Foremost was advised years ago that he needed to be careful about his political observations…that some Readers were offended by his commentary, and that they wished he would stick to the ROG (some adding that the ROG were another subject of which F knew little about).

F took this sage advice to heart, and is now careful to avoid offensive political commentary. When motivated to address a hot-button political issue, F resists the urge and responds simply, “I grew up a middle class kid”, and lets it go at that, a response which says a lot, without offending anyone!

Another subject F treats gingerly is sports, particularly college football, as his Readers have strong and varying allegiances and look to the ROG as a unifying force. Accordingly, F knows he must never belittle opponents or trumpet a win by his Commodores, even if this win is probably the most significant upset win in college football history and was accomplished, as one well-known commentator noted, at “(T)he only place you play in the SEC that isn’t hard to play…”.

F has many Bama readers on this board, many of whom contacted him after the game with gracious congratulations. This is what college football and sportsmanship is all about! F does have to say, however, that a couple of Auburn Readers were, perhaps, less charitable in their Bama comments, although they too might appreciate, the suggestion that Diego Pavia is now the true Governor of the entire State of Alabama, as he has conquered both of the Alabama teams (at least, to date).

“Vanderbilt…we are f’in turnt!”, DP said in a now-historic quote, that left more than a few VU grads shaking their heads as they had missed this word in their literature and language studies. Then the goalposts fell and were marched 3 miles to the Cumberland by 100s of rowdy, so-called “students”, who embarrassed alumni again, by not behaving in the timeless tradition of VU students on game days — i.e., spending the day in the library, or protesting, or something.( A VU graduate was, however, awarded a Nobel Prize this week which, F suspects, helped sustain the VU academic reputation somewhat … but heck, they should have turnt one of them Nobel Prizes over to Pavia as well for this win!)

Of course, all of this football talk is a mere diversion to the fascinating primary subject at hand and the true purpose of this blog.

Reader CM, a guest at BCC, asked F to help with a scoring question.

Facts

Unnamed Player (P) tops the ball into a creek guarding the Par 3 7th hole. He can’t find his ball in the creek and after placing (oh my, not dropping) a second ball in an appropriate relief area, knocks it onto the putting green. He then goes back to the creek for another look, and this time finds his original ball which he lifts from the water and places on a green patch in the middle of the creek. He then plays this ball from the lily pad with a nice shot to about 4 feet. P then walks onto the green. He picks up the second ball he had played from the relief area, and rakes his “Gimmeee” from 4 feet on the original ball played from the lily pad. “I made a four”, he says.

CM asks how F what score he would have given DP on the hole.

Ruling

Certainly, the play of the original ball from the lily pad in the creek was problematic as relief from a PA must be taken by a drop into a Relief Area “outside” the PA, thus this ball was played from a Wrong Place. (R17.1b).

Of course, there is no need to analyze the multiple infractions involved with this shot , as the second ball that was introduced and previously played onto the green had become the ball in play. The Erasor Rule (14.5) allows an incorrect drop to be corrected only if the substituted ball hasn’t been played. Once played, the substituted ball becomes the ball in play. As P eventually picked up this ball and put it in his pocket, he never finished the hole.

F is afraid that P should have been assessed the General Penalty with a Disqualification for a Serious Breach for this lapse which, by the way, is a far more serious penalty than #13 got for tossing his mouthguard, kicking a placed ball, and lifting and dropping (oh my, not placing) DP’s head on the ground at the end of the game.

So how would F score this? F is happy to give P his requested 4 on the hole, a Ruling consistent with the theme for today, one of peace and joy and love in politics and sports! Yes, joy!

Yet F does have one question…did anyone get the Vols score?…Just askin’.

As usual, all comments and corrections are welcome!

Respectfully submitted,
F