Nancy Quarcelino School of Golf - Blog

Within two weeks, we have seen two rules violations, one on the PGA tour and one on the LPGA tour.  Dustin Johnson was assessed a two stroke penalty for grounding his club in a hazard while Juli Inkster was disqualified for using a training aid during a tournament round.

Inkster was disqualified from the LPGA Safeway Classic for using a weighted training aid on her club while waiting on the 10th hole on the Ghost Creek Course.  Inkster shot a 67 and was 8 under par after the first two rounds.  She had a 30 minute wait on the 10th hole; so she used a “doughnut” weight on her 9 iron in order to stay loose.

Director of Tournament Competitions Sue Witters said a viewer noticed the device from the television broad cast of the event and contacted tournament officials. Inkster was already on the 17th hole of the course at Pumpkin Ridge when officials determined she had indeed used the device. “She was told when she came off the course after the final hole”, Witters said. Inkster was surprised and unaware she had broken the rule.

"The rules staff here made the decision on the rule and we took it one step further and called the USGA," Witters said. "We would have loved to have some wiggle room on that. But it's pretty cut and dried.  "Being the professional she is, there wasn't much to say once the decision was read."

Inkster issued a brief statement.  "I had a 30-minute wait and I needed to loosen up," she said. "It had no effect on my game whatsoever, but it is what it is. I'm very disappointed."

Juli breached Rule 14-3 in the USGA Rules of Golf.  Penalty:  Disqualification

In the Decisions on The Rules of Golf Book published by the USGA under Rule 14-3/10; Use of Training Aid or Swing Aid During Round

Q.  During a round, may a player make a stroke or a practice swing using a club with a weighted headcover or “donut” on it, or use any other device designed as a training or swing aid?

A.  No.  The player would be using an artificial device to assist him in his play in breach of Rule 14-3, but see also Decision 4-4a/7 for use of a weighted training club (Revised).

The Rules of Golf is carried by every professional on all the tours. It is not mandatory to go through a rules class to be a professional but it is highly recommended.  All the tours hire rules officials to oversee each tournament.  Unlike the PGA Championship, there are usually only a few rules officials to govern over the entire field.

Television viewers are allowed to call in, e-mail or text the tournament officials when they see a violation.  That is how Juli was caught using the training aid and that is also how I witnessed Dustin Johnson the week before ground his club in a bunker.  I was Twittering the PGA when I saw the violation along with the many other viewers who saw the same thing I did.

The Decision on the Rules of Golf is carried by only the officials on the tours.  You can purchase a Rules of Golf book for $2.00 (182 pages) or purchase the Decision book for $15.95 (555 pages) from www.usga.org.  The decision book has all the obscure rulings that have happened over the years on the tours.  It is a great read.

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Is Tiger tanking?  Have we already seen the best of Tiger?

A year ago Tiger was on top of the world – his and ours.  We all thought he was invincible.  Even my mother thought he was a robot, trained to make all the right shots at all the right times.  I liked his game, I like him.  He was what we taught all junior golfers to emulate, be like and play like.  Wow, were we really wrong?

I wrote earlier this year about how wrong it is to put sports personalities as our every day heroes.  When we do that we are setting ourselves up to get hurt and we were.  We all thought Tiger was unbeatable.  He only told us what he wanted us to hear.  He was guarded with his life and his golf game.  Every one who was in his “camp” was told what to do and what he wanted to learn.  He directed everyone and really thought he was untouchable.

The media still writes all about Tiger to this day.  We all know what happened last year at Thanksgiving.  We heard about the wreck and then slowly his exploits came to the surface.  We did not see Tiger for months and when we did, he announced it on national television and apologized to everyone about his wrong doings.

He then began his comeback to the sport he truly loves.  We thought he was back when he finished fourth at the Masters.  We all made predictions about when he would win again.  Life just does not perform for us like we want it to.

This past week, Tiger concluded his worst event as a professional golfer at the Bridgestone Invitational. In his post round interviews he stated; “Shooting 18 over par is not fun.  I don’t see how it can be fun shooting 18 over, especially since my handicap is supposed to be zero.  It’s tough.  Yeah, it’s tough.  It’s been a long year”.

Asked what he needs to do to turn it around, Woods said, “I need to hit the ball better, I need to chip better, I need to putt better and I need to score better.”

Have we seen the best of Tiger?  I can’t answer that.  But I do know that golfers are not intimidated by Tiger anymore.  He set the bar high; farther than we thought anyone could reach when he played his best.  But he also exposed the bar to everyone else when he faltered.

I want to see Tiger play great again.  He was exciting to watch.  He is a brilliant shot maker and player.  And when he plays his best, well, he is tough to beat.  But I sure do like seeing the other golfers not lay down.  They keep getting better and better and soon the number 1 ranking will be held by another player.  It is inevitable, it will happen.  But, I personally hope that we see the old Tiger once again.

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