rulespin
8 by Paul Kruger incidentally ... help from an official
The Dick McGuire Invitational Tournament is an annual collegiate women ’ s team event held at the University of New Mexico ’ s Championship Course in Albuquerque . The 2016 edition was won by the Oklahoma State Cowgirls and featured eight of the top 25 NCAA Division I teams . Also of note , Esther Lee of the University of Colorado posted an 11-under 61 in the first round to set a course record and tie the all-time NCAA single round score for women .
During this 54-hole tournament , Rules Officials used “ Incident Reports ” to record their interactions with the players . While the occasional viewer of televised golf events might erroneously conclude that the sole job of Rules Officials is to penalize players , the more than 50 incident reports from the 2016 Dick McGuire Invitational clearly demonstrate that Rules Officials are there to assist players .
Here is a brief summary of those interactions which illustrate the many different ways Rules Officials assist players during their rounds :
• The “ teeth ” of the UNM Championship Course are the thick rough and the native areas beyond
Paul Kruger is a PGA professional at The Landings Club in Savannah , Georgia .
the rough where balls seemed to disappear with regularity . On at least 30 occasions , Rules Officials assisted players in searching for their balls . In virtually all cases , Rules Officials helped finding the wayward spheres within the 5-minute search period prescribed by Rule 27-1c [ Ball Not Found Within Five Minutes ].
• One Rules Official retrieved a club that had been left behind by a player on a previous hole .
• On seven occasions , players needed assistance in determining where their ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard . Several of those players then asked the Rules Official to review their relief options before deciding how to proceed .
• Six players , whose balls had come to rest in unplayable lies , asked for a Rules Official to review the relief options available under Rule 28 [ Ball Unplayable ].
• One player sought help from a Rules Official on how to take relief for her ball embedded in the fringe of a putting green , given that a Local Rule had been adopted to allow relief for an embedded ball through the green .
• One player was uncertain whether she