Facts

“Hit it! Please, please hit it!”

Foremost was watching closely and offering a silent prayer as Reader and opponent JS lined up with his driver on the 5th hole at BMCC.

JS had teed the ball up nicely. He had carefully taken his stance and was aligning his feet and body with the ball, adjusting his hands and posture. He took a step back, and executed a calm and measured practice swing. He then repeated this exact procedure again…stance, ball alignment, hands, step back, swing.

“Please hit it!”, thought F, envisioning a novel Ruling.

Indeed, the shot held F’s attention for two reasons: first, the ball was teed up in the middle of the 5th fairway and; second, JS was aiming not at the pin, but rather, back at the 5th hole tee box. Although golfers were approaching the 5th tee, F wasn’t the least bit concerned for their safety, as JS hadn’t hit a straight tee ball yet. In fact, he had just knocked two drives over the wall into Page Road… thus, the practice swings. To F’s disappointment, JS lifted his ball and tee, his practice session concluded.

Darn, F had never seen a a practice drive hit backwards. He decided to call a penalty anyway.

“How can you call a penalty?”, asked JS. “I’ve already picked up on this hole.”

“I’m getting in some practice myself”, answered F. “I need to get ready for the new Rules 2019.”

Issue

Did the practice swings of JS violate a new Rule?

Ruling

In calling a penalty F was referencing the prohibition against using an “object” to work on the alignment of feet or body prior to taking a shot. New R10.2b(3); (language apparently borrowed from live studio wrestling prohibition against use of “objects”). F drew the conclusion that by placing the ball and tee, and subsequently taking a stance, JS had violated the rule by improperly using an object for alignment.

The rule goes on to state that after taking a stance (with the use of the object for alignment), one cannot cure the violation even by backing away and removing the object. Well, this seemed like an open and shut case to F…object, stance, alignment.

Nevertheless, F missed this call…thank goodness it is still the Rules 2019 preseason and this match was on the preliminary card!

The new Rule notes that the use of the object is prohibited prior to a stroke when it might be helpful in indicating “line of play”. In other words, using the object to align feet and body without reference to line of play is permissible.

The purpose of the rule in eliminating directional aids is to emphasize the skill and judgment of the player, including the skill of aiming. The bottom line is that a player may use an object for directional purposes if he never takes his stance while it is placed…or in the alternative, I suppose, if he aims backwards.

As usual, all comments or corrections are welcome! (F is well aware that that others on these pages are better-schooled in the rules of live studio wrestling).

Respectfully submitted,
F