==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 37 Date 10/09/07 ==================================================== ==================================================== TCT Quick Tips - Turn, Don't Spin ==================================================== This one isn't actually too quick, but it's a good thought. When I leave the course, I always glance at the hole 12 tee which is near the road to see if I can catch a swing or two. Hole 12 is a hefty par 5 that measures 524 from the whites, but it's extremely uphill and normally into the wind, so it usually plays 35 yards longer at least. As a result of the distance, I see most players overturning on the takeaway, the left heel comes way off the ground, then it plants much closer to the right foot on the downswing from where it started. This opens the stance, misaligns the body, and usually induces a violent spin through impact instead of a controlled turn through the shot. Usually this is accompanied by a massive reverse weight shift, and the resulting shot will normally send the cows for cover in the pasture on the left, or the ball to number 11 fairway on the right. I saw one golfer take a huge swing like this and I thought his partners were going to need excavation tools to unscrew his back leg from the ground! Here's the point: make sure that the heel of your forward foot returns to or stays in the same position that it started in, and you should be able to execute a good weight shift and solid turn through the ball on the downswing. It's worth practicing. ==================================================== Golf Tip : Q&A Tending the Flagstick ==================================================== If anyone has a golf question that they would like answered, please email your question to: teachingpro@bataviacc.com and I'll do my best to answer it in an upcoming newsletter. Terry B. emailed this question: Q. I was playing with a friend when I pitched from just off the green. He was tending the flag and as the ball was rolling towards the cup (lucky shot) he pulled the pin. The ball hit the cup, popped up, and fell just outside. He asked me as we went to the next tee if he should have left the pin in, pulled it back, or done what he did. I told him it was a call on his part but I got to wondering, is there a correct way to tend the pin? A. Thanks for the question Terry. Here's the correct procedure for tending the pin (flagstick): 1. Notice the line from which the putt will be coming. The putting line is the estimated path the golf ball will travel from putter to hole. 2. Stand at a distance from the hole so that your outstretched arm can reach the flagstick comfortably. 3. Grasp the flagstick (also known as the pin) firmly. 4. Avoid casting a shadow in the putting line. 5. Stand as still as possible until the putt is hit. 6. Remove the flagstick and walk away from the hole once the ball is in motion. 7. Leave the flagstick on the putting green surface out of putting lines. Tips & Warnings: To avoid having the pin stick in the bottom of the cup, lift the pin up a half-inch from the bottom of cup before signaling to the player that it's safe to putt. It's considered good golf etiquette to offer to tend the flag. If the flag is not tended and a putted golf ball strikes the flagstick, the person who putted incurs a two-stroke penalty. And here are some interesting rules trivia that will probably win you a drink at your favorite watering hole : Q. Can you have the pin tended if you're hitting a shot from off the green? A. You can have it tended if you're 150 yards away, if you want, but if you hit it or the person tending it, it's a penalty. Here are the applicable rules. Rule 17-3 plainly states that a player's ball must not strike: "the flagstick when it is being attended, removed or held up." We all know that we must have the pin removed if it is tended while we're putting. Now we know, that if for some bizarre reason we have the pin tended while chipping or hitting any other shot from off the green, it has to be pulled after the stroke is made or we risk a penalty if, through great skill or pure luck, we hit it. Now we also know - 17-3 (b) - that if the person attending the pin is not paying attention and your shot hits him or her, you incur a penalty. By the way, rule 17-1 tells us that if a player allows someone to stand next to the flagstick while playing a stroke, that player is allowing the pin to be attended, even though the person is not actually touching the pin. 17-3 Ball Striking Flagstick or Attendant The player’s ball must not strike: (a) The flagstick when it is being attended, removed or held up; (b) The person attending or holding up the flagstick; or (c) The flagstick in the hole, unattended, when the stroke has been made on the putting green. Exception: When the flagstick is attended, removed or held up without the player’s authority see Rule 17-2. Penalty for Breach of Rule 17-3: Match play - Loss of hole; Stroke play - Two strokes and the ball must be played as it lies. Q. A player played a stroke from the putting green. The ball struck the hole-liner, which had stuck to the bottom of the flagstick and had come out of the hole when the person attending the flagstick removed the flagstick. Is there any penalty? A. No. A hole-liner is an outside agency. Accordingly, if the hole-liner was moving when the ball struck it, the stroke is canceled and the ball must be replaced - Rule 19-1b. However, if the hole-liner was NOT moving, the ball must be played as it lies. Rule 19-1. In case of doubt, the ball must be played as it lies. Q. B removes the flagstick, places it on the putting green behind the hole and putts. A, believing that B’s ball will strike the flagstick, picks up the flagstick, allowing B’s ball to roll beyond where the flagstick had been placed. What is the ruling? A. In match play, A loses the hole for removing an obstruction which might influence the movement of the ball while the player’s ball was in motion - Rule 1-2 or 24-1. In stroke play, A incurs a penalty of two strokes - Rule 1-2 or 24-1. B incurs no penalty.