Good
morning, ladies. How are you? I hope that you and yours are well and ready to
take the first cautious and, I’d say, exciting steps back to a new kind of post-lockdown
normality.
What a
beautiful day for the reopening of our beautiful golf courses. Who knows how
rusty my game is going to be? Who cares? It will be just delightful to be out
there playing the game with a ‘real’ golfing friend. However, I think it’s just
as well I’ll be playing social golf without the pressure of a card in my hand.
In case you need some help as you get back into the swing of things, if
relevant to you, please may I remind you of the 2020 Rule
Changes in Effect for Golfers Age 60+ that I introduced in my post of 26
April. Here are the others:
Rule 3.B.3 – There shall be no such thing as a
lost ball. The missing ball is on or near the course and will eventually
be found and pocketed by someone else, thereby making it a stolen ball. The
senior player is not to compound the felony by charging himself with a penalty.
Rule 4.c.7 – If a putt passes over a hole
without dropping, it is deemed to have dropped. The Law of Gravity
supersedes the Rules of Golf.
Rule 5
- Putts that stop close enough to the cup that they could be blown in, may be blown
in. This does not apply to balls more than three inches from the Hole. No one
wants to make a mockery of the game.
Rule 6.a.9
– There is no penalty for so-called “out of
bounds”. If penny-pinching golf course owners bought sufficient land this would
not occur. The senior player deserves an apology, not a penalty.
Rule 7.G.15 – There is no penalty for a ball in a
water hazard, as golf balls should float. Senior players should not be penalized
for any shortcomings of the manufacturers.
Rule 8.k.9 – Advertisements claim that golf scores
can be improved by purchasing new golf equipment. Since this is financially
impractical for many senior players, one-half stroke per hole may be subtracted
for using old equipment.
I would love to read any of your ‘back to golf’ stories or see
your photos. Please email me at Lorna200LMJ@btinternet.com or message me on 07717 133397.
In the meantime, ENJOY GOLF and KEEP SAFE
Lorna
Lorna M Johnson
Captain, ALCGA
Aberdeenshire Ladies County Golf News and Events