I’m taking a week off from working through the USGA rule book to deal with the latest “hot-button” issue raised by our league commissioner, Mr. Steve Hensley. He claims that this is his last year as our commish, but I’ve heard that before. For those of you that don’t know Steve very well, running REGL is a service he enjoys and also a constant source of pain. Stick more than 300 people together anywhere and there are always going to be problems. The fact that he coordinates the league as a free service and has done that for more than 10 years is a testament to his love for the league and competitive golf. I know his plan for retirement (both from federal service and for REGL) means that we will need a new captain for the REGL boat, and I wish whomever that is luck and a great deal of perseverance. Until then, when you see Steve, I think a profound “Thank You!” is certainly appropriate.
Steve sent an update out to the captains this week about holing putts during the era of COVID – when there is a foam plug in the bottom of the hole to lessen the amount of digging around you have to do to pull your ball out. Ruggles still (to the best of my knowledge) employs the things as a precaution. (EDIT on 5/6/21 - The donuts are gone. You don't have to read this unless you're bored out of your skull and can't get enough of my prose.....) Most courses that I’ve played have done away with them, but we will probably have them to deal with for this season.
So, think about the good old days of 2019 (pre-pandemic). You slam a ball into the flagstick and it bounces down to the bottom of the hole and stays there. End of hole, record score, pull the ball out and wander to the next tee. No problems. Today, with the foam donut in the bottom of the hole, the ball might come right back out. Is your hole over then? Would you have to make another putt? These are both good questions. I’ll now divert to Steve’s message to the captains…
“Some golfers believe that ANY putt that touches the flagstick is to be considered a 'holed putt'. That is incorrect. You can't rattle a putt off the flagstick at 100 mph and consider it holed. Putts that don't go in don't count. The only time a putt that doesn't remain in the hole can be considered 'holed' is if the cup is so full of water that the donut is floating. If that happens competitors should make that assessment before anyone putts. Common sense has to prevail. On days where we got rain, you only have to look into the hole to see if the donut is floating.
If a putt, traveling at a speed that reasonably can be expected to drop into the cup, pops out due to the floating or improperly positioned donut, a competitor may concede that the putt should be 'holed'. Remember, this is a competitive league but a 'friendly competition'. The putt that zips into the hole at 'light speed' and passes over part of the hole without touching the stick is still not in the hole unless it stops there. It is understood that there will be disagreements. This is a subjective call on whether the speed of the ball would have allowed it to drop in. Your competitor's ruling must be accepted. However, you can put any information on the back of the scorecard and we'll assess if there are mitigating circumstances. If you are a player who likes to putt with speed, perhaps ask your partner to use their phone to record the putts on days where the donuts may be floating.”
There’s a lot there to talk about, but there are a few very clear sentences in there that are the gist of this blog entry.
1) EXCEPT FOR CASES OF FLOATING FOAM DONUTS AND IMPROPERLY POSITIONED DONUTS, balls have to fall into the hole and must remain there to count. Nice and clear.
2) If there’s enough water in the hole to float the donut, or if you find out (after a putt) that the donut interfered with the ball’s travel into the hole, your COMPETITOR may deem the putt to have been holed – but it’s a subjective call.
3) If your competitor doesn’t deem that the putt was holed, you’ll have to agree to disagree, finish out the hole and leave a note on the back of your card.
In my own mind, I think there’s a way around all of these subjective calls – I don’t know if Ruggles will allow it, but why don’t we remove the flagstick and the donut if the donut is floating? After play is finished you dunk it back in the hole. After a few groups go through there shouldn’t be a whole lot of water left.
Secondly, the odds of seeing a cup full of water and we’re still playing that night in league are pretty long. I don’t think we’ll see this ruling invoked often.
Less than a week to go until the first league night of 2021! Good luck…