GOLF RULES

I wanted to say that Rules officials are like doctors -- they have to keep studying in order to stay abreast of the latest developments in their field -- but that would be overstating it. After all, Rules officials don't deal with matters of life and death -- just who wins or loses in what non-golfers call a silly game. Nevertheless, millions of grown men and women worldwide take golf seriously enough to demand that it be played fairly, at the very least.

As stated on the back cover of the Rule Book:

Play the ball as it lies

Play the course as you find it

And if you can't do either, do what is fair But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf.

That's right. To do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf. And it is precisely for this reason that three well-known men-about-golf -- Vince Villafuerte, veteran rulesman and founder of the popular Intervillage Golf Series, Jake Ayson of the National Golf Association of the Philippines, and Al Mendoza of the Philippine Daily Inquirer -- have recently flown to the US, courtesy of PAL, in a continuing effort to gain a deeper knowledge of the Rules of Golf. Believe it or not, Vince, Jake and Al (like Buddy Resurreccion some months earlier) will be spending their own money, since Philippine Airlines only provided free air tickets. Unfortunately, the NGAP cannot afford to shoulder their expenses.

The three have finished the USGA workshop on Tournament Administration, slated March 12 to 15 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Jake and Al will then go on to their second workshop, this time on the Rules of Golf, in Palm Springs, California on March 20 to 23. Vince, however, will fly back today, March 18, to attend to urgent business in Manila.

But why are our Pinoy Rules wonks attending seminars conducted by the USGA (United States Golf Association) when we are under the jurisdiction of the R&A (Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews)? Because it does not really matter under whose auspices they take their training: the golf codes of the Yanks and the Brits are exactly alike. In short, every golf hole on this planet is governed by the same set of Rules that became effective on the most talked about date in our lifetime, Jan. 1, 2000.

Although I've said it before, I'll have to say it again because most golfers are still uninformed about it:

Jointly, the R&A and the USGA, in consultation with other ruling bodies from throughout the world, undertake their customary quadrennial review of the Rules of Golf and adopt a new code every four years. Hence the Jan. 1, 1996 code has been supplanted by the one promulgated on Jan. 1, 2000. (Get free copies of the current Rule Book from the NGAP.)

Query from GenSan City

Q. [from Stephen Sandoval, Dole Kalsangi Golf Club, General Santos, Polomolok, South Cotabato] We had a tournament recently and some of us arrived with putter grips that we had taped with the same material used on tennis grips. We were advised to remove them because they might be against the new Rules. Was this correct?

A. Before 2000, a player was permitted to apply tape or gauze to a grip during a stipulated round. This is no longer the case. However, you may still apply tape and gauze on your putter grips or other clubs' grips before the round. What is prohibited is applying or removing them during the round, for that would contravene Rule 4-2, which states: "During a stipulated round, the playing characteristics of a club shall not be purposely changed by adjustment or by any other means." Also note Rule 14-3, which says in part:"...during a stipulated round, the player shall not use any artificial device...which might assist him in gripping the club, except that (i) plain gloves may be worn; (ii) resin, powder and drying and moisturizing agents may be used; and (iii) a towel or handkerchief may be wrapped around the grip."

JFK, Jr.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." That, perhaps, was President Jack Kennedy's best-known remark. But his only son, John F. Kennedy, Jr., who died too young (with his wife and sister-in-law) when the plane he was flying plunged into the sea, and not as keen a golfer as his father was, said something even more profound. John Jr. said:

"Show me a good golfer and I'll show you a man who neglected something."

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