The Washington times., 1938-05-20


have been
doubly wise
Lillian Rixey If it also had
made 1t mandatory for all play
erS to carry one Of its handy
books Of rules in the ball pocket
Of their bags.
Disputes on the course seldom
occur. The chief evil Of not
knowing the regulations en-
route lies in the fact that q
golfer will permit suspected
grievance to rankle in his bosom
without protesting it at the mo-
ment of play, and then air his
troubles before pSeudo-sympa-
thetic golfing companions at
the nineteenth hole, in the alb
sence Of his opponent.
How much more sportsman
like and clean-cut it would be
for the issue to be taken on the
course at the time of transgres-
sion where, with rule book in
hand, matters could be settled
in a friendly spirit between the
two principals.
ON THE SPOT
With q view to encouraging
the approach OF this golfing
millennium, I suggest that all
players, whether they shoot par,
over or under, secure a copy Of
the RULES as Approved by the
Royal and Ancient Golf Club
Of st. Andrews and by the
United States Golf Association"
They are 10 cents each and
are published by Willis Nc
Donald & Co., 80 Bridge Street,
Brooklyn. N. Y.
At the risk of offending the
Royal and Ancients, I wish to
60 on record as stating that
Rule No. 20 is a weasel rule and
lousy. 1t reads:
IF q player play the op-
ponent's ball, his side shall lose
the hole, $50 far so goodl un-
less (and here is the rub:
q. The opponent then play
the players ball, in which case
the penalty is Cancelled, and the
hole shall be played out with
the balls thus exchanged.
b. The mistake occur through
wrong information given by an
opponent or his caddie, IN which
case there shall be no penalty:
If the mistake be discovered
before the opponent has played
his next stroke, it shall be recti-
fled by dropping, or on the
putting green, placing a ball as
near as possible to the place
where the opponents ball lay"
Section "b" is all right. If it
were not in force caddies mis-
takenly looking for big tips
might make a practice of choos-
ing the longest drive for his
player, with no fear of penalty.
But Section "a'' does not penal
iZe sloppy playing enough. Any
one should be able to recognize
his own ball, provided he is not
led astray by the opponents con-
fir1ning his mistake. But it ap-
pears the Royal and AncientS
prefer to let the players switch
balls for the rest of the hole on
the theory that three or four
more wrongs will make a right.
| SOME EXPLANATION
In the women's Baltimore
Washington team matches early
this week, Mrs. T. ]. Johnson's
ball was played by a Baltimore
opponent on the ninth hole.
Confusion was rife when the
mistake was discovered, because
no copy of the rules was at
hand. BY sheer accident. the
players fell into the procedure
of Section "a" in accordance
with the rules. But to my mind,
Section "a" is wrong and that
hole should have been forfeit.
In other rule matters have
nothing but admiration and re-
: Spect for the r. and AS. I
will 60 along with them on
: their drastic stipulation that
: "cleaning a ball in play entails
: a penalty Of two strokes or
loss of the hole" and that mud
adhering to a ball shall not
be considered as making 1t un-
fit for play"
I am all for the regulation
that "a ball is lost if it be not
! found within five minutes after
: the players side or his or their
,caddies have begun to search
: for it, and if subsequently found
may not be played" Such a
ruling is good and penalties the
Scotch in all Of us.
= I like the neat touch. too,
which permits loose objects to
be removed from the field of
play, on the fairway or on the
putting green.
And I am heartily in accord
with the dictum that "a worm
is a loose impediment' and may
be lifted" - provided someone
else does the lifting for me.
- "