TOPICS NEWSLETTER

WHAT’S INSIDE:

Pro-Pro Championship Hall of Fame Inductees

Pros on the GoStatewide Pro-Assistant

...and more!

VOLUME 16, NO. 4 - AUGUST 2010

Pro Pro Championship - page 7

Hall of Fame Inductees - page 5

Pro - Assistant Championship - page 8

Senior Super Senior - page 8 Kids Fitness Festival - page 9

contact informationSOUTH FLORIDA SECTION, PGA OF AMERICA100 Avenue of the ChampionsPalm Beach Gardens, FL 33418

PHONE / FAX561-624-7676 / 561-624-8576

EMAILsflorida@pgahq.com

WEBSITEwww.sflorida.pga.com

PRESIDENTStephen A. Cox, PGA

VICE PRESIDENTBrian Peaper, PGA

SECRETARYWarren Bottke, PGA

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTJeff Raimer, PGA

SOUTHERN CHAPTER PRESIDENTDick McNeill, PGA

SOUTHEAST CHAPTER PRESIDENTRick Heard, PGA

SOUTHWEST CHAPTER PRESIDENTBill Constantine, PGA

ISLAND CHAPTER PRESIDENTAaron West, PGA

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORGeoff Lofstead

ADVISORY BOARDPaul Anderson Dean BakerRick BaylissEd D’Alessandro, PGAIra KaplanJim MaitlandJim O’ConnorCraig PernaSteve SponderHarry TempkinsRoger Woonton

chip shots

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NEW MEMBERSThe South Florida PGA would like to welcome the following new members to the Section:

Timothy Knowles, PGA A-8 Crown Colony Golf & C.C.Peter Stracka III, PGA A-8 Hunters Ridge Golf ClubJamieson Wierenga, PGA A-8 Atlantis Country Club

NEW APPRENTICESThe South Florida PGA would like to welcome the following new apprentices to the Section: Jordan Burke B-8 Wyndemere Country ClubBrett Burton B-8 Lost Tree ClubDaniel Butts B-8 Royal Poinciana Golf ClubMichael Collins B-8 Wildcat Run Golf & CCBrendan Flood B-8 Hobe Sound Golf ClubStephen Keller B-8 PGA National Golf ClubRyan LaVoie B-8 Jonathan’s Landing GC @ Old TrailChristopher Meyer B-8 Frenchman’s ReserveThomas Shelton B-6 Rick Smith G Academy @ Tiburon

PGA CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMThe South Florida PGA would like to congratulate Michael DeJordy, PGA on earning his third certification in Executive Management through The PGA Certified Professional Program.

IN MEMORY OF ROBERT “BOB” MORRISON, PGARobert ‘Bob’ Morrison, PGA passed away June 30, 2010 at age 54. Bob is survived by his mother Nora McKenna. The South Florida PGA sends its condolences and prayers to the Morrison fam-ily. QUARTER CENTURY CLUBCongratulations to PGA members Robert Impaglia and David McQuade on their induction into the Quarter Century Club, joining an outstanding group of individuals who have been PGA members for over 25 years. 2010 SFPGA LAS VEGAS TRAVEL PRO-AM - ONLY TWO TEAM SPOTS AVAILABLE

Join the SFPGA for its Las Vegas Travel Pro-Am! PGA Professionals stay and play for free (airfare not included) and the amateur contestant fee is $1,875 per person, single occupancy, and does not include airfare (ac-companying guest fee is $299). The Pro-Am runs Sunday-Thursday, Oc-tober 3-7 and golf will be played on Paiute Golf Resort’s Wolf Course, at Arroyo Golf Club and at Bear’s Best, with accommodations at Caesar’s Palace. Contact Meredith at 561-624-7657 for additional information.

MSR REQUIREMENTSThe current MSR cycle ends June 15, 2011 and the requirements for the three year cycle is 54 credits. Please be aware that there are two required fields. The Education requirement is 12 credits and the Meeting requirement is 12 credits. The remaining credits can be earned un-der several different categories. See MSR requirements at PGAlinks.com. For more informa-tion on MSR credits, please see page 4 of this newsletter or visit the website at sflorida.pga.com. JUNIOR TOUR VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDThe South Florida PGA is in the midst of another successful year of junior golf. To continue our successful trend, we need volunteers to come out and act as Pace of Play/Rules Officials during the events. Each volunteer will receive 1 MSR Credit per hour worked. If you would like to help, please click here to view the tournament dates and site, and then contact Meredith at 561-624-7657 with your availability. PAT Congratulations to all who passed the Player Ability Test (PAT) held at The Royal Palm Country Club on Thursday, June 24, 2010. Philip BrooksDaniel ButtsMichael CavasenoKimberly DarrowThomas SheltonJeff SkubickRyan WeirMichael Williams

WELCOME NEW SFPGA SPONSOR The South Florida Section is pleased to welcome Brillyant Resources, a new sponsor to the SFPGA. Brillyant Resources produces Optymus, a new, smart, organic fertilizer. This proprietary organic creation combines a soil matrix infused with mineral nutrients that leverages the latest technol-ogy to produce countless microbial colonies. The organic liquid and solid fertilizers sustain microbial revitalization, which improves soil structure, enriches and creates vigorous plant root growth, and eliminates thatch.

Superintendents have been hearing about microbes for years, and fi-nally there is an odorless, locally manufactured, application available to golfers now. Brillyant has accomplished this after years of scien-tific research, development, and testing. This process is so unique our proprietary matrix has been branded and trademarked Optymus. It produces countless micro biological colonies; increases moisture infiltration and permeability; reduces erosion and runoff; buffers pH in soil; enables soil to retain nutrients for extended periods of time; reduces the need for pesticides; improves water quality; eliminates the need for synthetic/chemical fertilizers; is surprisingly affordable, and best of all reduces costs!

Brillyant Resources, a Florida based company, now provides or-ganic microbial liquid and solid fertilizers and amendments to the agriculture community, with substantial results and positive impacts to businesses. This organic micro riser based fertilizer has the ability to adapt and change to meet specific needs, and because it is able to sustain its yield for extended periods, maximizes revenue and controls and reduces costs. For a testimonial, contact Charlie De-Lucca or Roly Molina at (305) 633-4583. For a free soil test, pricing, or more information contact Jim Kiely at (954) 224-0994, or visit their website at www.brillyantresources.com.

APPRENTICE LEVELS PASSED Brett Burton Lost Tree Club N-0Daniel Butts Royal Poinciana Golf Club N-0John Chambers Dunes Country Club R1Shawn Costello Broken Sound Club - Old Course R1Benjamin Kitts Arrowhead Golf Course R2Timothy Knowles, PGA Crown Colony Golf & C.C. R3Ryan LaVoie Jonathan’s Landing GC @ Old Tr N-0Christopher Meyer Frenchman’s Reserve N-0 Kyle Mills Miromar Lakes Golf Club R3Randy Mullen Orangebrook Golf Course R1William Roberson Doral Golf Resort & Spa N-0Thomas Shelton Rick Smith G Academy N-0Peter Stracka III, PGA Hunters Ridge Golf Club R3Jamieson Wierenga, PGA Atlantis Country Club R3 GOLF LICENSE PLATE PROGRAM

This year the South Florida PGA has partnered with the Golf License Plate Program to help promote the plate to Florida residents. For every Golf License Plate sold in the state of Florida $25 goes to the Florida Junior Golf Council in support of junior golf throughout the state. Every facil-

ity in South Florida should have received promotional information about the Golf License Plate Program, and we encourage you to display it at your facility. Please note that grants are available for PGA professionals conducting junior golf camps, clinics, etc. and more information can be found by visiting http://www.fjgc.org/. 3RD ANNUAL PATRIOT GOLF DAY

This year marks the 3rd Annual Patriot Golf Day and already 1,325 facilities across the country have signed up to participate. Last year as a Section 192 of 367 facilities helped raise $63,000 for the Folds of Hon-or Foundation, and we are encour-aging you to participate this year. Patriot Golf Day 2010 will again be held during the Labor Day week-end, September 3-6. If you are in-terested in joining the mission to empower the lives of deserving military families with educational opportunities, then please become

a participating facility in 2010! PGA Professionals who host an event and sub-mit funds to the Folds of Honor Foundation will receive TWO MSR Credits. The 2010 Patriot Golf Day kits will be mailed to all registered facilities. Kit contents include a poster, flyer, tent cards, suggested guidelines for hosting the event as well as Best Practices. Registration is available at www.PatriotGolfDay.com.

chip shotssection news

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quote of the month

“Golf: the worst damn

fun anybody ever had.”

Cy Manier Professional golfer

PRO’S ON THE GO

chip shotssection news

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PRO TO FROM Stephen O’Neill A-13 Boca Lago Country Club unattachedLeo McMahon unattached A-13 Miles Grant Country ClubSteven Pinger A-1 Hunter’s Run A-8 Bonita Bay EastCorey Aurand A-11 PGA of America A-4 Colorado SectionMichael Raber A-1 Shell Point GC A-8 CC of NaplesBruce Zabriski A-9 Mayacoo Lakes CC A-16 Jim Fazio Golf DesignJohn Farrell unattached A-4 Riviera CCJeff Wilson A-13 Miccosukee CC inactiveLeon Oliver unattached A-1 Lemon Bay GC, Englewood Scott Reinhart unattached A-1 The Links at Madison Green

Earn More MSR Credits

As a member of the PGA you are required to complete 54 MSR credits per three year cycle. As the current MSR cycle quickly approaches please remember of the 54 you must complete 12 in education and 12 in meeting.

The current MSR cycle will end on July 15, 2011. As you plan ahead for recertification below are some MSR op-portunities available at this time.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MSR CREDITS:

education

August 5-6, 2010 - Junior Tour Event #7 volunteers needed Breakers Rees Jones

1 MSR Credit per hour worked Contact Meredith at 561-624-7657

August 8, 2010 - Play Golf America Day Florida Marlin's Game - volunteers needed to give free 10 minute

golf lessons to game attendees - 11:30am-3pm1 MSR Credit per hour worked

Contact Meredith at 561-624-7657

August 10, 2010 - Southwest Chapter Meeting Grey Oaks Country Club - 10AM - 12PM

2 MSR Credits

Aug 17 -18, 2010 - 2010 PGA Fall Expo Education Conference Las Vegas

Up to 20 MSR Credits for meetings & seminars

September 3, 2010 - Southern Chapter Meeting Coral Springs Country Club - 10AM - 12PM

2 MSR Credits

October 1, 2010 - South East Chapter Meeting Fountains Country Club - 10AM - 12 PM

2 MSR Credits

October 12, 2010 - Southeast Chapter Meeting Jonathan's Landing Golf Club (East) - 6pm

4 MSR Credits

October 18, 2010 - Southwest Chapter Meeting Worthington Country Club - time TBA

4 MSR Credits

November 7, 2010 - Section Education Seminar Atlantis Country Club - 8am-12pm

4 MSR Credits

January 27-29, 2011 - PGA Merchandise Show Orlando

2011 - Annual Meeting of the Membership Loca-

tion and time TBA 4 MSR Credits

To register for national events, please visit

pgashow.com.

To volunteer at Junior Tour or Play Golf America, please call Meredith at 561-624-7657.

To register for any other education meetings or seminars, please visit the website at

sflorida.pga.com.

tion and the Section Hall of Fame. Woonton was one of the primary people responsible for recruiting indi-viduals to join the Grilleroom / Foundation Club that gen-erated over $200,000 for South Florida junior golf and other charitable programs. He has a long history of serving various charities and the lo-cal golf community.

Woonton said, “I am very thankful to the nominating committee and for all the votes. It’s quite an honor and I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude.”

Geoff Lofstead, South Florida PGA Executive Director, said about the two inductees, “Both of these individuals have made a significant impact in many lives and local charities and certainly deserve this honor of being in-ducted into the SFPGA Hall of Fame.”

The criteria for nomination is based on a person, pro-fessional or amateur, having significantly impacted the South Florida golfing community through dedication and contributions to the game while possessing recogniz-able achievements and being a unifying force in golf. In-ductees must have at least 10 years of service to the game of golf within South Florida and have made outstanding contributions to the Section or service to the section. Inductees are selected by a committee comprised of the SFPGA executive board, former section presidents, pre-vious inductees and selected at-large members. Nomina-tions are made by a separate committee. Both commit-tees consist of over 40 PGA professionals.

Previous inductees include:2009 – Joe Lopez Sr and Kevin Marrone

2008 – Patty Berg2007 – Don Beattie and Bob Toski

2006 – John Nelson and Craig Perna2005 – Julius Boros and Lynn Josephson

2004 – Mike McLellan and Sam Smidt2003 – Burl Dale, Charles DeLuca Jr., Laurie Ham-mer, John LaPonzina, Harry Pezzullo and Dr. Gary

Wiren2002 – Ed Ficker, Bobby Goodman, Roger Ken-nedy Sr., Jack Nicklaus, W.A. (Dub) Pagan and

Henry Watkins Jr.

Two New Inductees for the SFPGA Hall of FameDennis Walters, one of golf ’s most popular and best-traveled trick-shot entertainers and motivational speak-ers, and Roger Woonton, long-time Advisory Board member of the SFPGA and faithful supporter of the local golf community are the newest inductees into the SFPGA Hall of Fame.

The ninth annual awards dinner / induction ceremony is scheduled for mid November.

Walters and Woonton will be the 24th and 25th inductees since the SFPGA Hall of Fame was established in 2002.Dennis Walters, a popular trick shot artist and motiva-tional speaker, is paralyzed from the waist down. Although his dream was to play for the PGA Tour, Walters deter-mined to never give up playing golf, and thus a new career was born. Walters uses his personal experience to challenge and encourage young people to never give up. He travels the world and performs the “Dennis Walters Golf Show” to inspire children to achieve their dreams. Each year he performs a special local show and draws up to 700 elemen-tary students from Broward, Dade and Palm Beach County.

Walters is one of eleven honorary lifetime members of the PGA of America. In 2008, The PGA of America pre-sented him with their highest honor, The Distinguished Service Award. In 2009, Dennis was appointed a spokes-person and national ambassador for The First Tee.

Don Law, fellow PGA member, said, “Dennis has spent a lifetime encouraging young people through his gift for golf and is an unbelievable ambassador of hope for all.”

Walters is delighted to be inducted. “I very much appre-ciate the honor of being inducted into the South Florida PGA Golf Hall of Fame. The game of golf has always been such a big part of my life. After my accident, my love of the game helped me get through some of the darkest days of my life and led me to a career that I am very proud of. This 34 year journey began in South Florida . I am hon-ored to join other South Floridians in the Hall of Fame.”

Roger Woonton has served faithfully on the South Florida Section PGA advisory board for seventeen consecutive years beginning in 1993 and continues to do so today. Woonton has been instrumental in helping establish many of the South Florida PGA’s successful programs, including the GolfPass program, SFPGA Junior Tour, SFPGA Charitable Founda-

Dennis Walters Roger Woonton

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What inspired you to pursue golf as your career? What are your goals? After graduating from Elon in 2006 I recalled all the fun I had when working in the golf industry. Subsequently, I did research on the profession, and learned of the many and diverse career paths a Golf Professional can assume. Shortly thereafter I re-alized I wanted to pursue a career as a Golf Professional. My goals are to continue to expand our retail operations at Boca West Country Club, and eventually work at another high-end private golf facility, working under a proven leader in the industry.

What are your other hobbies besides golf? Other hobbies outside of golf consist of working out, watching movies, going to dinner, and hanging out with my wife Helga and our pets.

Favorite golf moment? Without question my favorite golf moment is one you defi-nitely did not see on The Golf Channel, or SportsCenter…During her first round of golf every played, my wife bird-ied the par 3 16th hole at Alamance Country Club. I have to admit that Tiger Woods chip in on the 16th dur-ing the 2005 Masters tournament is certainly a close second. Apprentices: are you interested in being featured in our news-letter? Contact Corrie at cedwards@pgahq.com or call her at 561-624-7670 for more information.

A Word from An Apprentice

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Michael Bove

B-8 Assistant Golf Professional

What is your progress in the PGM/PGA Program? Have you passed your PAT? What level are you currently working on? Yes, I passed my PAT in May 2010 at PGA Golf Club. I am currently studying for my level 2 checkpoint which I am scheduled to take this Fall.

Where are you from? Where did/do you go to school and what did/do you study? I was born Patterson NJ, and grew up in Long Valley, NJ. Upon graduating from West Morris Central High School I attended Elon University in North Carolina. I graduated from Elon in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in psychology. Two great experiences during my years at Elon where studying abroad in Australia, and interning as a Recruitment Admissions Officer for the Office of Admissions. Both experiences afforded me the op-portunity to travel domestically and internationally throughout the United States, and Australia.

Where do you currently work? Where have you worked? What have been your job responsibilities?

I currently work as the Golf Equipment Manager at Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton where I manage the retail depart-ment, all hard goods purchasing, promotion, and sales. Further-more, I run all demo events throughout the season, and operate our club repair concession.

Before working at Boca West Country Club I’ve had the great op-portunity to work at various types of golf facilities such as Mine-brook Golf Club, NJ (public course), and Alamance Country Club, NC (private course). During my time at each facility I managed outside operations, ran men’s and ladies golf tournaments, visually merchandised golf shops, and operated inventory systems to receive all merchandise. Both golf clubs provided me with the experiences to be successful at Boca West Country Club, a private, four-course facility with approximately 1,800 golfing members. Even more so than my previous work experiences, working under talented, and respected professionals in the golf industry such as: Emily Gifford, Gary Danback, Steve Oaks, and Grant Hauk have truly defined my career aspirations.

REMINDER: The South Florida Section moves

to its new office in August 2010.

Our new address is as follows:

South Florida PGA186 Atlantis BoulevardAtlantis, FL 33462-1111

More information to follow in the September newsletter.

tournament news

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Pro-Pro Championship

Image Captions:

Above Image: Winners Jarryd Wood and Manny Zer-man

Middle Right Image: Arlen Bento Jr., GolfBuddy; Jarryd Wood; Manny Zerman; Kevin Holt, GolfBuddy

Bottom Right Image: SFPGA President Stephen Cox, Kevin Holt, Jarryd Wood, Arlen Bento Jr., Manny Zer-

man, Warren Bottke, Steve Sponder, Steve Farrell, Wright Chandler, Guy Spears and Alyssa Putnam

Jarryd Wood and Manny Zerman played Mi-ami Beach Golf Club for their second round at the 2010 Pro-Pro Championship and shot a 5-under par 67. Wood and Zerman’s first round 60 at La Gorce Country Club was enough to hang on and claim the championship with winnings of $1,528.87 apiece.

Special thanks to our sponsors

Global Golf Sales GolfBuddy &

Golf Pride Grips

Thanks to both La Gorce Country Club and Miami Beach Golf Club for hosting a great event. Full field results may be found at sflorida.pga.com.

tournament newsSenior Super Senior

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Statewide Pro-Assistant

The team of PGA Pro-fessionals Ed Sabo and Ed Ficker com-bined to shoot an eight under par score of 63 to win the 3rd Annual Senior – Super Senior Event. Finish-ing one stroke behind were 2009 Champions; Jerry Tucker and Richard Bassett and the team of Gary Baker and Ted Hayes. Forty-two South Florida PGA members and ap-prentices comprising of 21 teams competed in the 3rd Annual Senior – Super Senior Event held at Frenchman’s Reserve in Palm Beach Gardens. The event was an 18-hole, 6-6-6 competi-tion in which 6 holes were scramble, 6 holes were better ball and 6 holes were a modi-fied Pinehurst format. Teams were com-prised of two South Florida PGA Profession-

als, one aged 50-64 and the other 65 and older. Special thanks to Frenchman's Reserve for host-ing a fantastic event.

L to R: Senior Super Senior winners Ed Sabo and Ed Ficker

Chris Toulson and Chris Green, rep-resenting the Jim McLean Golf School in Doral, combined for a 17 under par two round total to claim the 18th An-nual Statewide PGA Pro-Assistant Championship. The Championship took place at Grey Oaks Country Club on both the Estuary and Pine courses. Playing the Estuary course in the morning for round one, Toulson and Green had two eagles and six birdies to shoot 62, 10 under par. They followed that up in the afternoon on the Pine course with seven birdies to shot 65. They didn’t make a single bogey during the 36-hole four-ball stroke play event. Finishing in second place at 13 under par was the team of Dan Gawronski and Scott Richardson, representing LaPlaya Golf Club. 2009 Champions, Jeff Fitzherbert and Shawn Hall, from Ballen Isles Country Club fin-ished at 11 under par for the champion-ship.

Special thanks to Grey Oaks Country Club for hosting a great event.

L-R: Leslye Dyke, Chris Toulson, Chris Green, Kevin Holt

On Wednesday and Thursday, July 14th and 15th the South Florida PGA was privileged to participate in the 16th Annual Kids Fitness Festival of the Palm Beaches. The festival was hosted by the Palm Beach County Convention Center and presented by the Ronald McDonald House of Charities.

Over 5,000 elementary and middle school students attended the event and participated in over 35 different sport clinics from golf to track & field and much more. South Florida PGA Profession-als Terry Farino and Gary Benoit, along with PGA Apprentice Michael Bove gave hundreds of lessons to the juniors in attendance dur-ing the event.

“This event is a great way for the SFPGA to get involved in the community and support programs that strive to improve and sup-port the health and well being of children,” said Meredith Schul-er, Operations Manager. “We had a blast with the kids and look forward to participating again next year!”

SFPGA participates in annual Kids Fitness Festival

in other news...

Above: Gary Benoit, PGA gives a lessonBelow: Children pose at the SFPGA area

Left Below: PGA Apprentice Mike BoveLeft Bottom Corner: PGA Professional Terry Farino gives lessons

Center: Even the Chic-Fil-A cow needs a golf lesson!

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junior newsSFPGA Junior Tour presented by The Honda Classic Event #5

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Presented by:

Supported by:

The South Florida PGA Junior Tour Presented by the Honda Clas-sic conducted the fifth event of the season on Thursday and Fri-day, July 8th and 9th at Normandy Shores Golf Club in Miami. Harley Abrams of Boca Raton and Shelby Coyle of Pembroke Pines were the Overall Champions in the Boys and Girls Age Divisions.

Abrams entered round two tied for the lead at one under par, and was able to hold on by three shots to Rohan Ram-nath of Weston, who finished second. Coyle began the second round tied for second and five

shots back from Samantha Smolen of Lake Worth. Smolen shot a 67 during round, a re-cord career low, however it was Coyle who was able to respond to Smolen’s round shooting a 66 in round two, winning by one shot.

In the Boys 12-13 Age Division Stefano Gabriel Butti of Palm City finished first with at 143, three shots ahead of Matthew Mourin of Miami Lakes and four shots ahead of Michael Graboyes and Andrew Kozan of Palm Beach Gardens. Samantha Haubenstock of Weston shot a career low of 73 to claim the Girls 12-13 Age Division ti-tle, finished in second was Emily Faulkner of Palm City, followed by Zora Gittens. Thanks to Normandy Shores Golf Club in Miami for hosting a great event.

L-R: Steve Farrell, PGA - Director of Golf at Normandy Shores and Miami Beach, Harley Abrams, Shelby Coyle,

Andy Forbes, PGA Apprentice

junior news continued...SFPGA Junior Tour presented by The Honda Classic Event #6The South Florida PGA Junior Tour Presented by The Honda Classic conducted round 1 of event #6 Thursday, July 22nd at Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Estero, FL. With the threat of Tropical Storm Bonnie forecasted for round 2, the event was shortened to eighteen holes.

The difficult Jack Nicklaus design challenged all players in the field, but it was Stefano Diaz of Miami who was able conquer the course by shooting the only sub par round of the event. Diaz claimed victory by one shot to Jake Sherwin of Cape Coral. Finishing in a tie for third was Joseph Mazzola of Bonita Springs and Armando Hernandez-Robles of Miami who both shot 73.

In the Girls 14-18 Overall Division Georgia Price was able to play steady through all eighteen holes shooting a 74, six shots ahead of her nearest competitor Tess Huber of Port St. Lucie, and seven shots ahead of Ashley Burke of Boynton Beach.

In the Boys 12-13 Age Division Nick Gagliardi of Tequesta finished first by carding a 77. Michael Conforti of Palm Beach Gardens finished in second, two shots behind Gagliardi and two shots ahead of Landon Weber of Bonita Springs who finished in third. Briana Gagliardi, brother of Nick shot a 98 to finish in first for the Girls 12-13 Age Division.

The next South Florida PGA Junior Tour will be held August 5th and 6th at The Breakers Rees Jones in West Palm Beach.

The South Florida PGA Junior Tour is proudly presented by The Honda Classic and sup-ported by Titleist, Don Law Golf Improvement Center, Allianz Championship, The Fun Group at Mirasol, and ParKit Golf. Thanks to Old Corkscrew Golf Club for hosting this junior tour event.

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L-R: Stefano Diaz and Georgia Price - Overall winners of the SFPGA

Junior Tour Event #6 at Old Corkscrew Golf Club.

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education

SFPGA TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR ANDREW MILLER

rules with drewDid Somebody

Cry Wolf?

Last month during the Pro-Pro Championship, con-tested at Miami Beach Golf Club and La Gorce Coun-try Club in South Beach, I saw something on the golf course I’ve never seen before. No, I’m not talking about the crows stealing golf balls, I’m talking about the giant wolf (see picture below) situated within one of the water hazards at La Gorce. I was told the wolf is used to scare away geese. Due to the frequency of which I received rules inquiries regarding the object, I decided to devote this month’s Rules with Drew segment to explore possible rulings regarding the ob-struction.

When I was presented with rules inquiries regard-ing the wolf, the first thing I wanted to do was define the wolf. The wolf was definitely an obstruction, but was it a movable or immovable obstruction? “An ob-struction is a movable obstruction if it may be moved without unreasonable effort, without unduly delaying play and without causing damage. Otherwise, it is an immovable obstruction.” As it turns out, the wolf is movable. In fact the club moves it every other month so the geese don’t get use to its location.

The first possible rules situation I would like to share is your ball is located in the lateral hazard so close to the wolf that he interferes with your stance or area of intended swing. What relief, if any is available? As the wolf is a movable obstruction, the wolf may be moved and you may play your ball as it lies. If your ball moves in the process of removing the wolf, you may replace your ball without penalty. Now what would be the rul-ing if your ball came to rest on top of the wolf? You

would take relief by lifting the ball, then removing the wolf and finally dropping the ball directly under the place where the ball lay in or on the obstruction, but not nearer the hole. The ball must be dropped in the hazard and may be cleaned. Does the ruling change if your ball is outside of the hazard? No, if your ball lies outside of the hazard and the wolf inter-feres with your stance or area of intended swing, the wolf may be removed and your balled played as it lies.

What would be the ruling if in the process of remov-ing the wolf, one of the cleats used to anchor the obstruction into the ground raised a tuft of grass in front of your ball thus interfering with the lie of your ball? Decision 20-3b/3 tells us that since the player removed the stake himself, “he would have to accept any resultant worsening of the lie.” The Decision also tells us that had a marshal, another player or anoth-er players caddie removed the wolf and the removal caused damage, then the player, in equity could have the lie restored. Now I know what you’re thinking, “Why wouldn’t I always have another player or his caddie remove an obstruction interfering with my play if I can always correct any damage done?” The reason is if the player sanctions the removal of the obstructions, he is no longer entitled to repair any damage done during the removal.

Let’s switch gears now and pretend the wolf is an im-movable obstruction. How does changing its status affect the ruling? If your ball lies outside the lateral hazard and the wolf interferes with your stance or area of intended swing, you may take relief by, “lifting your ball and dropping it without penalty within one club length of and not nearer the hole than the near-est point of relief.” Now, what if your ball is located within the lateral hazard and the wolf interferes with your stance or area of intended swing? Note #1 un-der Rule 24-2 tells us, “If a ball is in a water hazard (including a lateral water hazard), the player may not

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education upcoming eventsAugust 2-3South Florida Callaway Golf PGA Assistant Cham-pionshipHeld at Frenchman’s Reserve

August 5EZ-GO Pro-SuperintendentSupported by Global Golf Sales & NYX Eyewear Held at Broken Sound Old Course

August 5-6Junior Tour #7 Presented by the Honda Classic Supported by Titleist, Allianz Championship, Don Law Golf Improvement Center & Mirasol Men’s GroupHeld at Breakers Ree Jones

August 12-13Senior Section Championship & South Florida Se-nior PGA Professional Championship Supported by the PGA TOURHeld at Sailfish Point Golf Club

August 21-22Junior Tour #8 Presented by the Honda Classic Supported by Titleist, Allianz Championship, Don Law Golf Improvement Center & Mirasol Men’s Group Held at the Polo Club

August 23Global Golf Sales Series #3 Supported by Golf GameBook & Sun Dog EyewearHeld at the Ritz Carlton

August 24-26Section Championship Presented by TaylorMade-adidas GolfSupported by the PGA TOUR, BoxGroove, & TaylorMade-adidas Ashworth GolfHeld at the Ritz Carlton and Frenchman’s Reserve

rules with drewDid Somebody Cry

Wolf? ...conttake relief from interference by an immovable obstruc-tion. The player must play the ball as it lies or proceed un-der Rule 26-1.” What would be the ruling if your ball lies outside the lateral hazard and although the wolf does not interfere with your stance or area of intended swing, it does interfere with you mentally? Meaning, you can see the wolf out of the corner of your eye and it is distracting you. Are you permitted to take relief from an immovable obstruc-tion which causes mental interference? Decision 24-2a/1 tells us that a player may not take relief from an immovable obstruction which causes mental inference.

What would happen if the wolf (immovable obstruction) interfered with your stance or area of intended swing and you removed the obstruction? Decision 13-2/15 asks, “A player’s swing is interfered with by an immovable obstruc-tion. The player and his caddie, with great effort, remove the obstruction. Is the player subject to penalty? Yes, for breach of Rule 13-2. An immovable obstruction is some-thing fixed. Rule 13-2 prohibits a player from improving the area of his intended swing by moving anything fixed.”

Lastly, let’s say your ball is outside the lateral hazard and you take relief from the wolf under Rule 24-2bi determin-ing your nearest point of relief and you drop your ball. You strike the ball and during your follow thru you hit the wolf. What is the penalty, if any? Decision 20-2c/6 states, “A player correctly determines the nearest point of relief from an immovable obstruction and drops the ball within the area prescribed by Rule 24-2b. However, when the player makes the stroke, his club strikes the obstruction. Is he subject to penalty under Rule 20-2c for not re-dropping the ball when there was still interference by the obstruction? Yes, however, there would be no penalty if the reason that the club struck the obstruction was due to the club travel-ing a significantly different path than originally intended due to an unexpected occurrence (e.g., because the player’s feet slipped or he was stung by a bee.)”

The shear size and uniqueness of the wolf could cause some uncertainty when presented with rules inquiries to solve regarding it, but I feel a good rule of thumb is to not get caught up in what the obstruction looks like but to just identify it for what it is and then make the appropriate call. Hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s segment and I hope to see you this month at the Pro-Superintendent Champi-onship, Senior Section Championship, Global Golf Sales Tournament Series Finale or Section Championship pre-sented by: TaylorMade-adidas.

14

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