Joe,
Why was Francis Ouimet’s US Open victory any more important than other Opens?
Frank
Hi Frank,
Imagine Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh showing up at your local golf club for a tournament, and this teenager who lives down the street joins the tournament, tops his first drive 40 yards into the left rough, and then goes on to beat both of them, winning the tournament with a ten year old caddy carrying only 7 clubs. OK, so Francis was not really a teenager, he just turned 20 one month earlier, forgive me for exaggerating. Harry Vardon (for whom the overlap grip is named) and Ted Ray were the biggest names in golf at that time, just like Tiger and Vijay are today, and they came all the way from England just to get beat in a head-to-head playoff by this skinny little kid from down the street, whose two practice rounds were horrible 88 and 88. Therefore this event, in my opinion, is the most astounding golf story ever, and also was the birth of golf excitement in America, because the newspapers went nuts over the fact that American golfers were just as good as the British legends. As I said last week, you have got to read the book "The Greatest Game Ever Played" by Mark Frost. Amazing stuff.
Joe
Friday, November 05, 2004
Joe,
In the Chrysler tournament recently I saw a golfer apparently hit his ball into a lateral water hazard but he had to go back to the tee and hit again. I thought you could drop and hit from the point where it entered the water? What gives?
Will
Hi Will,
The Rule says (and I think it is a bad rule) that someone must have watched and seen the ball actually enter the water, or else it is considered to be a “lost ball” which means you must go back to the tee. I think this is a bad rule for a couple of reasons. First, the pace of play is greatly hindered any time you have to march back to the tee and play again, everyone on the entire course behind you will suffer for this. Aside from that, even if you did watch the ball go into the hazard, you probably lost it anyway, so the penalty is different for a watched ball that got lost in the water instead of a lost ball that was not watched and ended up in the same place. Look, logic says if you hit a shot out of play, the penalty should be the same no matter if it is water, OB, lost ball, or unplayable lie. This should be a game of skill, not technicalities. Nobody should ever ever ever have to walk back to the original spot to play the next shot, it would be more logical to just take the penalty and hit from the spot nearest where the ball went out of play. But that is only my opinion, the rules say otherwise, but rules like this hurt the game. When I make my first billion dollars I am going to buy the USGA and change that stupid rule.
Joe
In the Chrysler tournament recently I saw a golfer apparently hit his ball into a lateral water hazard but he had to go back to the tee and hit again. I thought you could drop and hit from the point where it entered the water? What gives?
Will
Hi Will,
The Rule says (and I think it is a bad rule) that someone must have watched and seen the ball actually enter the water, or else it is considered to be a “lost ball” which means you must go back to the tee. I think this is a bad rule for a couple of reasons. First, the pace of play is greatly hindered any time you have to march back to the tee and play again, everyone on the entire course behind you will suffer for this. Aside from that, even if you did watch the ball go into the hazard, you probably lost it anyway, so the penalty is different for a watched ball that got lost in the water instead of a lost ball that was not watched and ended up in the same place. Look, logic says if you hit a shot out of play, the penalty should be the same no matter if it is water, OB, lost ball, or unplayable lie. This should be a game of skill, not technicalities. Nobody should ever ever ever have to walk back to the original spot to play the next shot, it would be more logical to just take the penalty and hit from the spot nearest where the ball went out of play. But that is only my opinion, the rules say otherwise, but rules like this hurt the game. When I make my first billion dollars I am going to buy the USGA and change that stupid rule.
Joe
Monday, November 01, 2004
Joe,
I think belly putters should be illegal because it anchors the end of the club, let’s go back to the original rules of the game. What do you think?
Ernie
Hi Ernie,
If we go back to the original rules, then you also must play a plugged ball as it lies, even on the green. You also were not allowed to clean mud off your ball, even on the green. Try to putt with a wad of mud stuck to your ball and maybe you will understand that sometimes the rules really do need to be changed, otherwise it becomes more of a game of bad luck instead of skill. Belly putters have saved the careers of several pros, and they also have given new hope to recreational golfers who otherwise were going to quit the game because of the Putting Yips. However, if you really do not like belly putters, you can still get rid of those Yips by pinning your front elbow to your torso firmly (the anchor you mentioned) and using the “claw” grip like Mark Calcavecchia, which reduces unwanted right hand motion, and using your shoulders to make the stroke instead of your hands.
Joe
I think belly putters should be illegal because it anchors the end of the club, let’s go back to the original rules of the game. What do you think?
Ernie
Hi Ernie,
If we go back to the original rules, then you also must play a plugged ball as it lies, even on the green. You also were not allowed to clean mud off your ball, even on the green. Try to putt with a wad of mud stuck to your ball and maybe you will understand that sometimes the rules really do need to be changed, otherwise it becomes more of a game of bad luck instead of skill. Belly putters have saved the careers of several pros, and they also have given new hope to recreational golfers who otherwise were going to quit the game because of the Putting Yips. However, if you really do not like belly putters, you can still get rid of those Yips by pinning your front elbow to your torso firmly (the anchor you mentioned) and using the “claw” grip like Mark Calcavecchia, which reduces unwanted right hand motion, and using your shoulders to make the stroke instead of your hands.
Joe
