself out of
contention b,y hitt.ing the
driver.
Vandevelde Iitera-I
"'drove" himself right round
.the bend on the final few
.holes and never did seem to -.
make the connection. Lawrie.
who resides not far friim the
host site. Played the Scottish
style.hurnh and•run game.
which has much less
emphasis on hitting booming .
dries. and Lawrie prevailed.
New . at Seaforth Golf
Club: t•
We will follow the. golf of
Lindsay McEwin closely this
week as she competes in
West Palm•Beach. Florida in
the• World •Optimist
Tournament.
Kintore 3
St. Columban goals: Lindsay Nash,
Joe DeKroon. Assists: Joe DeKroon.
Michelle Feeney. •
Coach's comments: outstanding
goaltending by Bill Feeney and
Kristen Flanagan. Despite losing,
team played well. With only nine
players and a goalie, all had to put
forward best efforts.
St. Columban Ladies Soccer
(Jut) 11)
St. Columban 3 ss
Wallace town 1
St. Columban goals: Joanne
Terpstra 3.
This is their 2nd ('up win.
•
•
advancing them to the semi=anal
cup game on July 28.
(July 16)
Si. Columban 2 vs
London Rebels 0
St. Columban goals: Peg Ryan;
Andrea Flanagan.
(July 18) -
St. Columban tied Sarnia Hornets
after playing their best game of the
regular season.
Fastball
•
Tri•County Fastball
Pee Wee Boys (Seaforth Bears)
•
�Joh 5
,Ethel 10 at Seaforth t (
Seaforth got early lead. fell behind
and rallied to Icore seven runs in
bottom of the 6th to pull Out the
victory. Adam Broome had a pair of
doubles, Tyler Doig hada double.
'and single, Derek Fisher and Brent
Coleman had pair of singles. Darren
Beaver pulled off defensive play
turning a double play in the second
inning. Tyler. Doig pitched
effectively despite a stiff neck.
Future action
Seaforth was a1 Delmore last
night (July. 131 and 6%ingham :IN
here July IS at 7 p.nt.
•
44.1:•
0 6
Ss
41'
.,00,.
M
•
This week. the course ..)II
he closed on. Thursday,
between 8 a.m. and 3 p;m.
• for the Annual Ladies
invitational Tournament.
There is no official ladies
night on Thrursday. The •
match play evenl..'onlinue
.and there i. a reminder that
on Frida\ c. ening at 6:30
p.m. we are hosting a nine -
hole couples event. There
will he. wine tasting. golf and
dinner.
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