The obsession over rules is a big reason so many conservatives are drawn to the game of golf. Personally, I pay little attention to the rules when I play. Neither do my brothers, who like to tee it up on the fairways to make irons shots easier.
People are still talking about the rule that got Stewart Cink disqualified from the Zurich Classic.
In the third round, Cink hit a wayward drive at No. 15 that came to rest near but not in, a bunker. Cink stepped into the bunker to hit the shot. His shot landed in a greenside bunker.
Cink’s caddie smoothed the fairway bunker, and thus violated Rule 13-4: “testing the condition of a hazard.".
He was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.
Most everybody agrees Cink was the victim of a stupid rule, which golf is full of, but the most ridiculous part is that rule will not be subject to change until 2010.
Golf moves at a glacial speed not only on the course.
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3 comments
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§ Brandon Tucker®
said on : 04/05/08 @ 17:30
Joe Golfer violates this rule probably 95% of the rounds they play. Looks like all our handicaps are void. -
§ Oliver Sudden said on : 04/06/08 @ 20:18
O.K. say they didn't have this rule. I hit my ball in a green side bunker on a par 3. I wonder what the sand is like so I go into another green side bunker and rake it and generally test the sand. No penalty.
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§ Wendy (UK) said on : 04/08/08 @ 14:43
Voila! The rule is usually there for a reason, even if it sometimes seems obscure. On this occasion, the committee could have agreed that as Cink had to take a stance in the bunker he was not simply testing the hazard. Surely professional tournaments should have volunteers to rake the bunkers anyway rather than hold up play while the caddie does it. Or is that too simple a solution until rule is reviewed in 2010? Doesn't help with amateurs, of course, but then we can always claim that it is etiquette not rule to rake the bunker after play (maybe not under US PGA rules, however?).
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