TOPICS NEWSLETTER - South Florida PGA Golf

This past weekend I tuned into CBS’s coverage
of the PGA Tour’s AT&T National event.
After watching for quite some time I couldn’t
figure out why there were so few spectators.
For example, they showed Tiger, who usually
has a sea of fans following his every step, but
this day there were only a hand full of people
outside the ropes. As I continued to watch,
Jim Nantz made reference to the powerful storms
that slashed though the Midwest that Friday night,
eventually making their way to the East coast and
the Washington area all while causing significant
damage and power outages along the way. Unfortunately
the grounds of Congressional Country
Club were among those reporting significant
damage in the wake of the storm. The damage
to the course was so severe that it forced officials
to close the event to spectators and volunteers.
Longtime PGA Tour Rules official, Mark Russell said
he could not remember another time when a tour
event did not allow fans. “It’s too dangerous out
here,” Russell said. “There’s a lot of hanging limbs.
There’s a lot of debris. It’s like a tornado came
through here. It’s just not safe.” As I watched the
coverage, I couldn’t help but think how the playing
of the game and the Rules of Golf would be affected
by the outcome of this storm.
Periodically the coverage shifted its focus from
golf and showed the damaged left behind from this
mid-summer storm. They showed many downed
trees, sawed up trees, twigs, branches and other
structural damage. They showed many fresh tree
stumps and I wondered if they were going to grant
relief from them? Decision
25/8 asks, “Do the Rules provide
relief without penalty for
a tree stump? No, not unless
it has been marked as ground
under repair or it is in the
process of being unearthed or
cut up for removal, in which
case it is “material piled for
removal” and thus automatically
ground under repair. A
tree stump which the Committee
intends to remove, but
which is not in the process of
being removed, is not automatically ground under repair.”
There were also many trees which were cracked at the base and still
attached to the stump. Does a tree still attached to the stump change
how it was just classified above? Decision 23/7 asks, “Is a fallen tree
a loose impediment? If it is still attached to the stump, no; if it is not
attached to the stump, yes.” So if a tree were still attached to the
stump, the player would not be permitted to move parts of the downed
tree if they interfered with his stance or area of intended swing. To do
so would be a breach of Rule 13-2. But what would be the ruling if the
tree was no longer attached to the stump, thus making it a loose impediment?
Decision 23-1/4 asks the question, “If part of a large branch
which has fallen from a tree (and thus is a loose impediment) interferes
with a player’s swing, may the player break off the interfering part
rather than move the whole branch?” The answer is yes. The Rules do
not force you to move the entire loose impediment. You are permitted
to move just the part that interferes with your play.
A little later in the telecast Jim Nantz praised the grounds grew
who had worked tirelessly cleaning up the debris to make the course
playable. There were piles of stacked up tree branches, leaves, sticks
WEATHER THE WEATHER
SFPGA TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR
ANDREW MILLER
and sawed up trees everywhere. How
would these areas be classified under
the Rules? Decision 25/7 states, “A
greenkeeper is in the process of sawing
up a fallen tree and stacking the wood.
What is the status of such a tree? The
tree in its entirety is ground under repair
as it constitutes “material piled for removal.”
The definition of ground under repair states
that material piled for removal is ground
under repair even if it hasn’t been marked
as such. Thus if a players ball were to come
to rest in an area where a pile of debris
interfered with the lie of his ball or area of
intended swing, the player would be permitted
to take relief under Rule 25-1. However,
if the player found his ball several yards
behind the material piled for removal, thus
having interference for his line of play and
not for the lie of the ball or area of intended
swing, the player would not be granted any
free relief under Rule 25-1 since that Rule
does not provide intervention relief.
Mark Russell had mentioned how dangerous
the grounds were following the storm with
all the debris and hanging braches. We’ve
already covered how a fallen tree, whether
still attached to its stump or not is treated
by the Rules of Golf, but what kind of special
consideration would be given for a tree
which falls during the stipulated round? Decision
25/9.5 states, “A large tree falls onto a
fairway during a stipulated
round and cannot
readily be removed.
What should the Committee
do? The most
appropriate course of
action will depend on
the circumstances in
each case. The Committee
has the following
options: (1) require
play to continue, providing
no additional relief
from the fallen tree;
(2) suspend play and have the tree removed; (3) declare the tree
and the area covered by the tree to be ground under repair (Rule
25-1) and may, as an additional option, establish a dropping zone;
or (4) in equity (Rule 1-4), adopt the relief procedures under the
Local Rule for Temporary Obstructions, thus providing intervention
relief from the fallen tree.” I was actually quite familiar with this
particular Decision since this exact situation happened at few years
back during the final round of the Florida State Senior Open. We
decided on option 3 above to deal with the situation however we
decided not to establish any additional dropping zones.
Mother nature plays a tremendous role in the sport we all love
and given the fact that we can’t take the game indoors or hide
behind a retractable roof, sometimes we have to take what she
gives us. The gifts she left in the form of fallen trees and debris at
the AT&T was neither ideal nor appreciated. A feeling especially
felt from the grounds crew. However with a lot of hard work and
a little help from the Rules of Golf, another successful PGA Tour
event was achieved.