Respectfully Submitted, Foremost

Facts Thanks to the handicap system, Foremost and Reader EC were engaged in a tense competition against a couple of long-knocking young challengers in Readers BF and SM. Before putting, F reached down and rotated his ball for alignment. As he did so, it occurred to him that he should have marked his ball before rotating, but then he realized at this same instance that his putter head was on the ground effectively marking the ball, and thus, he was…

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BMCC Assistant Pro, DA, perhaps making his first appearance on these pages, stopped Foremost in the hallway simply to advise him that Scottish Day had come and gone without a single Rules question or controversy! “Nothing?”, asked F. “Nothing” was the response. “Perhaps a few minor inquiries about ‘casual water’, but the field seemed to resolve this issue on its own, since virtually the entire course was under casual water.” As a Rules commentator F was frankly disappointed, of course,…

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Foremost went to bed wondering how in the world he could have been dumb enough to take the Rams against Tom Brady. But it wasn’t the football game that jarred him awake in the middle of the night; rather, from the depths of his subconsciousness it somehow occurred to him that he had given an erroneous Rule 9 ruling in play at BMCC: Facts Player SB had laced a tremendous iron-shot into the par three 2nd hole at BMCC. His…

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After several weeks of flagstick “in” or “out” diagnosis, Foremost has been waiting for another “New Rules” shoe to drop. (He’s been warning that this new stuff can be tricky!) Well, another shoe did drop this week at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. This mistake was costly! Wire services report that Haotong Li’s caddie cost him $98,000 by standing behind the extension of his putting line as the player “began” (emphasis added) to take his stance. A review by officials…

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Foremost (F) was thrilled when Phil (PM) summoned Slugger White (SW) to explain his “Relief Area” and options after he splashed his ball into a Penalty Area during the closing holes of the Desert Classic. F took careful notes, and reports this conversation to the best of his ability: PM: Sorry, I just don’t know the Rules. SW:That’s okay, that’s what I’m here for. (F: that’s what I’m here for, too). SW: Where’s your “Relief Area”? PM: This was my…

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Facts and Rulings The locker room was tense as Reader and Player JS scowled menacingly and interrogated the prior foursome. “Did any of you leave a deep footprint in the bunker adjacent to the 10th green?” One could almost hear a pin drop. “That depends”, said Reader RP who was a member of this prior foursome, after an awkward moment of silence. “I was in there I think…but did it look like a size 9 and 1/2?” JS had indeed…

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Readers, Many of you have asked if and when Foremost would address the New Rules of Golf 2019. Some of you have reported to F (confidentially of course) that your hair is falling out and you are losing sleep worrying about the changes! Foremost has heard your cries! Ok, this is a savvy golfing group…serious golfers…you know how to play golf; you know where to find a Rule book, and how to read it. So why purchase a book? By…

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Def “Stroke”: “…the forward movement of the club made with the intention…” SM, At first glance, it doesn’t seem that there should be a distinction as the stroke is a matter of intent, and Senden said he intended to divert his swing. (Dec14/1.5 says missing intentionally is the same as checking swing and not a stroke (the Na case).) The ref in this case, however, apparently relied on Dec14/3, in which case it is a stroke if the club is…

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Facts “Hit it! Please, please hit it!” Foremost was watching closely and offering a silent prayer as Reader and opponent JS lined up with his driver on the 5th hole at BMCC. JS had teed the ball up nicely. He had carefully taken his stance and was aligning his feet and body with the ball, adjusting his hands and posture. He took a step back, and executed a calm and measured practice swing. He then repeated this exact procedure again…stance,…

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