Turkey-Day Trifles

Just a few short items for you this morning, then we'll let get on with your day.

Jordan Rules - Our Jordan  made quite the impression on the Aussie's last year with his dramatic final-round charge in the Australian Open.  It's nice to see that he's only added to that legacy by returning to defend his title, and enjoy his time in Oz as well.

First, he seems to have acquired his own cheering section:

Before defending his Australian Open title this week at the Australian Golf Club, Spieth took some time to give a group of about 60 junior golfers some lessons. And they looked identical.

Who's that tall kid in the center? 

 You want to grow the game?  Take notes....

But nearer and dearer to my heart is this:

When Jordan Spieth checked off what he called “bucket list” rounds at Kingston Heath and Royal Melbourne, he experienced those masterpieces in all of their Australian glory: he took a trolly (sic).

So, pull carts are allowed at Royal Melbourne but not at Willow Ridge?  Just sayin'...

That's a Shack item from The Loop, and here's his micro-rant on the subject:

It was vintage Spieth and an act that would be discouraged if not totally outlawed at most American country clubs. 

For reasons still unknown, American clubs view golf with a pull cart as some sort treasonous act. Perhaps the sight of 22-year-old tastemaker Spieth enjoying one of the world’s great courses will help shed the pull cart stigma once and for all?

Good luck with that, Geoff, as I have Maggot's voice ringing in my ear that "It looks like a muni".  If you have a little time on your hands, I highly recommend this three-year old item from Geoff on golf Down Under.  Every golf superintendent should be required to read the section on bunkers, though it would seemingly require an act of God to do anything about ours.

 Though, if I understand the dress code correctly, these guys are in non-conforming socks:

I Vant To Play Alone - So yesterday we discussed the USGA's new rules governing handicaps, and hilarity ensued.  The Twitterverse exploded over solo scores not being posted, per this screen shot from Shack:

That New York guy is entirely correct, there is no Taliban regulation proscribing the posting of solo scores....  However, among that which is proscribed at Tora Bora Golf and Tennis Club, are women driving carts, mixed fourballs, swing juice, loud cart music (hey, common ground) and pretty much the entire FootJoy women's golf apparel catalog.

Along the same lines, Keely Levins posted some reactions on Facebook, including this:

Yanno, comparing the USGA to the Taliban is a valid rhetorical device, but that IRS refrence is beyond the pale.  And Tom, if you think the IRS trusts you (maybe you didn't notice that W-2 your employer filed), I've got some swamp land you could make a fortune with.

The USGA in the Islamic Maghreb has violated the first rule of holes with this further clarification:

What constitutes not playing alone? 

As long as someone accompanies the player during the round (e.g., fellow competitor, opponent, caddie, marker for a tournament, friend riding along in a cart) the player is not playing alone. 

How many holes can a player play alone to post the score? 

The player must be accompanied for at least seven holes for a nine-hole score or 13 holes for 18-hole score.

This is consistent with Section 5-1 and the minimum number of holes played under the Rules of Golf. 

For the holes played alone (not accompanied), the player would treat these as not played under the Rules of Golf and post according to “par plus” any handicap strokes the player is entitled to receive.

OK, well that certainly clears up any lingering confusion... The reaction is actually pretty amusing, in that there's no shortage of peer review built into the system.  For instance, if you go out in a stroke play tournament a playing partner will keep your card.  Yet this sets off folks...

Any handicapping system has to be based upon a community of like-minded individuals, because they're the only ones that will know when an index is out of whack.  

The Pelley Beat -  I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that new Euro Tour majordomo Keith Pelley will be good for business.  For my business at least, as he's a walking quote machine:

Keith Pelley has set his stall out with plans to turn the European Tour into a financial

fortress to rival the PGA in America, while also targetting pace of play issues across all levels of the game.

But while the measures could attract bigger crowds alongside the fairways at European events – and bigger television audiences – Pelley also has a major plan to improve the golfing fortunes of the millions of club golfers playing their Sunday morning medals. 

He has declared a ‘personal war’ against slow play on the golf course, and has agreed to meet with The R&A’s rule-makers to formulate a programme that will improve the speed of golf at all levels.

My, aren't we ambitious?  I for one might suggest that you start with improving the pace of play among those that are under your jurisdiction, but I'm just an unpaid blogger in my pajamas...

But say, have you met those R&A folks?  Are they on board with this?

“Slow play drives me mad,” said Pelley. 

“I have had the chance to talk to a number of players at all levels – the elite, the medium and low-ranked players – and one of the things that keeps coming up, and which we are going to address, is slow play. 

“We are going to be the leaders in dealing with slow play.

“I cannot tell you what that means from a concrete perspective right now, but I have had significant dialogue with Martin Slumbers from The R&A, and they are in violent agreement that it is something we need to deal with.

Violent agreement?  Does that mean we agree with you but if you use our name we'll make sure you can never have children?  The only violence in the R&A clubhouse of which I'm aware is when they run out of claret at 10:00 p.m.  

“I cannot tell you what that means from a concrete perspective right now, but I have had significant dialogue with Martin Slumbers from The R&A, and they are in violent agreement that it is something we need to deal with. There is a conference call next week with The R&A. We will participate in it and do this in cooperation. 

“I can tell you that when we sit here next year we will have a completely different philosophy on slow play. Slow play is a critical part of our game and we will address it.”

Oh, a conference call?  Never mind, clearly they're on board...Actually, the R&A is on board, kinda sorta, as per this report:

"Maybe we need some marshals out on the course to help find balls," he added. "Maybe we need to play over shorter formats, nine-hole golf; playing off tees that are further forward, not cutting the rough as thick and deep as possible.

On board with pretending to do something about it...  Think about all the cynicism in that 3-line 'graph above.  Failure in controlling distance has led to dramatic increases in green speeds and narrowing of fairways/longer rough to control scoring, but Slumbers speaks as if there's nothing to see here.  And unless and until he's will to roll back the ball, he's unfortunately correct in that assessment.

Important News - certain PGA Tour players will be getting coal in their stockings after this:

Enjoy your holiday.