Rules, Bob Phelps

In conversations at tournaments and at the course, I am frequently questioned regarding the applicable rule covering a variety of situations.

Rule 1.3a defines the meaning of “Rules” as: 1) Rules 1-24 and the Definitions in these “Rules of Golf”, and 2) Any “Local Rules” the committee adopts for the competition or the course. It is Part 2 of this definition that seems to create confusion among golfers at all levels. In all competitions, the Committee may choose to adopt a variety of Local Rules for the competition. Ideally your course professional will have published Local Rules governing casual play at your course as well. Rule 1.3b(1) follows by clearly stating that players are responsible for applying the Rules to themselves. It is the player’s responsibility to know the Rules, including knowing what Local Rules have been adopted for the competition or course. Below are a few Local Rules that have led to some of the confusion.

By far, the biggest misconception with the “modernized” rules is that a player can now estimate where that player’s ball went out of bounds or is lost, drop a ball in the fairway nearest to the estimated spot, and play on getting a two-shot penalty. This is not a Rule but a much-publicized Local Rule introduced in 2019. While I personally support its implementation for casual play, this Local Rule is not recommended for competition and is not used in any OGA competition.

Another commonly used Local Rule that is not in The Rules of Golf and must be adopted by the committee is granting line of play relief for immovable obstructions (irrigation heads) located within two club lengths of the putting green. Other Local Rules in use that many mistakenly believe are in the Rules of Golf are: 1) The One-Ball Rule which restricts players to using the same brand and type of ball, 2) The TIO Rule which grants line of play relief for temporary immovable obstructions, and 3) Prohibiting practice between holes in Stroke Play. Yes, you can practice putting or chipping on near the green of the hole just completed unless this Local Rule is adopted.

The Modernized Rules have created

further confusion by moving some previous Local Rules to the Rules of Golf. A few examples include: 1) Distance Measuring Devices are now allowed unless prohibited by Local Rule, 2) players are now entitled to relief for an embedded ball in the General Area instead of just areas cut to fairway height, and 3) players can now remove stones from bunkers without the use of a Local Rule.

There are obviously more examples. What I sincerely hope to convey is the importance of knowing the difference between the Rules of Golf and Local Rules. A comprehensive list of Local Rules that can be adopted by committees can be found in Committee Procedures of the Official Guide, at www.usga.org or in the free USGA Rules of Golf app.

I recommend becoming familiar with the various Local Rules that are not in play unless specifically adopted by the committee. The next time you play in a tournament, please read the Local Rules sheet provided to all competitors, it may just save you from getting a penalty.

by ed travis proaches a mind boggling 200 mph. The SpeedZone can boast many qual

In professional golf, the most disity features but the two most significant in cussed topic this year has been the my view are the Infinity face and low spin effect of the devastating worldwide weight placement. Without getting into a pandemic causing the cancellation of many lot of technical details, the Infinity face is a events and those that are being held done CNC-milled titanium cup that wraps around so without fans. to the sole and crown as well as the toe plus

It also seems those in charge who are partly up the hosel. The milling allows for responsible for the wellbeing of fans and precise variable thicknesses across the entire competitors, such as PGA Tour Commisface area but also means a minimum loss of sioner Jay Monahan, have come to ball speed when impact is not exthe conclusion we will have to face actly in the center, so any distance further disruptions such as the reloss is reduced. Low ball spin and a cently announced postponement of nice high launch come from having the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. much of the head’s weight located

The next most persistent focus low in the head towards the sole, of fans, commentators and social exactly what is required for the best media has been 26-year-old Bryson carry and total distance. DeChambeau and the mindnumbing distance numbers he produces with his new physique Tom Olsavsky Cobra Golf VP Adding to the package is a unique interior configuration that has a T-bar across the inteand a Cobra Golf KING SpeedZone driver. rior of the crown adding to head strength

Through the Rocket Mortgage Classic, while at the same time keeping overall the 26th event of the shortened season and weight down. The weight balance is furwhich DeChambeau won for his sixth cather helped by half of the clubhead being reer victory, the young pro, who since last covered with carbon fiber. year added 20 pounds of weight and someGolf Oklahoma thought a closer look at thing like 20-mph ball speed, has eight topDeChambeau’s KING SpeedZone driver 10 finishes in 11 starts, ranks first in driving would be worthwhile and contacted Tom distance with an average of 323 yards, sixth Olsavsky, Cobra Golf vice president of Rein greens in regulation and perhaps most search and Development. Olsavsky offered surprisingly, 12th in strokes gained putting. interesting insights plus comments about

In other words, he can bomb it off the tee the future of the golf equipment industry in and still get the ball in the hole. No wongeneral and Cobra in particular. der he is called a phenomenon. As with Can you tell our readers about the demost things in golf, who knows how long velopment of the KING SpeedZone driver DeChambeau may be able to stay atop this used by Bryson DeChambeau and what lofty pinnacle but for now he’s the man. is special about the particular one (head,

The KING SpeedZone driver that Deshaft and grip) he uses to hit his 300-yard Chambeau is using to wow fans and fellow plus drives? players has only 5.5 degrees of loft with LA The KING SpeedZone driver that Bryson Golf BAD prototype 60X shaft 45.5 inches uses is a stronger loft than our 9-degree prolong contrasting with the same model in my duction version. We tested with him quite bag which is a more “normal” specification. a bit last fall and with his swing and body After a session at the local Club Champion changes he had picked up even more speed, we found that the SpeedZone with 10.5 so we knew we needed less loft to reduce degrees loft and a Tensei AV Blue 65 reguspin and launch angle. And during the break lar flex shaft produced for me comparable on Tour he got even stronger and faster.The distance to other premium drivers but was driver is labeled 7 degrees but with the Mymuch straighter. Ball speed is in the 145- Fly sleeve we can get the loft down to 5.5 mph range while DeChambeau’s launch apdeg. Other than that, it’s the same design,

materials and construction as our standard models.

He also uses an LA Golf Shaft that is very stiff. Stiffer than anything that has been in use by normal tour players. It’s essentially a long drive shaft and would probably be classified as XXX. It is a special prototype design from LA Golf Shafts and is not yet available.

His Grip is from Jumbo Max and he has played this for many years. This version is more of a standard weight, as opposed to the 120-gram versions that he started with.

Tour players are all trying to hit it farther and straighter. We know that getting stronger and training more for their swings will continue. Similar to Tiger [Woods], Brooks [Koepka], DJ [Dustin Johnson] and others but Bryson is taking it to another level.

Not just yet, but as you know we are always working on better, easier to play and cooler.

No one can really be sure right now, but I think everyone is watching what is going on very closely. With that being said, Cobra Golf does have plans to launch on our normal yearly cadences and I’m sure everyone else does as well. We know the sales success goes to the best product every year in the spring, so that is our goal.

At Cobra Golf we know that we have to work hard every year to improve and innovate. You can’t just sit still. We have a very talented and creative team of engineers and designers who work years in advance to keep improving our driver technology every year, in every possible way.

by mike crabtree and Nicaraguan. This cigar is an instant classic in laramie navrath its own right. The Real Nicaraguan is hand crafted in Estelí, Nicaragua at the Tabacalera 2020 has brought us a swell of surprises AJ Fernandez Factory, and is termed a “puro” and changes not only to our daily lives but cigar, meaning the wrapper, binder, filler to our normal routines, so why should the is 100% Nicaraguan tobacco. The blend cigar industry be any comes in four sizes, different. As some of robusto, toro, magnum you may know but for and churchill. those who are a firstThe Reserva Real time readers, Romeo y Nicaraguan is medium Julieta Reserva Real is in body and strength. a staple cigar in humiThe cigar is beautifully dors around the world. constructed, with a It is incredibly popular deep rich blue band that with its light & creamy stands out in a crowd. flavors and strength, The robusto vitola is making it highly recomthe format used for this mended for the novice to the connoisseur. Rafael Nodal and AJ Fernandez. review. The tobacco smells like a sweet hay

Earlier in the year Altadis commissioned meadow. The dry draw is clean with some master blender AJ Fernandez and Rafael mild salty notes on the wrapper. There are Nodal to put their spin on America’s most notes on the light up of sweet molasses and beloved cigar. Their efforts were brought to leather with black pepper pushing through light with the creation of the Reserva Real on the retro hale. The smoke is thick with a

pleasant aroma. As we delve into the middle third of the cigar the black pepper spices tone down and the sweetness is subdued with some salty brine filling into the smoke. As the cigar rounds out, we are left with mild spices and a sweet mellow finish. From the first draw to the last, the cigar remains constant in flavor, and medium in strength. Try it out on your next 9 holes of golf.

sports had integrated. by tom bedell Still, some local tournaments merely co-sponsored by the PGA,

On July 2, mainly on the west coast, had begun the PGA admitting Black players in spite of the of America rule. But it was still a struggle. managed its equivaIn the 1952 Phoenix Open, Charlie lent of toppling a Sifford, along with boxing champ Joe Confederate general Louis, players Ted Rhodes, Bill Spiller statue by renaming and two amateur players were told to the Horton Smith Award the PGA Profeshead out early, before all the white sional Development Award. players teed off (or had even arrived).

As PGA President Suzy When they reached the Whaley put it, “In renaming first green, Sifford wrote the Horton Smith Award, the in his 1992 memoir, “Just PGA of America is taking ownLet Me Play,” “...somebody ership of a failed chapter in our had been there before us. history that resulted in excludThe cup was full of human ing many from achieving their shit, and from the looks and dreams of earning the coveted smell of it, it hadn’t been too PGA Member badge and adlong before we got there that vancing the game of golf. We the cup had been filled.” need to do all we can to ensure It’s too soon to know what the PGA of America is defined Lane Demas our current chapter of history by inclusion. Part of our mission is going to look like further to grow the game is about welcoming all down the road. But and bringing diversity to the sport.” it seemed like a good

That clearly wasn’t Horton Smith’s time to recall a few of goal. The two-time Masters winner (inthe books that chroncluding the first) was the PGA President icle the hurdles that from 1952-54, when the association adgolfers of color have ministered all the sanctioned tour events had to overcome in the and still had its Caucasian-only clause in game’s long history. effect. And which it unaccountably mainSifford’s book, cotained until 1961, long after other major written with Jim Gullo (British American Publishing, 1992), is subtitled “The Story of Charlie Sifford, the First Black PGA Golfer,” and so he was, earning a Tour card in 1960 when he was 39. Sifford was a little like Satchel Paige, moving from the Negro Leagues to Major League Baseball when he was a little past his prime. But Sifford won twice on Tour (the 1967 Greater Hartford Open and the 1969 Los Angeles Open), after years of consistent success on the United Golf Association tour, including five straight wins (1952-1956) in the

Bill Spiller with boxing champ Joe Louis. National Negro Open (he won a

sixth time in 1960).

Sifford’s recognition came late, but he did receive his due — induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame, a Presidential Medal of Freedom bestowed by President Barack Obama, an Honorary Degree from the University of St. Andrews and a host of other awards. Tiger Woods named his son, Charlie, after Sifford. If Sifford was the pathbreaker onto the Tour, the broader history of golf and people of color is told in “Forbidden Fairways” by Calvin Sinnette (Sleeping Bear Press, 1998), “Uneven Lies” by Pete McDaniel (The American Golfer, 2000) and “Game of Privilege” by Lane Demas (University of North Carolina Press, 2017), which was reviewed here in the Oct.-Nov. 2017 issue.

All of these cover much of the same ground, from the earliest days of golf in America right up to the Tiger Woods era, but all differ in approach. Sinnette’s is the most anecdotal and readable; McDaniel’s is the best coffee table book, loaded with photographs; Demas, an historian, takes the most comprehensive historical look. If his prose sometimes veers toward the aca

demic, the volume’s breadth and overall historical context helped Demas snag the USGA’s Herbert Warren Wind Book Award in 2017.

In each we read about John Shippen, likely the first homegrown U.S. golf pro who along with his friend Oscar Bunn, a Native American of the Shinnecock Tribe, played in the second U.S. Open, at Shinnecock Hills in 1896.

Their participation was not without a threatened boycott from the 35 or so other golfers until USGA president Theodore Havemeyer said the two would play in the tournament even if they were the only two who did play. The rest relented, and Shippen went on to tie for fifth and pocketed $25 for the effort.

If Shippen’s career was an early bright

spot, more exclusionary times Alfred “Tup” Holmes brought a golf were to come. With the estabdesegregation suit against the city of Atlishment of the PGA in 1916 lanta in 1955 that, Demas argues, was just an unspoken segregation went as critical to societal history as Brown v. into effect; the Caucasian-onBoard of Education. ly clause was put into writing Holmes was as determined to play as in 1934. Sifford was to compete. While civil rights One is tempted to call sit-ins were spreading throughout the the stories of early pioneers south — begun at a Woolworth’s lunch — Spiller, Rhodes, Walter counter in Greensboro, N.C. in 1960 — Speedy, Alfred “Tup” Holmes, Sifford became the first Black to play in a Joe Bartholomew, William PGA Tour event in the south in 1961: at Powell — the Greater Greensboro horror stoOpen. ries, but He shot a 68 in the t h e y ’ r e opening round and also tales led the tournament. of remarkable perseverBut playing with state ance in the face of intoltroopers following him erance. around, dealing with

Outside the profeshecklers on the course sional ranks, Blacks had and deflecting threats trouble even getting off it, led to a shaky 75 onto golf courses. Deon the last day, and a mas in particular shows fourth-place finish. But how the desire to play he’d made history, and fed into the civil rights six months later the movement of the ‘50’s Caucasian-only clause and ‘60’s. Alfred ‘Tup’ Holmes was gone.