2016 US Open (Golf)

[rjs4470]

Concur 100%. Afraid I love a dying game. Son was a Class A Pro that left the game 10 years ago when the handwriting began to be legible.

 

Of course I will be doing my best support southwest Florida golf courses next week.

[mcpapa]

Thank goodness it's the PGA and not the USGA that runs pretty much the entire tour.

[Oldercoach]

Watching Golf Channel. Mike Davis, CEO, of USGA says they got rule decision right, but got a mulligan in implementing on delayed basis. PGA official anonymously states rule interpretation was WRONG. There will be a Rule clarification with the USGA changing the rule on the fly yesterday making the player guilty until he proves he is innocent. Not the spirit of Rule 18-2. USGA inadvertantly took the integrity of the game away from the player.

[ggclfan]

Watching Golf Channel. Mike Davis, CEO, of USGA says they got rule decision right, but got a mulligan in implementing on delayed basis. PGA official anonymously states rule interpretation was WRONG. There will be a Rule clarification with the USGA changing the rule on the fly yesterday making the player guilty until he proves he is innocent. Not the spirit of Rule 18-2. USGA inadvertantly took the integrity of the game away from the player.

 

I actually like Mike Davis and I think he was just trying to stick up for his guys today. He was trying to make everyone happy and say it was a penalty but handled incorrectly. WRONG! It should NOT have been a penalty and it WAS handled incorrectly. There is literally not one tour player that agreed with anything about that hot mess yesterday. This had to be the longest day in Mike Davis' career. When Jack Nicklaus is saying it was botched and Rory and Jordan are calling it "amateur hour", the USGA has a BIG problem. And this after the worst greens I have ever seen at last year's Open. USGA has not had a good run the past two years.

[ggclfan]

Young people are already avoiding the game, for all the reason you mention. Go to any golf course on a Saturday, and you won't see many 20 somethings. The golf crowd is aging rapidly, without many to replace them. I sure wouldn't want to own a golf course right now.

 

I absolutely LOVE golf - I am a golf nerd and proudly admit it. But I admit it is MUCH easier to get an attractive tee time at the nice local public courses that it used to be. Great for me! Not so great for the game.

 

Golf just has a few things going against it. First to play 18 holes takes 4+ hours...too long for young folks (especially with kids). Second, it is a VERY HARD game. It looks easy but is not which can make it frustrating. I think the positives of golf FAR outweigh the negatives but I can see why it is losing popularity.

[Bluegrasscard]

Watching Golf Channel. Mike Davis, CEO, of USGA says they got rule decision right, but got a mulligan in implementing on delayed basis. PGA official anonymously states rule interpretation was WRONG. There will be a Rule clarification with the USGA changing the rule on the fly yesterday making the player guilty until he proves he is innocent. Not the spirit of Rule 18-2. USGA inadvertantly took the integrity of the game away from the player.

 

So that makes three people who say they got it right. Have yet to find any support outside the USGA. I really thought there would be resignations by now.

 

I still believe they damaged the organization and the game Sunday.

[jahearme]

So that makes three people who say they got it right. Have yet to find any support outside the USGA. I really thought there would be resignations by now.

 

I still believe they damaged the organization and the game Sunday.

 

I won't be renewing my USGA membership next year.

[mcpapa]

^It will be interesting to see if, over the next few months, their coffers are negatively affected.

[The Professor]

They definitely 4 putted with their decision. Most of the talk about it has been negative, both from pros and average Joe's alike.

[Oldercoach]

Interesting conversation on Mike & Mike with Brad Faxon this morning. Of note is that the on-course rules official with the Johnson-Westwood pairing was the Chairman of the USGA Rules Committee. No indications hinted by the USGA that he got it wrong on the course, but very interesting that two other Rules Committee members would make a studio ruling while insulated from all environmental elements. The shame of it IMO is that this rule is solely designed to keep a player from gaining an undue advantage over the field and I don't think anyone can possibly argue that the slightest of advantage was gained. In fact, an uphill put had 1/32 of an inch added to its length.

[CincySportsFan]

I really wish Azinger and Faxon would've gone ape on the official in the booth when he came in to "clarify" the situation. I wonder if they were told not to ahead of time.

[Oldercoach]

I really wish Azinger and Faxon would've gone ape on the official in the booth when he came in to "clarify" the situation. I wonder if they were told not to ahead of time.

No doubt in my mind they were. Probably feared bringing more harm to the game and as guys who were two of golf's former best, they took the high road. Respect the conflict they had now as TV analysts, but piling on the USGA ( although it certainly deserved just that) would have risked greater damage to the integrity and reputation of the game.