(1) Facts — Marking and Lifting Foremost thought he had dunked his wedge shot on the Par 5, 8th hole at BMCC. The ball landed softly and, from F’s vantage point in the fairway, appeared to come to rest only a couple of feet from the pin. F was excited to have a birdie putt, a short one at that! As so often happens, however, by the time F had navigated the stepping stones through the creek and accomplished the…
Foremost well remembers the first post-matrimonial advice he was ever given related to golf. An older gentleman, a close family friend, engaged F at his wedding reception with two suggestions: First, he said, offer to help clean the new china and make sure that in doing so, you drop and break the nicest gift, the finest piece … you will never have to fool with that stuff again. Second, he said, let your bride know that as a devoted husband,…
In recent Covid Tour, Four-Ball action at BMCC, Foremost encountered a couple of situations in which actions by a player may have led to a penalty for his unwitting, unsuspecting, and innocent partner. (1)Facts – A Fish Story A flash flood left player JS with an unusual lie recently as he found a fish interfering with his swing path on the 4th hole at BMCC. “It’s dead”, said RM, who was on his knees with his head tilted, apparently listening…
Foremost suspects many of his Readers in recent days have been pondering when, and if, it is ever possible for a player to play two balls in match play. Hmmm… Certainly, a player in stroke play has the option to finish a hole with two balls if he questions the correct procedure he should follow under the Rules, and he complies with the notice and reporting provisions of R20.1c(3). In match play, however, the two-ball option is not available for…
Foremost had his game face on for a recent outing at BMCC and as expected, the competition was fierce! As the Reader is aware, however, F and his group often have trouble navigating preliminary issues, and such was the case yet again as the players gathered (under recommended social-distancing guidelines) on the first tee. (1) Practice Before Round As the Committee at BMCC had closed all practice ranges due to the China Virus, F was shocked to see players JS…
(1) Facts: A Confession Foremost was hammering away at golf balls on the range the other day when he was approached by Reader SM who said he had been losing sleep over his failure to timely self-report a violation in BMCC’s recent Scottish Day match-play competition. “That is sad to hear”, said F. “I’m sure this will haunt you for years”, F added. “So, what happened?” SM explained that he had been in a green-side bunker, when his opponents had…
A Road Trip Warm and sunny skies welcomed Foremost in a recent match play competition with Reader BL and his lovely wife, JL, at the challenging TCC golf course in Indian Wells, California. The lovely Mrs. F, who doesn’t play golf, joined the action as well, walking along as a spectator. She was perfectly content to be exercising, soaking up a little Vitamin D, and taking in the spectacular desert views of the rocky arroyos and distant snow-capped peaks which…
Foremost flipped the chip high into the air to determine honors in a recent match play competition at BMCC. “What happened to that obnoxious coin”, asked a grinning JS who had immediately noticed F was not using his prized Silver Dollar Trump coin. “Was it impeached?” The teeing ground conversation then turned to handicaps. EC told F to quit referencing the GHIN system with a hard “G” as in Gimmee”, when the correct pronunciation of GHIN is “Gin” with a…
Foremost was extremely busy the other day. He was watching “The Five” on Fox ( he would have his Readers know he once sat behind Dana Perino on a bus) as Greg Gutfeld opened a John Bolton discussion: “The media has TBD, terminal bombshell disease. A belch is a bombshell.” By this standard F reasoned that his Rulings are all, without exception, “bombshells”, although he understands if a Reader feels like F is perhaps over-selling his product! Thoughts of “bombshells”,…
I. Facts In a three-ball match play outing at BMCC, Players EC, Sandwich, and Foremost were engaged in their usual, spirited competition as they teed off on the Par-Five 17th Hole. Sandwich pushed his drive right. All watched as it glanced through the branches of a large hackberry tree and disappeared from sight. The players began their search for Sandwich’s ball, which had clearly nestled somewhere in a vast brown and crusty Bermuda rough. After a diligent search approaching the…