I have played in a couple of competitions over the last few weeks and twice on the first tee my playing partner has announced they are playing a Titleist Pro VI number 1, no markings, no logos, nothing, just a fresh new pill straight out of the box.
The GolfPunk team love the game of golf and are big supporters of the idea of improving the etiquette on the course and in general. However, this week the big news running around social media was about the US amateur golfer that carded an impressively poor 194 for 18 holes and things got worse when the Florida State Golf Association confirmed it was actually a 131 over par 202!
Sergio Garcia has sensationally been disqualified from the third round of the Saudi International on a charge of serious misconduct.
It was inevitable that Patrick Reed, who is playing at the WGC event in Mexico City this week, was going to be asked about the latest comments from Bob Kostis and Brooks Koepka. Talking after Thursday’s first round he managed to dance around the question.
Despite no mortal being able to move it on their own the answer is the boulder. As Tiger Woods found out to his benefit at the 1999 Phoenix Open when a friendly rules official suggested it was a loose impediment.
Every golfer loves a drop zone, except for the ones where you’ve just plonked it into the middle of that lake or alligator infested swamp! The pros in particular like it when there find themselves in or around a grandstand and they simply walk to a nicely mown little patch close by. Fast forward to Royal Portrush and the venue for the 2019 Open Championship.
Let this be a warning to you – never tamper with your golf equipment during a competitive round. Harold Varner III did exactly that and unwittingly got a two-shot penalty during the opening round of The Players after making an equipment change that was influenced in part by the actions of a walking official.
Whether you are cashing in $2 skins for Nassau team junk, two down presses or any other expensive or complicated golf game, playing golf is always a bit more interesting when there’s cash involved.
I didn’t think I would hear myself say this, but I feel sorry for Patrick Reed. Don’t get me wrong the guy has handled the whole affair badly and he clearly was borderline cheating at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas last December. However, due to the Tour’s insistence that the matter has been dealt with it has basically thrown the American to the lions, who in this case are the media and the golfing public.
Former LPGA player Ann Walker was not exactly burning it up at the recent Senior LPGA Championship but then her score got a lot worse in fact 58 shots worse! Unfortunately, our Ann did not pay attention when the new rules were announced at the beginning of the year. The result, 42 penalty shots imposed for her opening round and a further 16 for her first five holes on day two.
Palmares Beach & Golf Resort, in the Algarve, is hitting the accelerator in the war against slow golf as 2019 gets off to a turbo-charged start.
There were a number of rulings made by the R&A officials on day three of the Open but none was more interesting as that for Lee Westwood. And hats off to the 46 year-old Englishman who showed pure class and honesty in dealing with the situation.
