Foremost was extremely busy the other day. He was watching “The Five” on Fox ( he would have his Readers know he once sat behind Dana Perino on a bus) as Greg Gutfeld opened a John Bolton discussion:

“The media has TBD, terminal bombshell disease. A belch is a bombshell.”

By this standard F reasoned that his Rulings are all, without exception, “bombshells”, although he understands if a Reader feels like F is perhaps over-selling his product!

Thoughts of “bombshells”, however, did lead F to consider what changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 merited classification as “bombshells”. His short list includes the following:

1) leaving the stick in while putting (R13)

2) the three-minute search (R18.2a); not catching on, by the way, based on F’s observations

3) removing loose impediments in bunker, and “reasonable touching” of sand while doing so (R12.2a)…another potential problem area per F … ask Patrick Reed or Matt Kuchar

4) lifting to identify ball without notifying opponent and offering opportunity to observe lifting (R7.3) …”Yep, it’s mine”…refrain now heard as players lift ball in the rough…F doesn’t like this change much.

Truly, these changes were “bombshells” in the game of golf. So okay, it is is time for a confession… no “bombshell” Rulings today…maybe a couple of “firecrackers”; perhaps a “belch” or two…

1.Handicaps

Foremost and his group recently had an opportunity to debut the new World Handicap System at BMCC. It went off without a hitch, almost!

As customary, the players gathered on the first tee and exchanged pleasantries and handicaps. (Mindful of the new handicap system, Foremost had taken the precaution of checking the other players’ handicaps, as well, and he passed these along to the group on the tee).

All the Players were a little shocked to find that their handicaps were slightly lower under the new system (as it incorporates the best 8 of 20 previously reported scores, rather than the best 10 of 20). The group ultimately accepted their new caps stoically, however, with the exception of Player RM who, after giving a rather lengthy soliloquy about the general injustice of the new system as it pertained to his own particular handicap, stated that, contrary to the handicap cited by F on the tee, his handicap had, in fact, adjusted lower in the 30-40 minutes since his arrival at the Club, and he should be allowed to play and compete under the higher Cap he saw posted on the computer terminal at the time of his arrival.

This request was denied by F with the concurrence of the rest of the group.

RM then announced that he wished to seek a Ruling as to this issue before the commencement of play, and he promptly summoned the Committee.

The Committee arrived and patiently listened to RM’s emotional testimony concerning his moving handicap. The Committee checked its version of the published GHIN caps for the day, and swiftly dismissed RM’s complaint, stating that while handicap adjustments were in fact being made daily, they were being made in the middle of the night only, despite RM’s declaration to the contrary. RM was stuck with the lower handicap.

F then requested a second Ruling, asking the Committee whether it would be appropriate to penalize RM at this time for delay, as he alone needed to bear responsibility for not knowing the time of GHIN handicap revisions, and his ignorance about the matter and subsequent Ruling request had caused the group to miss its scheduled tee time by several minutes. The Committee, without comment, denied this request as well.

The Committee did confirm that this was its first World Handicap System Ruling at BMCC!

A few other World Handicap System comments are in order:

First, players will want to download the GHIN App since the Caps will be revised daily, and the traffic around the single Club computer terminals may get a little crowded.

Second, course conditions and course set-up may factor into handicap adjustments if scores posted on a specific day indicate abnormal course conditions…another reason to post one’s score daily.

Finally, Net Double Bogey scoring will indeed assist speed of play….particularly for F and his group!

2. Advice

Facts:

WT hit a nice-looking shot into the Par3 6th hole. Admiring the shot in flight, opponent JS said helpfully and sincerely, “Hurry up!”.

“Don’t talk to my ball!”, said WT, urging his ball instead to “Get Down!“ He breathed a sigh of relief as the ball settled onto the green.

WT then suggested JS should be penalized for talking to his ball. “Isn’t there a Rule against giving advice?”

Ruling:

Yes, there is a Rule against giving advice during a competition.

The purpose of the Rule is to recognize and safeguard “the fundamental challenge to the player … in deciding…strategy and tactics.” (R10.2). The Rule and the Definition (See, Def., “Advice”) make clear, however, that “advice” references “any verbal comment or action … intended to influence a player (emphasis added)”.

F finds that verbally encouraging harm or expressing goodwill to an opponent’s ball is not a violation.

3. Accidents (In Another Competition)

Lightly twirling club in hand, Player RB said he stood in the 18th fairway over his ball, processing all the variables for his next shot. Absent-mindedly, he let the club slip in his hands. He caught it, although the club-head touched the ball ever so slightly causing it to hop and roll over. RB quickly replaced his ball.

He informed his group of the incident and was advised by an opponent that there had been no “Stroke”, as by definition a “Stroke” required an intention to hit the ball. The opponent cited as an example, a player accidentally brushing his ball during a practice swing.

RB was relieved to escape with no penalty, and asked F to confirm this result.

Ruling

The opponent was correct in stating that the action causing the club to hit the ball was not a “Stroke”, as defined, since it was not an intentional action. (See Def, “Stroke”).

Nevertheless, a player incurs a penalty when he takes an action that causes his ball at rest to move (other than in a search) (See R 9.4b and Exception 2 to this R). Whether one accidentally kicks his ball when walking, or accidentally drops a club on it, he has caused the ball to move and has committed an infraction.

Note , however, a player would get a pass with no penalty if he accidentally dropped his putter on his ball on the Putting Green instead of in the General Area. (R9.4b, Exception 3 — by the way, a  pass for accidents on a Putting Green was another bombshell!). The location of the inadvertent action that causes the ball to move, whether on the Putting Green or in the General Area, is critical. In each case, however, a player incurs the General Penalty if he fails to replace his ball after causing it to move.(R9.4b).

As usual, all comments or corrections are welcome!

Respectfully submitted,

F