On the subject of holes-in-one (“Divot: Coming up aces,” March 31, GGP), I had a good round going after 12 holes at even par. The par-3 was directly into the wind and about a three-club wind to boot. The hole was in a place you never want to aim at, upper left, since your putt must be uphill. I needed a 4-iron, but switched to a 5-iron fearing that if the wind lay down, there is out of bounds beyond. I aimed at the middle of the green, took the club back, and the little bugger inside my head said to me, “Hit it hard, you need more club.” The downswing turned into a baseball-bat swing, and I pulled it left, though I flushed it as well. “F@#$” came out of my mouth as I was mad at myself. The ball never hit the green and went directly in the cup with a loud thwack. My three playing partners looked at me and said, “What was the matter with that?”
I am sure you will get many unsolicited stories, but their question made me laugh.
Yes, I can remember my other two aces as well.
Jon Haas
Orange Park, Florida
There are two simple changes that would speed up play (“Change of Pace,” February 10, GGP):
Caddies should not be allowed to read greens; that should be the sole responsibility of the player. Why should you be the better player because your caddie can read greens better than mine?
Continuous putting. The ball may be marked, lifted and cleaned when it reaches the green. From that point the player continues to putt out without re-marking the ball. The only time it would be marked is if a playing partner asks for it to be marked because it’s in their line. It was a PGA Tour rule from 1968-70. Bring it back.
Charlie Jurgonis
Fairfax, Virginia
Fractional-stroke pace-of-play penalties are fair actions (“Change of Pace,” February 10, GGP).
Realize that the goal is not to penalize a golfer, the goal is to improve the competition. Penalty strokes are the most effective aid to get timely play.
So effective, the extreme stress and responsibility placed on one official to make the call for a stroke is totally intimidating. He has said “fire” to the squad. Tough call. Tough responsibility. Not going to happen.
Let’s cock a few of the firing squad’s rifles at a time. The message will be precisely delivered without the final command. The official can assign 0.2 strokes, or 0.3 strokes, or 0.4 strokes, or 0.5 strokes as appropriate.
Less than a full stroke will be discarded at the scoring table. The golfer has met the pace of play and the officials have done their job. All’s calm. The “Firing Squad” will stand down.
The officialdom will be able to officiate without a “one-official-screwed-me” triad by the offending golfer.
0.2 here, 0.3 there, pretty soon the golfer will get the message to speed up play. Which is the goal … not to penalize the golfer, just get him to not hold up the whole show.
“You’re at 0.8. Got your attention … ”
Duane Rost
Jackson, Minnesota
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