US Women's Open
Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 10:20 am
Did anyone see that miscarriage of justice in the 3-hole aggregate playoff?
On the second playoff hole (17, after both golfers involved had parred 16), one of the golfers accidentally grounded her club in the bunker while preparing her shot. It was so light that she didn't even notice, and she certainly gained no advantage from it. In fact, she was only caught by a replay zoom-in, as only a TINY clump of sand dropped from her club. The result? A two-shot penalty. The problem? The fact that she was told AFTER her third shot on 18 (the last hole of the playoff), but her opponent was told BEFORE her third shot. That out-of-sequence notification DEFINITELY affected how BOTH golfers played that last hole.
Now, back to the rule. A two-shot penalty for something that wasn't even noticed?!? This is akin to a facemask penalty: a yank is DEFINITELY worth a personal foul, as there's a definite advantage gained by the perpetrator. But if someone merely TOUCHES the facemask? That used to warrant a five-yard violation penalty. (Yes, I think the NFL screwed the pooch with that rule change. I understand why they did it, but they shouldn't have.) In the case of this golf rule, there should be provision for whether or not it was intentional or if any advantage was gained by grounding the club. If so, then a two-shot, game-changing penalty IS warranted. But in THIS case, there was NO intent and there was NO advantage gained. A violation, sure. Charge a ONE-stroke penalty.
Good application, bad rule.
But that still leaves the bogus notification. Yes, it took the judges time to determine whether or not a violation had occurred. At least it wasn't done on the basis of a viewer call-in as has been done in the past. But they should have waited either until both golfers were on an even keel or until after the hole was done. They had NO business affecting game play like that.
Another case of the zebras pulling bogus cr@p....
On the second playoff hole (17, after both golfers involved had parred 16), one of the golfers accidentally grounded her club in the bunker while preparing her shot. It was so light that she didn't even notice, and she certainly gained no advantage from it. In fact, she was only caught by a replay zoom-in, as only a TINY clump of sand dropped from her club. The result? A two-shot penalty. The problem? The fact that she was told AFTER her third shot on 18 (the last hole of the playoff), but her opponent was told BEFORE her third shot. That out-of-sequence notification DEFINITELY affected how BOTH golfers played that last hole.
Now, back to the rule. A two-shot penalty for something that wasn't even noticed?!? This is akin to a facemask penalty: a yank is DEFINITELY worth a personal foul, as there's a definite advantage gained by the perpetrator. But if someone merely TOUCHES the facemask? That used to warrant a five-yard violation penalty. (Yes, I think the NFL screwed the pooch with that rule change. I understand why they did it, but they shouldn't have.) In the case of this golf rule, there should be provision for whether or not it was intentional or if any advantage was gained by grounding the club. If so, then a two-shot, game-changing penalty IS warranted. But in THIS case, there was NO intent and there was NO advantage gained. A violation, sure. Charge a ONE-stroke penalty.
Good application, bad rule.
But that still leaves the bogus notification. Yes, it took the judges time to determine whether or not a violation had occurred. At least it wasn't done on the basis of a viewer call-in as has been done in the past. But they should have waited either until both golfers were on an even keel or until after the hole was done. They had NO business affecting game play like that.
Another case of the zebras pulling bogus cr@p....
