USGE Wisely Tweaks Rule

Hats off to the United States Golf Association for reacting quickly to revise an obviously flawed rules decision that led to a disqualification for Stewart Cink in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans back in March.

The new interpretation of Rule 13-4 says that no penalty should be incurred in certain circumstances by a player or his caddie who rakes a different bunker than the one from which the player is about to player his or her next shot.

“Our new position would be that we would not consider it 'testing' in certain circumstances if your ball lies in a similar but different hazard,” reported Jim Bunch, chairman of the USGA's Rules of Golf Committee.

The ruling came to late for Cink, but not for Shi Hyun Ahn.

Cink had to stand in a fairway bunker to hit an approach shot from just outside the bunker. That shot landed in a greenside bunker. His caddie raked the footprints, a common courtesy to the players behind them. Cink played from the bunker and turned in his scorecard. Concerned that he might have violated a rule, Cink talked to an official the next day. Five holes into that final round, he got word that he was disqualified since he had omitted the two-stroke penalty and signed an incorrect scorecard.

I disagree with such disqualification for penalties that a player was not aware of and believe that the USGA should consider revisiting this rule. Just come up with decision that says when violations are discovered after the round that any penalty will be applied to the next day's score. If

Cink had asked the question after the tournament had been completed, there would have been no penalty applied.

Ahn almost suffered a similar fate in the Kraft Nabisco Championship when her caddie raked a bunker for another player, not realizing that Ahn had hit into a greenside bunker. She was penalized two strokes, but the LPGA received an e-mail from the USGA and reversed the penalty.

While on this subject, it's time to give examples of just what might constitute testing the condition of a hazard:

• digging in with the feet in excess of what would be done in taking a normal stance;

• filling in footprints from a previous stance;

• intentionally sticking an object, such as a rake, into sand in a bunker or water in a hazard;

• smoothing a bunker with a rake or a club;

• kicking the ground or the water in a hazard;

• touching the sand with a club.

Here are some things that would not be considered testing:

• digging in with the feet for a stance anywhere in the hazard;

• placing clubs or a rake in the hazard;

• leaning on a rake or any other object except a golf club;

• touching the hazard with an object like a towel;

• marking the position of the ball with a tee or otherwise when proceeding under a rule.