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The Golf Chairman’s Program Will Be
Revitalized for 2010
The Old Committeeman walked to the
octagonal table in the XIX Hole after posting a good
score for the day’s round and in good spirits, he said
hello to the Golf Chairman, who was seated in what has
now become his chair. Upon sitting down, the O.C. said
to the Golf Chairman, “I hope all is in good order with
you, because I must talk to you about our program to
encourage our club members to play at a good pace with
full consideration for fellow players.”
“All is in good order and I have
some time to devote to your obviously important matter,”
replied the Chairman. “What is it?”
“It is this,” said the O.C., and
handed the Golf Chairman his new USGA bag tag with the
following notations on the back:
PLAY WITHOUT DELAY/POST YOUR SCORE
·
Plan your shot while walking to your ball
or while others are playing.
·
Don’t step off yardage for every single
shot, develop an “eye” for distance.
·
Walk briskly between shots. If riding,
take several clubs with you to your ball so that you
won’t have to walk back to the cart.
·
Play a provisional ball if you think the
original might be lost outside a water hazard or out of
bounds.
·
Post 9-hole (at least 7 holes played) and
18-hole rounds (at least 13 holes played). Use par plus
your allotted handicap strokes for your score for holes
not played.
·
Players should carefully repair divots as
well as any damage made to greens.
The Chairman took a careful look at
the tag and said, “I have one of these. It is on my bag,
and not in the XIX Hole lying on a table. What is so
important?”
“I can’t believe this,” replied the
O.C. “You worked all last year to get our members to
play faster and properly and you think that you have
finished all that needs to be done. This is an ongoing
program and you can use this tag as a good reminder to
keep working on the program. Every member, who is a
member of the USGA, has one. The word is out. Why don’t
you dwell on the message and revitalize your program?
“I have two items in the list that
I want to emphasize,” continued the Old Committeeman.
“And I ask you to permit me to do it.”
“Yes, please go ahead,” said the
Chairman.
“Thank you,” said the O.C. “The
title is one: ‘Play without delay/post your score.’ We
have tried to get our members to keep up with the group
ahead as they do on the first tee and what happens? They
are never ready to play when it is their turn, they take
forever to decide on a club and they take too many
practice swings. The posting of scores or lack of it is
an example of a number of our members not doing what
good members should do. If all members posted their
scores properly adjusted for handicaps, all our play
would be on level terms regardless of the mix of members
in a match.
“The other point is ‘Don’t step off
yardage for every shot, develop an eye for distance.’
Let me give you an example. You saw who I played with on
Sunday. Well, I played with him on Saturday as well. On
number 16 on Saturday, he hit two good shots, which left
him with a 50-yard pitch to the hole. Of course, he
paced off his third shot to the green. Picked his wedge
and hit a respectable shot to the hole located on the
back of the green. On Sunday, the hole was on the front
of the green and he hit his second shot a bit shorter
than his similar shot on Saturday. Next shot: same club,
but my friend had to pace this shot off. You know he has
been playing this course since his school days and the
course has not been changed all that much. I ask you,
doesn’t he have an ‘eye’ for his shots?
“I raise these points to prompt you
to renew the program which you started last year to
encourage all of us to play promptly with consideration.
That is enough from me for now.”
“I was not expecting this,” replied
the Golf Chairman. “And I see that we need to continue
our program. I need to draw all our members’ attention
to their name tags already on most bags and get on with
the program.”
“I must excuse myself to recover
from this,” the Golf Chairman continued. “But I do thank
you for the reminder. I’ll say good night now.”
The Golf Chairman then left and the
O.C. asked James for his tickets for lunch and any other
things and was told that he could sign his tickets the
next day. The O.C. then said, “I’ll say good night,
James.”
“Good night, sir.”
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