To watch a group of amateur golfers play the game from a Rules of Golf perspective can be interesting, to say the least. With liberal drop zones and dropping methods, a consistent misunderstanding of red versus yellow versus white and a don’t ask/don’t tell attitude when it comes to playing the ball as it lies, golfers of all skill levels are often playing a very different game than those of our more competitive players. However, when the former bleeds into the latter, things can get dicey.
I just returned from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DIII National Championship at Chautauqua Golf Club in Western New York. As the men’s head golf coach at the State University of New York - SUNY Ulster, I am fortunate to have had several players in recent years qualify for our annual national championship. Last year, my entire team qualified as we won the Region 15 championship and celebrated by having two players earn All-American status by the tournament’s conclusion. One was my son Joey, who took 11th place in the event, and the other was a young woman named Emma, who was the first female golfer to represent our school and region at the national championship.
Whether it’s the regular season, our regional tournament or national championship, I am often taken aback by the players’ (and even some coaches’) knowledge of and application of the Rules of Golf. For my team, we have a tradition of downloading the USGA Rules of Golf app at our very first meeting or practice each season. By doing this, my players know right away that the Rules of Golf are a big deal to me, and should be to them as well. We discuss the Rules at our practices, and I’ll quiz them on van rides to matches.
“The players should be better educated at a tournament like this,” said Joe Strykowski, a New York State Golf Association (NYSGA) rules official who was presiding over our national championship in early June. Joe is also a past president of the NYSGA. “It’s often the simple things that get overlooked. We try to give the players insight as to why they have to do this or that, rather than simply instructing them on what to do in making a ruling.”
Strykowski says one aspect of rules relief he always has to clarify for players is the question of one club length or two, and he shared a bit of a cheat code in remembering which is which.
“That’s a very easy thing once you know the trick,” Strykowski explained. “It’s one club length when not taking a stroke penalty and two club lengths when a stroke penalty is being applied.”
Another problem area he mentioned was taking relief from ground under repair or a cart path. Most players don’t understand that they have to take complete relief from such obstacles. Although these should be easy rules to understand, Strykowski tells me that he encounters many instances of competitive golfers simply not knowing what to do. As PGA of America Golf Professionals and coaches at any level, we should take the time to walk the course with our members, creating scenarios that might arise during their rounds to give them the confidence to either know a rule or at least be able to find the solution in the Rules of Golf book or on the app. This was one of the programs I enjoyed the most when I think back to my green grass days at a private nine-hole facility.
As the Rules change, it’s important for us as PGA of America Golf Professionals and coaches to stay abreast of the updates, attend USGA or local association rules seminars and utilize the app and its many useful features as well.
Avoiding penalties is another important thing to teach golfers and one that made me cringe more than a few times last week. Players are often negligent in marking their balls on the greens when others are putting. Ask any of my players and they’ll tell you that I stress to them ad nauseam that the penalty is theirs if they putt their ball into another resting on the green.
Rule 11.1a - Ball Played on Putting Green in Stroke Play: If the player’s ball in motion hits another ball at rest on the putting green and both balls were on the putting green before the stroke, the player gets the general penalty (two penalty strokes).
Also, order of play is frequently abused, as golfers always think that those who have yet to reach the green are up first, when in fact, those farthest from the hole should be hitting. This is more of a Rules issue in match play, but it can bite you in stroke play as well. This education is definitely a work in progress.
Strykowski officiates at dozens of golf tournaments across New York State and stressed to me that the best way to learn the rules is to volunteer at a local amateur tournament.
As a result, my takeaway from a long season of college golf coaching has been to volunteer as a New York State Golf Association (NYSGA) rules official. I just submitted my application, so I have nothing more to report on that yet. But as I use my experience as a former green grass PGA Professional who now writes about the game 30 times a month and a coach with 15 years of high school and college coaching experience, I look forward to educating the everyday golfer, as well as the more competitive players on the importance of the Rules of Golf.
Of course, your schedule as PGA General Managers may not have room for this engagement with members. If it doesn’t, the relationships that can form from your head professional, director of golf or even assistant golf professionals educating members on the Rules of Golf can lead to lessons, golf shop sales and increased play on the part of your members.
Check out everything you need to know about the USGA Rules of Golf here!