Rules? What Rules?

"If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf."  ~Bob Hope

     Hello again to today's GET SOME Golf post dedicated to the many and weird rules of golf. As mentioned in the last post, golf has been around for centuries and has millions of people playing the game every single day. However, with good things come responsibilities and possibly also some consequences. In golf terms, a good shot can be greatly rewarded and a bad shot can ruin a round in a flash. This is where the Rules of Golf come in to be the official in keeping a golfer in his sanity and still wanting to continue to play the game.

     The Rules of Golf have originated since the humble beginning of golf and have lasted throughout the years for decades and even centuries. With recent advancements and the improvement of technology, the Rules of Golf have been altered ever so slightly so that it can be interpreted in almost any situation a golfer can put themselves in. These rules have come into play several times throughout the past championships and tournaments and because of them, they have even declared a different winner of a competition.  Some of the most notorious rulings have come within the past few years; below is an incident that came about because of situations regarding the rules.

     In the 2010 PGA Championship, the last major tournament of the year held this year at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin, Dustin Johnson stepped onto the last hole of the last day leading the tournament by one shot over Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer. After hitting his tee shot way right into what he thought was a waste area trampled by the gallery, ended up being a sand trap/bunker; because of this, he grounded his club and finished the hole with a bogey. However, according to the Rule 13-2: a player cannot improve the lie of the golf ball or ground the club in a hazard (bunker included); the penalty for a breach of this rule is two strokes. Johnson finished tied for fifth and lost the tournament.

     This just goes to show that the Rules of Golf are fair however can change history. For the full rules book, questions regarding the latest rules of golf, and decisions made by the USGA in previous tournaments, please visit: www.usga.org.

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!" Please pass this along to your playing partners!