The Official Golf Thread

[Orior]

Has anyone flown to Alicante in Spain for a golfing holiday?

Any good courses about?

Any courses to be avoided?

[Declan]

See poor old Tiger is gone again

[Orior]

See the up and coming golfers in Fermanagh at the start of April

http://www.faldoseries.info/tic/tmtic.cgi

[Orior]

Has anyone seen good free apps for helping to learn golf rules. I'd be looking for multiple choice type questions.

[Puckoon]

Don't fret about it. The USGA and R&A are revamping and simplifying the rules in 2019. One example is the drop. No specific height required as long as "the ball moves through the air". Players will also be eligible to repair spike marks on greens and putt with the flag in. No sense learning the old rules now.

In the meantime google is your friend

[screenexile]

Masters Week!!!!

I really fancy Rory for this one especially if there is wet weather forecast. If he can rattle at pins and not have too many long putts he should be be in with a great shout.

PP paying 8 places there's a value bet in there somewhere even if the 3 favourites are shit money!

Also did anyone see that debacle in the Ladies PGA yesterday? Some p***k with too much time on their hands emailling or calling in to get someone penalised. The sooner they do away with that the better. If the officials don't spot it on the day then tough shit I think. The mistake happened on Saturday and she gets notified of it on the 13th Tee?? That's just horrible!!!

[Link]

Did you see the video? She had no need to mark the ball and reset it in a different place. She should have just putted out which was no more than a tap in either. Very foolish action.

Golf is all about honesty, there must have been a small blemish or mark on the green which she wrongly tried to navigate around by misplacing the ball. She had to have known what she was doing!

[screenexile]

Did you see the video? She had no need to mark the ball and reset it in a different place. She should have just putted out which was no more than a tap in either. Very foolish action.

Golf is all about honesty, there must have been a small blemish or mark on the green which she wrongly tried to navigate around by misplacing the ball. She had to have known what she was doing!

The video looks at it fairly closely and it doesn't look like there's a mark on the green I really think it was a genuine mistake and she didn't realise.

My issue isn't with the penalty anyway. It's with it being picked up a day later 2/3 into someone's final round because it was phoned in by some dickhead lying at home! Surely the LPGA have someone looking at footage for penalties and if they missed it then them's the breaks like most other sports. I don't see why it should be allowed to be pointed out 24 hours later!

[Link]

The video looks at it fairly closely and it doesn't look like there's a mark on the green I really think it was a genuine mistake and she didn't realise.

My issue isn't with the penalty anyway. It's with it being picked up a day later 2/3 into someone's final round because it was phoned in by some d**khead lying at home! Surely the LPGA have someone looking at footage for penalties and if they missed it then them's the breaks like most other sports. I don't see why it should be allowed to be pointed out 24 hours later!

Fully agree with you on the timing and how it was brought up but she has to take some responsibility for her carelessness when leading a major.

If it's me and i've the chance to win £3 off my playing partner  i'll have full concentration on every move and ask for a ruling if needed.

She should be asked why she decided to mark the ball, why not just putt out.

[Tony Baloney]

Did you see the video? She had no need to mark the ball and reset it in a different place. She should have just putted out which was no more than a tap in either. Very foolish action.

Golf is all about honesty, there must have been a small blemish or mark on the green which she wrongly tried to navigate around by misplacing the ball. She had to have known what she was doing!

The video looks at it fairly closely and it doesn't look like there's a mark on the green I really think it was a genuine mistake and she didn't realise.

My issue isn't with the penalty anyway. It's with it being picked up a day later 2/3 into someone's final round because it was phoned in by some d**khead lying at home! Surely the LPGA have someone looking at footage for penalties and if they missed it then them's the breaks like most other sports. I don't see why it should be allowed to be pointed out 24 hours later!

Totally ridiculous ruling. If the official body didn't pick it up then the email should have been ignored.

[Puckoon]

http://www.golfwrx.com/442622/the-20-players-who-can-win-the-masters/

It is that time of year again!

I like

Johnson
Matsuyama
Rory
Thomas

Would love to see Phil do it again, and Shane Lowry to have a good run at it

[laoislad]

I'm going with Dustin Johnson,Jordan Speith and Ricky Fowler as well as my usual Sergio and Lee Westwood.
Hopefully Lowry does well.

[lenny]

Did you see the video? She had no need to mark the ball and reset it in a different place. She should have just putted out which was no more than a tap in either. Very foolish action.

Golf is all about honesty, there must have been a small blemish or mark on the green which she wrongly tried to navigate around by misplacing the ball. She had to have known what she was doing!

The video looks at it fairly closely and it doesn't look like there's a mark on the green I really think it was a genuine mistake and she didn't realise.

My issue isn't with the penalty anyway. It's with it being picked up a day later 2/3 into someone's final round because it was phoned in by some d**khead lying at home! Surely the LPGA have someone looking at footage for penalties and if they missed it then them's the breaks like most other sports. I don't see why it should be allowed to be pointed out 24 hours later!

My take on is slightly different. She looks as if she is about to putt out but then changes her mind, marks the ball to the side picks it up and immediately replaces it in a different position. I would see this a genuine mistake if she had taken time to line up the ball as a lot of players do. I think the ball may have nestled into a small indentation on the green which you sometimes get even on top quality greens. She replaced it onto a smoother part of the green only milimetres away. It's a very harsh penalty and many players have probably got away with similar. If I was playing with mates and saw someone doing that I wouldn't say a word as they aren't moving the ball closer to the hole, they're just giving themselves a fairer chance of making the putt. Having said that at a professional level the laws of the game have to be consistent.

[thewobbler]

Part of me is so feckin annoyed at that penalty. Golf is tough enough and I don't think what she did was against he spirit of the game as it offered her no unearned advantage (which to me is what the rules should always be about).

But then again the pros never have to look for a ball as there's always some spectator nearby, and often willing to use their head  as a shield. So this is a ying to that yang.

[Puckoon]

Part of me is so feckin annoyed at that penalty. Golf is tough enough and I don't think what she did was against he spirit of the game as it offered her no unearned advantage (which to me is what the rules should always be about).

But then again the pros never have to look for a ball as there's always some spectator nearby, and often willing to use their head  as a shield. So this is a ying to that yang.

Hard to know. There may or may not have been a spike mark in front of her initial position. Hard to tell - but thankfully the gentler, kinder rules of golf will come in in 2019 and the players integrity will no longer be in question.