Its all very unfortunate but it played out as it needed to given the local rule.
Its a shame that a design esthetic could contribute to such confusion. The course though entirely man made and perhaps a little over the top in its art direction was spectacular to my North American eye. The inspiration for the bunkering design is not from any man made bunkers but from the work of sheep.
And so, Gents, local rules aside, .........I need a ruling.
This is a course I played a few weeks back , Brora in the north of Scotland. Designed by James Braid , sheep and cows wander the course, the greens are surrounded by electric fences , it has bunkers as we know them and then these ones. Freshly made, this one by the fella at the top of the frame who had been resting in it until I spooked him and he left.
If my ball was to come to rest in this "bunker" ......should I considered it a hazard?
P.S. I know this is beside the point as far as Dustin is concerned but I couldnt help but think back to this course and wonder whether James Braid would have grounded his club.
The "local rules" distinction seems analogous to the "Enumerated Powers" given to Congress in Article 1 of the Constitution while limited by the Bill of Rights. (Congress is just a local golf tournament while the Bill of Rights is the PGA/USGA! Make it so LORD! )
There are usually "local rules" in any tournament. Touring golf pros understand the importance of those rules and amazingly, abide by those rules week after week on tours all over the world.
I have been to the sand dunes of Indiana and Wisconsin, and all around Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. I thought the young golfer was hitting off a sand dune. I thought it was very decent of the PGA folks to stop him from signing an incorrect score card and losing so much cash!
I played at Carnoustie many years ago with a Wednesday group of pensioners. They had a local rule about only charging each other one shot as the balls rolled into the water on the 18th fairway. Not only did I shoot a 98 but I lost 6 balls on that hole!
They did buy the pints later, though!
Patrick
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HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
What happened to Dustin Johnson was a big misfortune. And I guess no one wants to see such a ruling be decisive of the outcome of a tournamant.
Feherty tried to seed doubt as to whether those bunkers should be regarded as bunkers. That would have been nice. But also stupid. After seeing how much emphasis PGA had put on the local rules and the bunkers especially in the information handed out to the players before the tournament it would have been very unprofessional to give Dustin a relief just because he was in contention. There must have been hundreds of golf shots hit from those bunkers during the four rounds, where the subject players treated it as a real hazard. Too bad that Dustin Johnson wasn't aware that he was in a bunker, but obeying the rules is a part of the game even though it is not a core golfing skill.
PS:
Did you enjoy Brora, OB Left?
I played it two years ago and I can't wait to get back. I think James Braid has to share the glory with the almighty father on that course. Brora is perhaps the most natural beauty of a layout I've ever encountered. The cattle and sheep are btw (more or less)movable obstructions
I guess you played Royal Dornoch as well while you were "up north"?
Imagine what a non-issue this would have been had DJ hit the fairway or perhaps missed by only 20 or 30 yards right.
It's a tough but fair ruling. Too bad people want to cloud the issue of a guy hitting an absolutely horrible tee shot with all the chips on the line with "he got screwed by the rules".
Perfect, lets do idea number one, let him sign his card, then we'll have to DQ him and cost DJ about $500,000.00. Makes good sense.
#2 is exactly how it was handled, good job there, where is the quibbling and spin?
I agree with Dodger, very tough ruling, but it is what it is. The officials had no choice but to apply the penalty.
Kevin
Well....
The "special/local" rules was handed out at beginning of the tournament so the ruling, AFTER the hole was played, was/is correct.
Although, and based on what I have thought was general,
- Don´t the last groupings in majors have a referee following in each pairings?
- If so, should he/she not had talked and pointed out, as a reminder, that this was a bunker?
Think what reactions we could have had if he had made the birdieputt.
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Golf is an impossible game with impossible tools - Winston Churchill
And so, Gents, local rules aside, .........I need a ruling.
......... Brora in the north of Scotland. Designed by James Braid , sheep and cows wander the course, the greens are surrounded by electric fences , ..................
The shadow- when the spectators made a shaft of light through. It was at this point he touched the sand where the light was.
But the light is a natural element. He asked the spectators to block the light. He was "building a stance?" or whatever -the same as having an umbrella held while U putt?
Where are the rules people when U need them? I don't think that violation was reported.
Frank Hannigan On CBS's Coverage Of The Dustin Johnson Penalty
From the former USGA Executive Director, Frank Hannigan:
The CBS handling of the Dustin Johnson conviction was disgraceful. All that mattered was that Johnson grounded his club in a bunker. Two shot penalty. Sad. End of story.
It meets the definition of a bunker: "a hazard consisting of a prepared area of ground, often a hollow, from which turf or soil has been removed and replaced with sand or the like."
The PGA of America didn't create this silly course. They had to deal with it and the Dye-Kohler brand of creativity. Having bunkers where gallery HAS to walk is stupid but it somehow appeals to the egos of the creators. Anticipating the problem, the PGA of America put the matter at the head of its local rules sheet. Each player got an individual notice, it was plastered in the locker room and surely at the 1st and 10th tees. Trust me, no one can make a living if it depends on Tour players ingesting reading matter. When they don't it is their fault when something bad happens.
But how about CBS not telling us until the misery was long decided that the PGA of America at a TV production meeting put the subject of those troublesome trampled bunkers at the head of the meeting agenda. Jim Nantz should have both recounted that meeting immediately AND read the PGA local rules sheet aloud to the audience which might then have understood that Johnson wasn't being lynched. And how about all that talk about it being a "waste area" a piece on nonsense Pete Dye sold to Deane Beman when the Players Club was concocted. There is no such creature as a "waste area." It's either a bunker or "through the green." (The USGAs Tom Meeks stamped and hollered for years about so called waste areas until the Tour finally saw the light.)
Another sin on CBS was not having a bona fide rules official in the booth to speak for the committee immediately. The USGA has the now familiar bow-tied image of its David Fay in the main TV booth. Had the Johnson sadness happened at a US Open the world would have known about it instantly. Moreover, in the USGA mode of operations Fay might very well have interceded by warning a rules official on the spot by radio that Johnson should be warned he is in a bunker. Nick Faldo hemmed and hawed, not willing to tell Nantz, Feherty and Co. to get on with it. I saw Faldo win six majors. I have no doubt that in the same position Faldo would have sought out an official and asked "What is this thing I am standing in?"
My friend David Feherty might be excused. He has a congenital need to stir up trouble, was embarrassed he never thought it might be a bunker (part of his job), and, overall, thinks the rules should be made on an ad hoc basis depending on the romanticism of the outcome. David needs to be reminded that this is not Dublin in 1916 and there is no need for him to storm the post office, using his opera training, roaring out a revolutionary aria.
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I could be wrong. I have been before, and will be again.
The shadow- when the spectators made a shaft of light through. It was at this point he touched the sand where the light was.
But the light is a natural element. He asked the spectators to block the light. He was "building a stance?" or whatever -the same as having an umbrella held while U putt?
Where are the rules people when U need them? I don't think that violation was reported.
the "complicating" Bear
14-2/2.5 Player Positions Bag for Purpose of Providing Shade for Ball
Q. A player positions his golf bag near the teeing ground for the purpose of blocking the sunlight from the position where he tees his ball. He then makes a stroke. Is he in breach of Rule 14-2?
A. Yes. As the player was not in contact with the golf bag, he accepted protection from the elements in breach of Rule 14-2. This answer differs from that in Decision 14-2/2 as, in that case, the player was in contact with the umbrella.
While a player may not place an object or position a person for the purpose of blocking the sunlight from his ball, he may ask a person (e.g., a spectator) who is already in position not to move, so that a shadow remains over the ball, or to move, so that his shadow is not over the ball.
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I could be wrong. I have been before, and will be again.
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