Viewer call in penalties

2

(Bob is an occasional contributor to this blog)

By Bob Oliver

I called into Major League Baseball offices and let them know a ball called in yesterday's Washington National’s game was actually a strike. 

To my surprise, MLB didn't change the call.  

Interestingly enough, a wrong call was made on for holding in the Philadelphia Flyers-New York Rangers hockey game over the weekend on a play which led to a goal. I e-mailed the National Hockey League offices and let them know, but they too didn't change the call.

But some yahoo burro calls or writes the LPGA Tour and drops a dime on Lexi Thompson in the ANA Inspiration and before you can say “bingo” the LPGA penalized the tournament leader and ultimately cost her $154,509 in prize winnings as well as a championship.

What did Thompson do? Kick her ball out of the rough? Roll a putt by throwing instead of using a putter? Start handing out mulligans? Wear uncoordinated clothing colors?

Nope, none of the above.

The 22-year-old was: 1) given a two-shot penalty Sunday for incorrectly marking her golf ball on a green during Saturday’s round, and, 2) given a two-shot penalty for signing an incorrect scorecard. The penalties were given a day later.

Thompson did not knowingly replace her ball on the green incorrectly, her playing partners saw no violation, and rules officials walking with the players said nary a word. But a day later words like “ridiculous”, “unbelievable”, “wrong” and “stupid” were uttered by professional golfers when informed of the situation.

For years viewers have called in potential rules violations and the practice has got to stop.

Last year the blowhard callers nearly cost Dustin Johnson the U.S. Open Championship and may have cost Anna Nordqvist the U.S. Women’s Championship.

A couple years ago Mrs. LPGA, Juli Inkster, was in one of those endless waits on the tee (about 30 minutes) wanted to stay warmed up in an event. So she inserted a weighted attachment (a "doughnut" similar to what baseball players use in the on deck circle) and took some practice swings. That's it. She could just as easily lifted her golf bag 10 times, and that would have been perfectly legal.  

A television viewer contacts the LPGA, and Inkster, just a couple shots out of the lead, gets to leave the course on a walk of shame.

Give me a break. I know, I know, rules are rules. I know Dustin Johnson was in a phantom bunker at the PGA Championship and grounded his club (where was that rake, anyway?). I know that because after the tournament they took a picture of it, and sure enough, it was a bunker. But in the heat of battle, with people standing in the "hazard" all day, nobody could tell.

There was a rules official right there, watching the whole escapade, and he didn't think it appropriate to say anything to Johnson.

Give me a break.

Years ago a caller reached the PGA Tour office (don’t they have better things to do) and informed that Craig Stadler violated a rule by kneeling on a towel before hitting a shot from soggy ground. Maybe this was right after playing partner Judge Smails threw a ball onto the green, but it was Stadler who was penalized.

Say what?

Bottom line is that there are playing partners observing the play with the opportunity to question a situation. Rules officials generally travel alongside the leading groups to offer help and expertise. And the tours monitor the life feed from the event.  There is absolutely no reason for a Tour to be taking phone calls and e-mails from viewers of an event.

Lexi Thompson is an honorable, rules abiding, upstanding lady. If she broke the rules, she should be disciplined. But this idea that a random caller, a member of the armchair sitting television police, can simply call in and affect the outcome of a tournament is ridiculous. Incredible. It would never, ever happen in other major professional sports.

Golf is supposed to be a gentleman’s game, a gentlewoman’s game. There are rules officials all over the course, but none of them had problems with the above situations. No, some yahoo watching a TV or mobile device in their underwear becomes arbiter and drops a dime on a player. Have to call BS on that one.  

Players regularly call penalties on themselves. Bizarre calls and e-mails should not. Brian Davis did call a penalty on himself and it cost him victory at Hilton Head a couple year’s back. So it's not like players are cheating and getting away with it. They police themselves. By allowing callers, emailers, whatever to call the game is a sham. This is not American Idol, where you call in to an 800 number and make your feelings known. It is professional golf and it looks amateurish.

Here's an idea. Create a the new FWL: Fantasy Watchers League. Participants can watch sporting events and call in infractions. They get points for each time they uncovered a dastardly deed. At the end of the year the winner could pick his or her sport and actually wear an official's outfit and "work" a game. The comedy of that would be priceless.

Until then, shut up.

No other major league sport offers such a venue for millions of armchair rules officials to call in and change the outcome of a tournament. Period.

This boorish behavior has got to stop. Now.

Put viewers on a Do not call list. Don't answer e-mails. Establish a new rule that anyone calling in a violation be permanently barred from the game for a year and all e-mailing and telephoning privileges revoked. Stop the insanity!

2017 Masters

By Steve Gordon

I like underdogs. Always have. That is a big reason why I was happy to see Sergio Garcia put the green jacket on. I didn't have a favorite player of all the final round contenders so any of those guys would have been a fine champion for me. As the tournament unfolded however Garcia became my guy. Apparently the Patrons felt the same as they gave him a big roar when that last putt dropped making it official.

Because Sergio has been a very good player for so long, I guess you could make a case that it was just time to get his first Major. Was it a coincidence that it came on the day that would have been his idol Seve Ballesteros' 60th birthday? Was it a coincidence that the only other player to eagle 15 in the final round and win was another countryman Jose Maria Olazabal? I can't speak on that but it was pretty cool.

There is no question that there were a lot of very good players in contention as the final round started as each of them set up and propelled their opening shots from the first tee. It was game on as they began to duel it out on the manicured fairways at Augusta National.

The announcers were saying, anyone within a handful of shots, even 5 or 7 back, could get hot and win. As good as one single player was in past years and how he once dominated and how we marveled at his talent, it was great to see a field of players fight for the coveted trophy.

Now, as the final round unfolded, things did not go well for all of the top contenders and as opportunities were missed and shots were dropped one by one they fell out of contention. The tournament was boiling down to the final pair of Justin Rose and Garcia. Rose looked solid while Sergio had a few hiccups, but he was hanging in there.

And then...and then...they got to Amen Corner.

I was texting with a friend during the round and as things were playing out I admit I jumped the gun. When Sergio's tee shot hit that tree limb and kicked left and into the base of an azalea bush I thought that would be the end of his chances. I texted "He's done." I couldn't have been more wrong and I should have known better. I've been watching this tournament for more years then I'm going to admit to and...well...I just should have known better than to make that call.

Garcia did exactly what he should have done instead of letting the emotions of the moment take over. Besides had he attempted to hack at the ball in that bush, how would that sit with the grounds crew and members of that beautiful place? How dare he do that?

But seriously folks, there was no other realistic option because there was a minuscule chance he could have hit safely out of there even if he could have gotten a club on the ball. Why risk potentially dumping it into the hazard? That would have brought something like a nine into play. He smartly and coolly accepted the situation and he skillfully punch the ball out to the fairway and valiantly made a par out of nothing.

Generally par on the 13th hole in Amen Corner on Sunday at The Masters isn't going to help your cause when you are in contention.

The back nine on Sunday at The Masters rarely goes conservatively by the book and it is often said that the tournament doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday. Once you survive 10 and 11 the real fun starts at the par 3 12th hole. From there a whole scenario of things can happen between it and the par 3 16th, with a very accessible traditional final round pin placement.

So we had Garcia in the trees and taking an unplayable lie and Rose sitting pretty. It looked like a two shot swing for sure. Maybe that's what filtered through Roses mind, just for a fleeting second. As a top player you try not to let those things get into your head, but we are all human. You never want to take anything for granted playing this game but you have to agree that Rose was in a very good position to grab this tournament by the throat and take control.

With the two pars on thirteen I wonder that as they both walked to the 14th tee if one player had his spirits uplifted a bit and the other saw an opportunity missed? It could be that hole is where The Masters was decided this time around even before the eagle that just fell into the side of the cup on 15 for Sergio? Of course there was no question that leaving 15 the eventual winner was on adrenalin overload while Rose had to be back on his heals a little.

To his credit Rose didn't crack. Sixteen and Seventeen certainly didn't go as planned for either player but the result took the final pair to 18 tied. You all watched it unfold and the playoff and it was just fitting that Sergio drained the birdie putt to seal the deal.

Looking back at the tournament as a whole, who could maintain a dry eye with the Arnie tribute on the first tee for the ceremonial opening tee shots. And who didn't have a little voice inside hoping that 57-year-old Fred Couples could muster up some youthful energy and give us some real magic?

I also have to make a comment about the people who phoned in that they saw Garcia's ball move after his drop on the 13th hole. They are not golf fans in my opinion and I echo a comment I read from a story on another site that said they should be banned from watching golf.

All things considered this had to be one of the best Masters tournaments.

Course Review - Royal Manchester

By Bob Oliver

Well, there’s some controversy about the Royal in Manchester, but other than that nitpicking statement there isn’t much to dislike about this challenging, fun and eye-catching 18 near York, Pa. designed by Timothy Freeland.

There isn’t a tree which comes into play on the course, which is built upon Pennsylvania Power and Light land near the Susquehanna River along rolling hills. Wind is a hazard which can change day to day, and while the greens are sizeable being in the wrong position brings three-putting often into play.

The course winds over the countryside like it has been there for decades but it’s a relatively new course. It has as much teeth a player can want, and shorter tee boxes allow players of all abilities to accept the challenge.

Numbers 4 and 7 are drivable par four tests, and the par-5 ninth is as much a golf hole as you’d like. A perfect drive brings the green in play in two shots, but miss short or to the sides and water is in play, and a long shot gets one into a collection area that means nothing but trouble for a third shot.

Golf Advisor ranked Royal Manchester 42^nd as it’s places to play in America, so the golfing public clearly likes the course. At the most recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando the course received an award for its conditioning and playability. Why? Royal Manchester’s greens were destroyed in 2015 when a contaminated batch of fungicide was applied.

“It was awful,” explained General Manager/PGA Professional Kieron Moony, who closed the course on June 15, 2015. “Looking back, it was a terrible time, but I made the decision to close the course and take care of the problem full on rather than piecemeal. We had to flush out the bad chemical from the greens, using a charcoal liquid. Then we waited for it to work, and about a month later we cross slit the greens in two directions and dropped A1/A4 Bent grass seed.

“About ten days later we saw germination and we oversaw heavy irrigation schedule to give the grass a chance. It is obviously difficult to grow healthy grass in July and August, so we had to take great care. We continued to overseed until we had full grow in coverage by late October. It was a great deal of work, but the team did a great job and we reopened March 1, 2016.”

A stellar job was done, as the course is better than ever and one wouldn’t notice there had been a problem with the greens. They roll well, and are as dastardly as ever. The time off allowed a couple new tees to be built, adding even more challenge.

“From a design standpoint, our course flows so very well. There are no gimmicky holes, and we attempt to have the course in great shape” added Moony, who advised the York Open is held at the course through 2025. “I believe in stellar customer service, and we do our best to make the visitors happy.”

Visually, Royal Manchester is right there in front of you. There are a couple blind shots…if your tee shot doesn’t crest a hill for instance. But it is not some tricked up layout. The course rewards good shots, and what you see is what you get. An outstanding test worthy of a drive from Bucks County.

Royal Manchester is part of the Raspberry Golf Trail, a reasonable drive from Bucks County and a Must Play destination. It rated 4.2 stars on our 0-5 point scale. Details found at www.royalmanchestergolflinks.com

(Photos by Steve Gordon)

Clubhouse from eighteenth fairway behind the green

Iconic waterfall on the 18th hole

Course Review - The Links at Gettysburg

By Steve Gordon

General George Meade and his union army at Gettysburg expended great efforts to fortify the left and right flanks from attack back in 1863. When Lindsay Ervin was designing The Links at Gettysburg, just minutes from the famous Civil War battlefield, the designer paid great detail to protecting the flanks of the holes he designed on this South Central Pennsylvania gem.

The first shots were fired here in 1999 and the defensive line stands firm over all 7000 yards of it. I played with a long time golf partner and after nine holes head professional Jason Pandoli told us at the turn that the front nine was a warm up and the back nine was the real challenge. He wasn’t wrong.

As seniors we played a combination of white and green tees called Members tees which shrink the course to about 5800 yards with a hefty slope of 135. No matter the tees being played this course demands to be played with a combination of sound thinking and execution. This is not a course for beginners or players who spray the ball.

That said, I was in love with the course after three holes.

Many courses start you out with a couple of relatively benign holes before hitting you over the head with challenges to your abilities. Here the first hole is not really that kind of hole, and then the second hole is a 372 yard killer rated the third most difficult hole on the course. The Links at Gettysburg rocks you right out of the blocks.

Third hole from white tee

Third green with rock backdrop

I don’t want to go hole by hole in this narrative but the third hole is their signature hole. It is a downhill par three that is 160 yards from an elevated tee and all carry over waste area and a creek to a green set into the natural red rocks indigenous to the area. Miss short and you are wet. Miss long and there is a bunker between the rock wall and the green that runs away from you back towards the creek.

  

House with a view

The course winds its way through the natural terrain of the area and the homes built around it are there… but they aren’t. That is to say they don’t intrude or encroach on the golf course to be a distraction or come into play with an errant shot. The house pictured here sits atop a hill overlooking the 7th hole.

In addition to the outstanding layout and routing of the course there is a lot of water. It starts on the par 3 12th hole that features a picturesque stone bridge.

7th hole from whit tee

When I mentioned protecting the left and right flanks I had holes 13 thru 18 as well as number 7 in mind.

The elevated white tee on seven is dramatic and what you see (pictured right) is what looks like a ribbon of fairway squeezed between water hazards. The fairway is bigger than it looks but that doesn't mean it's easy to find.

The decision is how much do you want to flirt with or do you opt to play it safe. However if you hit a nice straight safe tee ball two things come into play. First is you have longer route to the green on this 560 yarder (it is 602 from the back tee). The second thing to consider is if you pound that straight drive you run out of fairway around 220 yards out.

As far as the six closing holes you better not be allergic to water. All of them have water and or 

woods on both sides with forced carries on the 161 yard par 3 15^th and the 393 yard par 4 16^th holes.

Par 3 12th hole from the tee

Overall I would rank this course in the upper tier of public courses in Pennsylvania and one I would go back to play without a second thought. The four par three holes are all very playable but beware of the 154 yard 12th that played longer than the yardage the day I was there. The water between the tee and green could have had something to do with that. 

Actually I think the entire course is very playable even with it's lofty slope rating of 136 from the 6277 yard white tees. As senior players my partner and I found it more playable and enjoyable from the Member tees with is a combination of white and green (senior) tees set at 5740 yards. 

There are a handful of par 4 holes like the second, ninth, thirteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth that play long. All of those holes are softened up using the green tees. The second and sixteenth especially with forced carries to the green that are basically hit the green or reload while on the ninth it takes a good tee shot to carry a chasm to get to the fairway before an uphill approach shot to the green.

The course closes with a shortish par 5 but that doesn't mean it's reachable at 454 yards (539 from the back tees). Once you find the fairway you have to decide how far you want to hit your next shot as the layup area is narrow guarded by water right and very little room to miss left. It is a fitting finishing hole to the round with another green carved into the natural landscape of the property.

The Links at Gettysburg is part of what is called the Raspberry Golf Trail that includes 16 top notch courses from central and southern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and down into Virginia. A membership gets you a free round after three paid rounds at these courses. You can explore that at www.raspberrygolftrail.com. 

If you just want to visit the Links at Gettysburg go to www.thelinksatgettysburg.com.

The 18th green with the clubhouse upper right overlooking this closer

Bridge on par 3 12th hole as viewed from the clubhouse

18th green and hole as viewed from the clubhouse

             
(Photos by Steve Gordon taken on a heavily overcast early spring day.)

By Steve Gordon

I thought I'd share some of my golf photos from 2016 and a few from 2015. Enjoy.

Writers Cup at Forsgate Country Club

By Steve Gordon

Forget the Canadian Open, the UL International Women’s competition and previews for the upcoming PGA tournament and Olympics competition. All the focus on July 21^st was on the Writers Cup at the Forsgate Country Club.

This is an event held annually between golf writers from PA and New Jersey against a team from NY and Connecticut. It is played amicably but the competition isn’t taken lightly. It is a highly contested event with a lot of pride on the line. In this version the team from PA/NJ retained the cup and holds a 7-2 advantage over their northern counterparts.

As players arrive at this beautiful centrally located venue and line up for the shotgun start competition they can warm up on the range and putting green then take part in a skills challenge. On the practice range there was an 80 yard closest to the pin where you get three shots and can score points on each shot. Also on the range was a one ball opportunity for bonus points for an accurate shot with a minimum distance of 114 yards to land in a box staked out.

On the putting green there was an opportunity to test the flat stick with a short putt and a long putt. Players scored points if they were within 3 feet, the length of the practice green flag, within 6 inches or if you made the putt. There were two ways to approach this. Try to lag each of your three chances close to score points or try to hole it for big points but risk not getting points if too short, long, left or right.

Forsgate today is a 36-hole golf facility established in 1931 named after the owner and his wife with a combination of their surnames, John Forster and his wife’s maiden name Gatenby. Charles H. Banks, nicknamed Steam shovel for his favorite piece of equipment, drew up and built the original 18-hole course appropriately called The Banks Course which is the course used for this competition.

It is mostly an old style course with tees and greens in close proximity and naturally laid out through the varied terrain of elevation changes. But to make it a little unique Banks threw in a few unusual features like the 17^th hole named Biarritz, a par 3 of 239 yards from the very back tee. What makes this hole non traditional is a very long green with a deep swale in the middle. If you are on the wrong level you could walk off the green feeling good about a three putt.

Another hole, number 12, is called Horseshoe because it is surrounded by horseshoe shaped bunkers and the front of the green is a bowl. It is 165 yards from the back tees (140 from the member tees) so any shot in the vicinity will funnel down toward the hole if it is in the bowl.

Spread throughout the course are holes that play up and down the hilly terrain of this central New Jersey facility as well as side hill holes where you aim at one side of the fairways off the tee and let the ball roll back to the middle. Also flat lies are rare in many of the fairways and there are very few spots where the golf course touches a backyard or two.

The second 18-holes, the Palmer Course, designed by Hal Purdy and opened in 1961 is a nice complement to the Banks Course. The Palmer Course was redesigned by the Arnold Palmer group in 1995 and got a dressing up in 2007 by Stephen Kay.

This course is shorter and a bit less severe than the Banks 18. It features water that is prominently in play on a handful of holes which is in contrast to its big brother which has no water. Make no mistake however as it is not a pushover and provides a nice option to the older course or a nice place to get in another 18 holes while at Forsgate.

The Forsgate club is a true family affair, with excellent golf and associated teaching programs. Members get a few free lessons a month to hone their games, and there are individualized and group lessons for all levels of player. It’s Junior Golf Program is sensational. Joining the staff this year was Frank Esposito, arguably one of the best playing teachers in the state who played full time on the Champions Tour last year.

Forsgate’s restaurants offer something for everyone in addidtion to multiple banquet rooms for catered events. The club is a true oasis in Central New Jersey.

Play from the right tees

By Steve Gordon

I played golf at River Winds on Father's Day. My long time golf partner and I signed up for an afternoon round and we were teamed up with a single player which was just fine.

We're on the first tee and sitting at the 6576 yard white tees we usually play. We're both seniors but we can still hit it OK. The single player was a guy probably in his 50's built like a barrel standing maybe 5-8 and wearing a golf shirt several sizes too big not tucked in.

Now it's not fair to judge anyone on appearance but I put that description in just to provide you with a mental image. Anyway, he hung back on the tee as we were preparing to tee off. He said to go ahead and hit and we proceeded to put a couple decent drives out on the opening par 5 hole.

As we walked back to the cart he stepped up on the 7086 yard black tees. Well...ok we thought. Looks are deceiving? Maybe this guy has some game? One swing answered that question. I am not a pro that I can judge a player on his swing, but I work as a starter at a local club two days a week and you get a good feel generally for who the players are and aren't watching the various swings. This guy wasn't a player.

I think he hit multiple tee shots on nearly every hole so it's a good thing the foursome behind us wasn't pushing. They did get to view this spectacle a couple times however and I am not certain but I think I heard chuckling? He had to have lost at least a dozen balls in the course of the round.

I could not wrap my head around it but I had to block it out and play my game with my partner. I mean it wasn't my place to say anything to him as much as I wanted to and I was kind of hoping that after a couple holes he'd cave and move up to the white tees with us where it would still be questionable that he could keep pace with us from there. We are mid teen handicaps but we were playing pretty good overall Sunday.

Obviously the Play It Forward concept escaped this player. H was wearing a USGA member hat so he had to have heard about it. He could not reach many of the par 4's in regulation and even came up short on two of the longer par 3 holes. Forget the 642 yard par 5 13th hole (white tees are 592) on even getting to the green in three.

We enjoyed our round as we don't get together as often as we'd like because we don't live in the same state and it's tough to schedule and arrange to meet to play. We didn't cross paths with him often as he was far behind us on the tee, further behind on the fairway and so the only time we were all in the same proximity was on the green putting.

I am writing this just to point out the classic example of why people should pick and play from the proper set of tees suited to their ability. My partner and I have been places where we played the senior tees because the conditions and the white tees were just too much golf course for us.

It is hard to imagine that this player enjoyed his round unless he is a masochist. During the round he did say he was going to play several rounds in Scotland and Wales in a couple weeks. I wonder how that is going to work out?

The point is to play the proper set of tees with a yardage that you can enjoy the game and gives you a chance to score well. My personal theory on this is that if you can't play reasonably well from a certain set of tees you need to move up. Sure, it's a challenge, but if you don't have the game then you aren't challenging yourself, you are just beating yourself up.

If he played Oakmont from the back tees I'd say playing by the rules I could see a score somewhere near 150 or more. Even with his multiple mulligans at River Winds there is no way he could have broken 100 Sunday not to mention it wouldn't be a legitimate score.