LOST AND FOUND
Rules Guy,
I topped my tee shot into the bank above a water hazard not far from the tee box. It was close enough for me to look for the ball, but after a couple of minutes I got nervous that we'd be holding up traffic, so I declared my ball lost, scampered back up to the tees and hit again. As I drove my golf cart towards my second drive, I spotted my first ball on the far bank, in the hazard but playable. I had no idea what to do: I definitely found my ball before the five minute "time limit," but I had already declared it lost and played a ball that I had no intention of being provisional. Could I have played the first ball? SHOULD I have played it? I've never been so confused on the golf course!
-- Tim Becker, Hoboken, NJ
This question hits upon one of the most misunderstood Rules of Golf: You can't actually "declare" a ball as lost; it's either lost or it isn't. According to Decision 21-1/1, your second ball was not actually considered in play, as you found your original ball before taking a second stroke at the provisional. This, however, does not mean that you were forced to play your first shot. You were, of course, more than within your rights to go back to the tee and take a penalty of stroke and distance. So, as it turns out, whichever choice you made would have been legal. The only thing not to do was stand around looking confused.
WHO: Kyle Stanley
WHAT: A 65-yard wedge into the water
WHEN: Final round of the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open
WHERE: 570-yard par-5 18th hole at Torrey Pines
Golf is easy looking in the rearview mirror. Still, it's hard to understand how Stanley couldn't make a double-bogey at 18, which would've given him the title. It took several huge mistakes for Stanley to make an eight, which dropped him into a playoff that he lost to Brandt Snedeker.
Stanley's mistakes included laying up with his second shot instead of blasting his second shot at or over the green; hitting a wedge approach with so much spin that it sucked back off the green and into the water; and finally, three-putting. The wedge into the water might be the shot that Stanley most regrets, because hitting a no-spin wedge from 65 yards is easy.
THE DRILL: To take the spin off a wedge, you've got to radically decrease the angle of attack into the ball by using what I call a "sweepy" instead of a steep release. You also need to move the ball a little further back than normal in your stance and shift your weight a little more to the target side than you would do with a standard shot.
To practice no-spin wedges, take practice swings by holding the club with only your right hand. Hold the club at the bottom of the grip so that your right hand (for a right-hander) touches both the grip and the shaft; the butt end of the grip should be near the middle of your right forearm. Make a little backswing and sweep through impact. Just after impact, the butt end of the shaft should hit your right forearm and the shaft should align down your arm. The club and your right arm should remain in that synchronized position for the first half of the follow-through. I like doing this drill without a ball, but you can hit shots using the same technique.
Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Brian Manzella teaches at English Turn Golf and Country Club in New Orleans.
SAND SLIDE
Rules Guy,
I hit a drive into a bunker with a steep slope and carefully made my way down to my ball. Apparently I wasn’t quite as careful as I thought though, because the sand started to slide out from under my feet, all the way to the ball, moving it several inches back away from the hole. Not knowing what to do, I asked my (very competitive) friend/opponent, who said that I had to take a penalty stroke for moving my ball., and replace it in the original spot I decided to believe him, even though it seemed fishy since I didn’t actually touch the ball and since it moved away from the hole. Was my friend right, or should I find a new playing partner?
-- Tim Smith, Portland, Ore.
This is one case where the Rules Guy feels your pain: there is nothing worse than having to tip-toe into a deep bunker for fear of starting a sand slide. Unfortunately, the Rules of Golf are not nearly as sympathetic. According to Decision 18 2b/3, if your approach to the ball or the act of taking your stance in the bunker is what caused the ball to move, you were in violation of Rule 18-2a which prohibits moving a ball at rest. Your buddy even got the penalty right—replacing the ball and taking a one-stroke penalty. Keep your honest playing partner around, and next time try to be a little bit lighter on your feet.
WHO: Mark Wilson
WHAT: 279-yard drive into the fairway
WHERE: 543-yard par-5 18th hole at the Palmer Course at PGA West
WHEN: Final round of the Humana Challenge
Mark is playing great golf because he's projecting so well, and he has become an expert at a skill that I call Target Projection.
In his pre-shot routine, Mark visualizes the entire shot: impact, the starting point (the spot the ball flies over 20 feet out from impact), the ball flight, where the ball lands and finally how the ball bounces and rolls to its final target. Mark uses this precise Target Projection technique with woods, irons and the putter. Doing that helps Mark relax and avoid getting caught up in mechanical swing thoughts, which he used to do while lingering over the ball way too much. To help Mark stay focused on his routine and do his Target Projection, Chris Jones, Mark's caddie, tells him before every shot, "Narrow your focus."
A huge Key in Mark's victory was driving, as he hit all six of the fairways on the back nine. Mark drove so well largely because he was focused before each shot, projecting exactly how the club would hit the ball and then how and where the ball would fly. His drive at 18 was especially strong. A huge lake runs down the entire left side of the hole, and Mark had just a one-stroke lead, so it was crucial to hit the fairway.
THE DRILL: Most golfers don't use Target Projection or visualization. Even players who attempt to use the technique often do it incorrectly because they picture the ball only sailing through the air.
The correct Target Projection technique involves visualizing the entire shot, from impact until the ball stops moving. If you're on the green, you want to see in your mind exactly how the ball will fall into the hole. On an approach shot, you should picture the exact number of bounces the ball will take on the green and then how far it will roll.
To practice Target Projection, hit shots to a practice green. Put a pole in the ground 20 feet ahead of your ball. Also place four towels on the green by dividing the green into four quadrants and putting one towel in the middle of each quadrant. On each shot, visualize how the ball will fly past the pole -- on the right, the left or over the top -- and then which quadrant the ball will land in. When hitting the shot, watch the ball's path to see if it flies over the pole as planned. The ball should then land on the towel in the quadrant to which you were aiming.
When playing, you likely won't hit shots as precisely as you visualize them, but that's okay. Target Projection will take your mind away from mechanical swing thoughts and dramatically increase your precision.
Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Jim Suttie is Mark Wilson's longtime instructor. He teaches at The Club at TwinEagles in Naples, Fla.
