Wie mistake costs her $100,000

You cannot ground your club in a hazard.

When Michelle Wie played on the weekend she forgot this and it ended up costing her around US$100,000.

Her first shot from the water did not escape from the hazard and before her next shot she grounded her club. She claimed she was doing it for balance but it seems a stretch.

It was unfortunate and Michelle didn't act very professionally through all this as she should know better. I had some sympathy for her until I saw the footage. See it for yourself below.

Video courtesy of the Golf Channel with props to Jay Busbee at Devil Ball Golf.

Rules of Golf: The Teeing Ground

During a weekend round of golf at Murrumbidgee Golf Course in Canberra I spotted the placement of these tee markers.

The two markers defining the teeing ground were separated by about 30 metres. Between them lay two tee boxes, a cart path and a garden bed.

There is nothing in the rules to say the markers need to be separated by a nice flat, grassed teeing box area at all but good luck getting your tee into the cart path.

Rules governing the teeing ground:

• The teeing ground is defined by a line between the two markers and a depth of two club lengths behind it.
• In strokeplay, a two shot penalty applies for teeing off outside of the teeing ground. Failure to correct the mistake before the next hole results in disqualification.
• In matchplay, there is no penalty however the opponent may require the player to rehit.
• You may use a tee or build your own out of any natural substance you can find.
• You cannot move the tee markers when teeing off however you can stand outside the defined area as long as the ball is positioned within it.
• There is no penalty for your ball dropping off the tee or by accidentally hitting it while addressing the ball.

Other golf rules
Unplayable Lie
A crow took my golf ball
Red and yellow stakes

2010 OneAsia Tour starts this week

The world's newest golf tour, OneAsia begins the 2010 season this week at the Chengdu Open in China.

The tour is great for the region incorporating tournaments from China, South Korea, Thailand and Australia and provides another opportunity for players in the Asia Pacific region to compete for decent prize money with an avenue to the even more lucrative European and US Tours.

There are 11 events on the 2010 One Asia event schedule and we start at the Luxehills International Country Club with $1million in prize money on the table.

There is a whole stack of Australians in the field this week including Craig Parry, Scott Strange, Andre Stolz and Brad Kennedy.

One HD will be covering all the OneAsia events but the 6 - 9:30am timeslot this week would suggest it is not live.

Golf video: Playing from the ladies tee

Thanks to Addicted2Golf blog.

Other golf videos
Skim it across the water - for a hole-in-one
Golf ball v Race car
Amazing golf swing
Million dollar hole-in-one

Worst player in golf t-shirt

If the shirt fits...

You can buy this t-shirt at BogeyPro Golf.

Hat tip to Golfer's Delight.

New handicapping update

Golf Australia have just released a memo outlining a few more details regarding the launch of the new rilling-sampole handicap calculation method.

In addition to the launch date another time is important to note with GolfLink going offline for two days to necessitate the switch over to the new handicapping system. There are two key dates and times regarding upcoming launch:

• Wednesday 7 April 2010, 9.00am (AEST) - Golf Link goes offline.
  
  
• Friday 9 April 2010, 9.00am (AEST) - The new rolling-sample method for calculating Australian Men’s Handicaps and Australian Women’s Handicaps becomes effective. GolfLink operational again.
  

More information can be found at Golf Australia and the full memo can be accessed here.

In addition to the Q&A articles I have published here at Aussie Golfer, you can also check out the Q&A section at GolfLink.

Related Stories
10 things to know about the new handicapping system
Australian handicapping changes: Q&A
How does it work?

Australian golf club's 'racist' policy?

Gerard Healy on Melbourne 3AW radio yesterday alluded to some potential racist policies regarding membership at one of Australia's most famous golf clubs.

He has yet to name the offending golf club but promises to follow this up in the next few days.

It is hard to know exactly what club or what policy he may be referring to but this sort of policy hads been known to exist at other Australian golf clubs in the past. One club in particular had a racist policy in their membership requirements for many years. I hope this is no longer the case.

If true, I hope Healy's comments play out and banish racism from Ausralian golf.

Hear what he had to say below. Audio courtesy of 3AW.

Thanks to Golf Industry Central for the tip off.

The most realistic online golf game

Aussie Golfer recently mentioned the new Tiger Woods Online golf game but in terms of golf realism, I think the World Golf Tour has it covered.

It does not have anywhere near the tournament, format and award capabilities just yet but it makes up for it in the superb gameplay and visuals. All courses have been photographed and digitally incorporated into the game.

Recently, the front nine at St.Andrew's has been added to the list of courses you can play and it is stunning as you can see from a real game play image below. That is me back down the first fairway. I don't hit it that short normally. I just played it safe.

Related Posts

St.Andrew's is a joke

World Golf Challenge

Play Tiger Woods PGA Tour online

Course Review: Southern Golf Club, Vic

It feels ridiculous now but as I wandered towards the first tee of Southern Golf Club last November I fantasised about stumbling into Tiger Woods.

You see, he'd just played his first round at the Australian Masters that morning and maybe, just maybe he was looking for some quieter surroundings in the sandbelt region of Melbourne to fine tune his game.

How stupid I was. Tiger had far more interesting things to be doing than practising his golf game, let alone with a few Australian social golfers.

Southern Golf Club is Cameron Percy's home club and is one of the many fine courses in Melbourne's sandbelt region. It is often overlooked with Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath also nearby but it is a beauty.

The course is composed of two very distinct nines with the front having a slightly more resort feel. It begins plainly with a couple of relatively straightforward opening holes but as you turn back towards the club house, the course starts to grab you.

The fifth hole is a dangerous short par-4 with the fairway narrowing faster than John Daly's waistline with bunkers and water scooping up anything wayward. The region is known for its superb bunkering and Southern is no exception. It is almost a pleasure to land in one.

The back nine has more of an old school Australian parklands feel to it. Large gum trees line every fairway and make the landing areas look even smaller than they are.

The 14th is one of the hardest par-4's I've come across and sums up an Australian golf hole for me. It is relentless. You need to be straight but at 413 meters you also need to be long to score well. The green is surrounded by large bunkers and huge trees that cast long shadows early morning or late evening.

The round finishes with a short dogleg left par-4. As the sun was setting and shadows were thrown across the 18th green and fairway it was easy to like Southern. It is a pity Tiger didn't come out to play Southern Golf Club. It would make a fine mistress to have seen on the side while officially playing Kingston Heath.

Other course reviews

Gerringong, NSW

Mt.Lofty, SA

Glenmore Heritage, NSW

Lake Karrinyup, WA

Adelaide Shores, SA

Seve could be back at The Open

Word on the fairways (or in this case Buzzin Golf) is that Seve Ballesteros has been invited to take part in a four hole tournament at St.Andrew's this year in the eve of the 150th Open Championship.

Ballesteros has been invited along with other former champions Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Gary Player, among others to play the first, second, 17th and 18th holes at St.Andrew's Old Course on July 14.

If Ballesteros appears it will prove his most remarkable recovery since undergoing four surgical procedures and chemotherapy to remove a brain tumour in 2008.

Let's remember just how good he was with some highlights of Seve's 1984 Open Championship victory.

Aussie Golfer featured at BBC World

A note today to welcome all the new readers to Aussie Golfer who have joined recently and a thanks to the regular visitors who have helped me out with regards to direction via your feedback and criticism.

Aussie Golfer got lucky and was featured at BBC Blogworld last week with my submitted piece added below. It was a nice pat on the back for the website and was in no small part due to all Aussie Golfer readers.

Please keep your feedback and contributions flowing in to Aussie Golfer and we can shape this website the way you want it.

Tiger to return at the US Masters

Tiger Woods will return to golf at the US Masters in the second week of April.

From a statement on Tiger's website:

"The Masters is where I won my first major, and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta."

It may appear like another selfish move. Most professional golfers have expressed a desire to see him return at a lesser tournament to ensure an element of calm before the US Masters.

Geoff Ogilvy did suspect the Masters may be Tiger's first event in January; "The least amount of circus he could face would be if he went to Augusta first as that would be the most controlled environment he could be in".

The crowds at Augusta are normally well-refined golf conservatives who may give him total respect but good luck to the rest of the field.

Anyone who can concentrate through the ensuing mayhem will have my utmost respect.

What do you think?
Should he have played somewhere else first?
Will he win?
Should I start wearing my TW cap again?

10 things to know about new handicapping system

We are now two weeks away from a new Australian golf handicap system.

I'm still a little amazed that many golfers aren't aware of the upcoming changes and the lack of communication from certain golf clubs to their members on this topic.

Here is a quick ten point summary of what is about to happen. See the links below for more information.

1. Handicapping changes will take effect from 9am April 9, 2010.
2. The new system will calculate your handicap on your previous 20 rounds of golf.
3. You won't need to do anything. All previous rounds will be converted over automatically on April 9, 2010.
4. Of your previous 20 rounds, the "best" ten will be used. The average of these ten will be calculated and multiplied by 0.96 to produce your new handicap.
5. CCR's will no longer be used to calculate your handicap and will be scrapped.
6. All scores are now relative to the Australian Course Rating for each course.
7. Your handicap may vary when you travel to other courses. If they are harder than your home course, your handicap will increase and vice versa.
8. The system allows for a better representation of your current golfing ability.
9. Further changes will be introduced over the next few years.
10. The change over is on April 9. Not April 1st.

Related information
Handicapping information: Q&A
How does it work?
What's with the 0.96?
Reasons for new course ratings

Woman mistakes golf ball for diamond ring

I couldn't believe what I saw yesterday morning.

Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel were battling for the WGC CA Championship. Ernie Els won by four shots but Schwartzel had to battle more than just the course.

He hit a wayward drive on the 17th, and this crazy woman decided to treat herself to a bit of golfing memorabilia that wasn't found in the souvenier tent. She thought his ball was worth taking.

In a state of hysteria she leant over to pick it up with only her husband, (I'm assuming) that restored some sanity to the moment.

I'll leave it up to you to watch for yourselves via the highlights package from Fox Sports News. Any comments? Can any explain this?

Presnell makes up for heartbreak

Last year Alistair Presnell missed out by little more than a shot on making his way onto the PGA Tour.

His great season ended with a savage blow at the 2009 season ending event where he was forced out of the Top 25 despite finishing in a tie for 19th.

Forced to get back on the Nationwide horse again in 2010, he headed back to Australia and managed to hold on to one of the top two positions on the 2009 Australian PGA Order of Merit. The rewards for these spots are completely understated and Aussie Golfer outlined what it meant late last year (Who cares about the Australian Order of Merit?).

They include an invitation to US Open and a spot in last weekend's WGC CA Championship.

Presnell headed to the WGC event in fine form after shooting a final round 60 to win the Victorian PGA Championship in February.

In not only his first World Golf Championship event but his first PGA Tour spot, he finished as the top Australian in a tie for sixth spot with a final round 64 on the weekend.

None of his prize money counts on PGA Tour standings list, nor does it count on the Nationwide Tour but all $214,000 (US) probably counts for a fair bit for Alistair Presnell right now.

We'll see much more of him yet. At the very least, at this year's US Open.

Couple to walk world's longest golf course

As you sit down to work this morning, or perhaps you're sipping on a coffee in a cafe down the road, spare a thought for these two crazy golfers.

Cindy and Brian Bushfield have decided to not only go and play Nullarbor Links, but walk it.

Nullarbor Links claims to be the world's longest golf course. It stretches from Ceduna in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and features 18 holes at different points along the 1365 kilometres that joins the two towns (A to B).

The couple will play and walk all 1365 kilometres of Nullarbor Links starting from Ceduna this morning to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The full round of golf will take them approximately 42 days to play. Full itinerary.

Conditions will be hot and harsh out on the Nullarbor Plain. It is hard enough to drive this boring stretch of road, let alone walk it.

You can donate to this cause through the NullyWalk website.

Related Posts
World's Longest Golf Course

Tiger Woods shares cover on his own video game

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is to be released in June. Notice anything different about the cover?

Who's that bloke in the background? Why is he there? It is not Rory McIlroy PGA Tour 11!

EA Sports decided to arrange the two on the front cover a long time ago. It is part promotion of the new Ryder Cup format in the game but it does seem like they are ready for the Tiger Woods controversy.

The Ryder Cup format looks good. Especially in online mode with other team mates.

Golf to watch on TV this week

There are two big golf tournaments for your viewing pleasure this week.

1. Australian Women's Open - Live Leaderboard
   The ladies head down to the Commonwealth Golf Club in Melbourne for the Australian Open this week after Karrie Webb's massive win at the ANZ Ladies Masters. The draw for round one has been scheduled with Christina Kim appearing on the opposite side of the draw to Tamie Durdin. Confrontation avoided.
   
   
   2009 Champion: Laura Davies
   
   
   TV Times:
   Friday March 12, 2:30pm - 6:30pm One HD
   Saturday March 13, 1pm - 5pm One HD, Ten
   Sunday March 14, 1pm - 5pm One HD, Ten
   
   
   
   
   
2. WGC CA Championship - Live Leaderboard
   The second world golf championship event for the year shifts to...that's right, the USA!
   This time it is the CA championship in the flatlands of Florida at TPC in Doral. As with all these events there is a hell of a field assembled and there are nine Australians playing. Even Geoff Ogilvy is back playing after his brief stint helping out with the new baby.
   
   2009 Champion: Phil Mickelson
   
   
   
   TV Times:
   Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon (March 12, 13, 14, 15) 6am - 10am One HD
   

Webb wins again and 'Bikini' Kim complains of slow play

Two comments on the ANZ Ladies Masters at Royal Pines last weekend.

The first is that Karrie Webb won her 49th professional tournament. She won easily with an amazing final round 61. Her slam dunk eagle on the seventh hole pretty much assured herself of the win.

This is the seventh time she has won the tournament and only Sam Snead and Tiger Woods can claim the same record at any one event. Sam Snead holds the record for eight wins on the PGA tour at the Great Greensboro Open (Wyndham championship). She is Australia's best ever golfer.

The second concerns Christina Kim. Finally lured to Australian shores, she hasn't disappointed the fans by shaking hands with any course marshall she could each day She mingled with many fans, hit practise balls in her bikini (something she's posted on Twitter before) and then called out one of her fellow players for slow play.

She took to Twitter and got stuck into Australian Tamie Durdin:

Tamie Durdin may be an absolute sweetheart, which she is, but she is without a doubt one of the slowest players on Earth.

Then,

Chick I played with today was slower than a glacier trying to melt in the Arctic. Very sweet kid, but man, it's not that hard to hit a shot.

She went on to say she was slower than evolution.

I have no time for slow play even at the professional level. Nice work Christina. Tamie - you have been warned.

Images: Getty Images and Adam Head The Courier-Mail

Golf ball for professionals only

I learned a new word recently.

Bifurcation

1. Division into two forks or branches (viewed either as an action or a state) - according to OED.

I came across this word while reading Lawrence Donegan's post on two new golf balls made by Titleist to be made available only to professional golfers. they are new versions of their popular Pro V1 golf ball.

According to a Titleist tour representative, the golf balls "...have been designed to optimize performance for a small handful of PGA Tour players."

Furthermore, this was written in bold. "These products are not in response to nor designed to address new groove rules and they are not planned to be sold commercially."

Donegan then comments:

One of great things about golf - supposedly - is that everybody, from major champion to 24-handicap duffer, plays under the the same set of rules and using the same equipment. That "connection" between the pro game and the amateur game also lies at the root of golf's appeal.

Obviously these two balls have been approved under existing rules but they are something new and different; they have been designed for the pros, will be played only by the pros and they will never be sold commercially to the paying punter. Isn't that some form of bifurcation?

Yes. Yes I think it is.

A crow took my golf ball

A crow took my golf ball.

I know it did.

I'd just come off a birdie and was thinking I had a chance to save a bad round. I nailed a drive straight down the middle of the fairway. It couldn't have been more middle.

Then I'm sure a crow took it.

I didn't see it but there were crows flying low over the fairway like a scene from The Birds. I'd seen them take golf balls before on a number of occasions. I have no idea what they do with them or why they take them. On this occasion I'm sure it was less about cleaning up the area and more about wrecking my round.

Was there any chance I could play another? Get a drop? Anything?! Surely??!!

Nope. I needed to see it happen.

Rule 19-1 states that

"If a ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency, it is a rub of the green, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies..."

And Rule 18-1 covers the ball at rest situation:

"If a ball at rest is moved by an outside agency, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced.

Note: It is a question of fact whether a ball has been moved by an outside agency. In order to apply this Rule, it must be known or virtually certain that an outside agency has moved the ball. In the absence of such knowledge or certainty, the player must play the ball as it lies or, if the ball is not found, proceed under Rule 27-1."

Barry Rhodes summed it up; "Someone has to witness the ball being lifted by the outside agency for that Rule to apply. Otherwise it's stroke and distance penalty for a lost ball."

This goes for all animals who find the need to make the game harder for us than it already is.

In truth, I didn't deserve to rescue that round. It was a bad one that was almost rescued by a good two or three holes, but I felt robbed all the same. Especially when a fellow competitor in the group behind lost his ball in exactly the same spot ten minutes later.

We both agreed it must have been a crow. Well, we didn't see it happen but we're sure of it. We think.

Related Articles

Bigfoot stole my golfball - by GolfStinks

Golf Rules: Unplayable Lie

Golf Rules: Red and Yellow Stakes

Golf Rules: Embedded Ball

Golf Rules: Wrong Green

Quote of the week: Paula Davies

''I only practise if I can see the range from the clubhouse''.

I laughed when I read this. I know a few golfers who this the same way as Laura Davies but they're no where near as succesful her.

She claimed her 73rd worldwide victory last week's New Zealand Open.

Laura Davies after her New Zealnd Open win last week (Photo: ALPG)

ANZ Ladies Masters Live Leaderboard

Looking for live scores for the 2010 ANZ Ladies Masters? Look no further and just click on the link below.

ANZ Ladies Masters Live Leaderboard

Best ever Australian tournament field

The ANZ Ladies Masters is being held this week at the awesome Royal Pines Resort on the golf coast and it can lay claim to having the best field ever assembled for an Australian golf tournament.

ANZ Ladies Masters TV Schedule

The field consists of three of the four major champions from 2009, American Brittany Lincicome, South Korean Eun Hee Ji and world number seven, Swede Anna Nordqvist (pictured).

Eight of the world's top 20 female golfers are here including 15 of the top 50 including world number Suzann Pettersen, world number six Yani Tseng, our own World Golf Hall Karrie Webb (#13), and current European number one Sophie Gustafson. Even the ever twittering Christina Kim has come down for this event!

Reigning champion Katherine Hull is also on course this week and looks to be coming back to some form that saw her win in 2009 and you probably can't rule out Laura Davies based on her win last week at the New Zealand Open.

Live Leaderboard

Royal Pines is a superb track. It has had a loads of rain this week forcing the cancellation of the Wednesday's pro-am but tournament organisers are confident Thursday's first round will proceed as normal.

It is going to be a fun two weeks of golf. Many of these players will also be around for next week's Women's Australian Open at the Commonwealth Golf Club in Melbourne.

ANZ Ladies Masters on TV

One HD and Channel Ten will be broadcasting the ANZ Ladies Masters from Royal Pines on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Friday 5th March 5:15 - 7:30pm One HD

Saturday 6th March 1 - 5pm One HD and Ten
Sunday 7th March 1 - 5pm One HD and Ten

Live Leaderboard

Play Tiger Woods PGA Tour online

Missing Tiger a little? Maybe that Tiger Woods '09 is feeling a little like PGA Tour Tiger Woods 2002?

Despite all the recent yips, EA Sports has stuck with Tiger and recently launched Tiger Woods PGA Tour ONLINE! Play anywhere from any computer.

It seem to play well and there are plenty of formats and tournament options as usual.