Sorry Padraig --We Caught Ya

For the second time this year a professional golfer has been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. After a viewer emailed in a rules violation by Padraig Harrington he became this years number two. Seems his ball may have moved a full dimple, or even a dimple and a half. This was determined after careful slow motion study of Padraig bumping his ball as he picked up his marker.

He said all the right things about the rules and the disqualification later, but I bet he was steamed. All of the sudden viewers think this is the home shopping network and they are supposed to call in.

I love golf but do not believe we should have turned the game over to television snitches. By the way if I could just move my ball a dimple and a half closer once in a while, I believe I could go to the tour – from my double digit handicap now.

Viewer Call In Golf

So here we go again a viewer calls in a violation and Camilo Villegas is gone from the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. Villegas was chipping up a steep slope to the 15th green and twice the ball rolled back toward him. The second time, Villegas walked over and casually swatted (Craig Stadler and John Daly style) away some loose pieces of grass in front of the divot while the ball was still rolling down the side hill.

That is a violation of Rule 23-1, "When a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed." The penalty was two shots. Villegas had already signed his card which disqualified him for signing what was now an incorrect score card.

Well, all is not lost, Camilo still got $50,000 plus for his day of golf.

Ever wonder what would happen if we started calling in basketball, football and baseball rules violations the officials missed? Sometimes the penalty seems a bit harsh for the violation. But that’s just me speaking.

-Enjoy the golf-

Merry Christmas from the Old Golf Guy

From time to time I will be posting some of my favorite quotes and jokes from the world of golf. This is one of my favorites.

The proper score for a businessman golfer is 90. If he is better than that he is neglecting his business. If he's worse, he's neglecting his golf.
~ St Andrews Rotary Club Member



Merry Christmas and hope you get a bunch of great golf stuff from Santa this year.

FORE !

FORE – Is that enough warning for one of my wild shots?
Looks like I don’t even need to holler.
A case brought to court by Dr. Azad Anand, who was struck in the eye ( and blinded in that eye, according to news stories) by a shanked shot in 2002 on a New York (Long Island) golf course by his friend Dr. Anoop Kapoor. (I think this may have strained their friendship.
Anand said his injury was caused by Kapoor failing to yell "fore" or some kind of warning for a ball headed his way.
But the New York State Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling, saying that Kapoor was not at fault.
"A person who chooses to participate in a sport or recreational activity consents to certain risks that are inherent in and arise out of the nature of the sport generally and flow from such participation," the court wrote.

Giving Golf for Christmas

This is a bit tricky. If you know exactly what is wanted, golf stuff can be a great gift. If you guess, giving golf for Christmas can and likely will be a disaster. I give my kids (all grown-up) golf balls every year. But I know what is good, what they like and what they play. Not sure anyone should pick out a bag, clubs or balls for Christmas, stick with shirts, sweats, bad ties, books and food items. This stuff they can re-gift—now that I think of it bad golf gifts could be re-gifted for bad golfers.

Tiger's Got A Brand New Putter

So Tiger’s got a brand new putter. He ditched the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 he has used for years in favor of the new Nike (surprise) Method 003 in the last tournament of the year. Wonder if the change will stick this time.

Stewart Cink and Lucas Glover are already using this model and looks like Tiger thought he needed to give it a try. It has a different look than the Scotty Cameron, might take some time to get used to how it looks at address. I thought Tiger looked pretty comfortable on my TV screen with the new putter. Changing from the more conventional looking Cameron to the semi-mallet is a huge for the greatest golfer on earth and may take more than one tournament to find the correct feel.

The putter is a little pricey for this old guy (who once putted great with a fourteen dollar K-Mart putter) and at two and a half bills I will pass. I think for most of us a putter in a mid price range will look and feel good. If you want to compare brands, prices and styles before going to the shop or range, I like this site—GolfPutters.net.


Oh by the way-Think Tiger will put a Ping grip on this new putter like he always did with the Newport 2?