Playing by the Rules : All the Rules of the Game, Complete with Memorable Rulings from Golf's Rich History

by Arnold Palmer; Steve Eubanks

• ISBN13: 9780743446082
• ISBN10: 0743446089
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-02-19
• Publisher: Atria

Summary

It was a moment seen by millions on television. During play at the 1999 Phoenix Open, Tiger Woods had a "loose impediment? removed to play his shot -- an everyday occurrence under golf's rules. But that impediment was not a leaf or twig, it was a 350-pound boulder that took six people to move! The gallery and television audience buzzed with disbelief. How could this be legal under the rules?Indeed it could, says golf legend Arnold Palmer, who throughout his distinguished career has taken part in a sizable share of rules controversies. Despite the fact that golf has fewer rules than such sports as baseball or football or rugby, it is a contest of honor, and all players, be they tour professionals or casual weekend hackers, respect the rules. But, as Palmer points out, sometimes the rules are a little confusing -- and from time to time, even the pros are puzzled.When exactly is a ball considered "lost?? How is "slow play? defined? And when is a "drop? allowed? Palmer helps makes sense of it all with simple-to-understand language and hundreds of "infamous? pictures of some of the more controversial rulings -- affording readers a visual recall of memorable moments involving Greg Norman, Lee Janzen, Mark O'Meara, John Daly, even Palmer himself.If you're one of the millions who taketo the links every year, need a clear explanation of all the rules of the game you love, and more important, don't want to be speechless when an argument over the "coefficient of restitution? pops up, then Playing By The Rules will be an invaluable guide you'll refer to time and again.

Author Biography

Arnold Palmer is one of the most storied players in the sport of golf. The winner of seven majors, including four green jackets as Masters champion, he is still active on the Professional Golf Association's senior tour. He is the president of Arnold Palmer Enterprises and the Palmer Course Design Co., and the owner of two courses: the Latrobe Country Club in his native Pennsylvania, and the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida. His autobiography, A Golfer's Life, was a New York Times bestseller.

Excerpts

Introduction I was playing a round of golf with some friends recently when one of my partners brought up a highly publicized incident he'd seen on television. "Arnie," he said, "how on earth did Ian Woosnam end up with fifteen clubs in his bag at the British Open?" "Happens more than you think," I said. "You're on the range fooling around with different clubs and you walk to the tee with too many in your bag. Of course, most of the time your caddie counts clubs before you tee off and you catch the mistake before it costs you two shots." "Has it ever happened to you?" my friend wanted to know."No, I always check the bag myself. Ian relied on his caddie, and the caddie let him down." "So, what if the caddie had kept his mouth shut? Could they have played the whole round without anybody finding out? And what if they'd played more than one hole? How big would the penalty have been then?" Before I could answer those questions, another member of our group joined the discussion. "Who came up with the idea of only fourteen clubs anyway?" he said. "Why not fifteen, or sixteen, or twelve?" Finally I threw my hands up, and we all had a good laugh. Questions like that come up all the time in my foursome, but I'm not alone. Every day at golf courses all over the world questions about the rules of golf are being asked and debated in locker rooms and on the first tees and, as was the case with my friends, one question usually sparks two or three more. I've played competitive golf for over half a century now, and I still love it as much today as I did as a child growing up in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. But even after all these years playing thousands of competitive rounds, I still run across new and fascinating nuances in the rules of golf. As much golf as I've played over the years, you would think I had seen every head-scratching, eyebrow-raising, stranger-than-fiction rule scenario there is, but every so often a situation comes along that leaves me saying, "Hmm, I wonder how that's handled under the rules." That's one of the reasons I thought a book about golf rulings -- the quirky situations that have come up over the years and how they were handled by golf's ruling bodies -- would make an interesting read. Heaven knows I've also been involved in enough controversial rulings in my own career. Some of my more highly publicized and controversial rules situations continue to be debated in grill rooms around the world forty to fifty years after the fact, while other rulings I've been involved in barely warrant the attention of the professional staff at Latrobe Country Club (where I play most of my summer golf) or the Bay Hill Club in Orlando where I spend most of my winters. Still I'm asked about various rulings, with friends and acquaintances saying things like, "Arnie, that drop you took in the U.S. Open back in such-and-so year, what was the situation there again?" or "Arnie, didn't you have a penalty in this-or-that tournament for breaking rule whatever?" From what I've seen over the years, golfers don't have a passing interest in the rules of the game: They are obsessed by the rules. Just look at the number of phone calls and e-mails the PGA Tour receives regarding rulings. A golf fan at home turns on the television and sees what he thinks is a violation of the rules, and he immediately calls the tournament director to report it. With so much golf on television these days, that sort of thing happens almost every week now. Sometimes the fans are right. Sometimes the pros make mistakes that are caught by the camera. But most of the time the golf fans watching at home are just like the average golfers in my foursome or in foursomes all over the country: They know just enough about the rules to be dangerous. It should be easy. There are only thirty-four rules in our game -- fewer than baseball, basketball, football, soccer, rugby, and cricket -- and the rule