USGTF Monthly Newsletter Archives - Page 60 of 140 - United States Golf Teachers Federation

2 Mar 2019 admin

Editorial – The Gap Hasn’t Just Widened: It Has Blown Open

By Mike Stevens, USGTF Member and Contributing Writer

For the average person, baseball, football, basketball and hockey are clearly spectator sports. No guy off the street is going to face a 100 mph fastball, tackle an NFL running back, guard Lebron James, or stop a Sydney Crosby slap shot. In golf, however, there was a time when a decent amateur or teaching pro could hit similar shots to those of a PGA Tour professional. The gap was not insurmountable. Oftentimes, a club pro or amateur would qualify for the U.S. Open, and some club pros could be found on the PGA Championship leaderboard. In the 1980s, the leading driving distance on tour was around 278 yards. Into the ’90s, it went up about 10 yards. Tour players were better primarily because of their consistency in ball striking, not because of equipment.

The last three years, the leading driving distance has been 320 yards. No one I know, average pro or amateur, even comes close to that. The regular guy has not gotten the advantage with today’s equipment that the tour guys are getting. Unless one starts very young and trains like the athletes on major sports teams, there is almost no chance of making it to the top level. It has really become a spectator sport like the big leagues: there’s them and then the rest of us. It kind of makes the game less fun for those with dreams. I remember playing at Doral when I was at school in Miami right after the tour stop there. I shot a 71 and felt like maybe I could compete with the pros. At least I felt I was close to their level. Pro and amateur golf are nothing like that anymore.

USGTF Regional Action Announced

Southeast -This year’s tournament is returning to a USGTF favorite, GlenLakes Country Club in Weeki Wachee, Florida, with a new date of Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19. This private course is challenging, beautiful and impeccably maintained. Mature stands of oak and pine, water features, undulating hills and sand traps provide endless variations of play. A prize fund of $1,000 and the Southeast Trophy is assured with a field of 12 players. It is also a good opportunity to catch up with fellow members and plan future events for the section. Entry deadline is May 10. Questions, contact region director Mike Stevens at ams1127@msn.com. Entries should be sent to the USGTF office at:

USGTF 200 S. Indian River Drive, Suite #206 Fort Pierce, FL 34950

If paying with credit card, call the office directly at 888-346-3290.

Southwest – The USGTF Southwest Region Championship will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, at Ridgeview Ranch Golf Course in Plano, Texas. Region director Bruce Sims is the host. A practice round is available Friday, May 3, for a cart fee, and a dinner will be held that evening. The entry fee is $225, and an optional $20 skins game is available. For more information and to enter, please contact Sims at (214) 475-5168.

Northwest – The USGTF Northwest Region Championship will be held Wednesday and Thursday, May 15-16, 2019, at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California, with region director Nathan Guerrero serving as tournament host. The entry fee of $295 includes two days of golf and prize money, and division play will be based upon the number of entrants. To enter, send your name, age, gender, telephone number, email address and a check for $295.00 to Nathan Guerrero, USGTF Northwest Director, 736 Guerrero Street, San Francisco, CA 94110. The entry deadline is April 20, 2019.

Northeast – The USGTF Northeast Region championship will be held Friday, June 21, with tee times beginning at 12:00 noon, at Mercer Oaks West in West Windsor, New Jersey. The entry fee is $165 and there will be prize money in each division, as well as event champion prize money. Practice rounds are available at a discounted rate from the out of county rate. To enter for for more information, please call USGTF Northeast Region director Bob Corbo at 609 -520-0040, or email him at simductivegolf@gmail.com.

Central – The 2019 USGTF Central Region Championship, a 36-hole stroke play event, will be held Sunday and Monday August 4-5, at Pheasant Run Golf Course in Canton, Michigan. For more information and to register, please contact Central Region director Brent Davies at (248) 701-6843 or e-mail at btkadavies@comcast.net.

Editorial – Another Unnecessary Black Eye for Golf’s Ruling Bodies

If you haven’t seen or heard it by now, Haotong Li was penalized two strokes on the last hole of the Dubai Desert Classic for having his caddie standing on an extension of his line of play as he was preparing to take his stance for a putt. A look at the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psvtcEDvmVA) shows Li’s caddie moving out of the way as Li was walking into his stance to hit a putt on the final hole.

The wording of Rule 10.2b(4) states, “When a player begins taking a stance for the stroke and until the stroke is made, the player’s caddie must not deliberately stand in a location on or close to an extension of the line of play behind the ball for any reason.” The R&A’s Martin Slumbers supported the European Tour’s ruling by saying the rule does not allow for any discretion by the referee or rules officials, but the USGA and R&A official interpretation says, “There is no set procedure for determining when a player has begun to take a stance.” So the Interpretation, by definition, requires discretion, completely contradicting Slumbers. Some guidance is offered further in the Interpretation, saying, “If a player has his or her feet or body close to a position where useful guidance on aiming at the intended target could be given, it should be decided that the player has begun to take his or her stance.” However, a look at the video clearly shows 1) Li’s caddie beginning to move before useful guidance could be given, as Li was not yet facing the ball when his caddie started to move, 2) Li’s left foot was nowhere near its final position; 3) Li’s putter wasn’t even behind the ball.

In my opinion as someone who administers the Rules and who made a decent score on the official USGA Rules test, I firmly believe the ruling was in error. And I don’t care if paid rules officials and the R&A say it was correct. The 2019 re-write of the Rules of Golf was designed to prevent goofy rulings like this, but yet again we see a penalty levied that clearly far outweighed any perceived crime – and again, I don’t believe one occurred. I always go by the tenet that if there is debate as to whether someone violated a rule, he likely didn’t. And that’s the way I will continue to make my rulings. It’s time for the all the tours, the USGA and R&A to do the same.

By Mark Harman, USGTF National Course Director