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St. Clair CC #5 Vol. 3 No. 1 TheMetropolitan Tom O’Toole: PCOMING VENTS A Retrospective U E Page 4 2016 USGA EVENTS A few ‘cool’ items from US OPEN the PGA Golf Show O’TOOLE’S TWO-YEAR Page 11 USGA PRESIDENCY ENDS ON LOCAL QUALIFYING MAY 10 A HIGH NOTE. St. Louis Golf History FOREST HILLS 1971 Ryder Cup It had to come to an end at some point; the travel, trophy presentations, Page 12 US WOMEN’S OPEN meetings, dinners, receptions and QUALIFYING cocktail parties. The many trips Old Warson prepares MAY 24 to Far Hills, NJ to confer with for US Senior Amateur WESTWOOD CC Page 17 USGA staff, executive committee members, event chairs, rules officials and the many requests for speaking US AMATEUR FOUR-BALL MAGA EVENTS engagements, interviews and articles. MEN & WOMEN In the end, he would not have given MAY 21-25, 2016 GATEWAY CUP MATCHES any of it up, not for a moment! US JUNIOR AMATEUR APRIL 10-11, 2016 When you have a dream, and you get to live it, the dream is not QUALIFYING CC OF ST. ALBANS only surreal, but at times, you JUNE 20, 2016 almost have to pinch yourself ABERDEEN GC OLD WARSON CUP to ensure you’re not dreaming. MAY 14-15, 2016 Yes, it really did happen. A native US GIRLS JUNIOR St. Louis son rose to the top of one AMATEUR QUALIFYING of the country’s most prestigious JUNE 22, 2016 NORMANDIE AMATEUR organizations through hard work, BOGEY HILLS CC AY M 21-22, 2016 determination and, yes, dreaming that by making the effort, it would US OPEN happen. We invite you to review, WOMEN’S AMATEUR JUNE 16-19, 2016 JUNE 8-9, 2016 from the perspective of those who know Tom best, how it happened. GREENBRIAR HILLS See page 13 for full schedule Continued on page 4 Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association • 11777 Clayton Rd. • St. Louis, Missouri 63131 314.567.MAGA • Fax: 314.261.9250 • [email protected] The Metropolitan January-February 2016 The Metropolitan January-February 2016 STAFF when a ball is on the wrong putting green (i.e. there Executive Director Curt Rohe - [email protected] CURT’S COMMENTS is no relief if the wrong putting green interferes with your stance or area of intended swing). Hello Members and welcome to the ULES OF OLF ORNER P.J. Boatwright Interns - 2016 2016 season! This roller coaster of R G C • One of the great principles behind the Rules of [email protected] Golf is to play your ball as it lies. When you can’t play a ride we have been on with Mother THE NEAREST POINT OF RELIEF your ball as it lies (or choose not to), and are entitled METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIPS Nature has hopefully allowed you to relief without penalty, the Rules compel you to play Amateur Championship to get out and hit the ball around a We’ve all heard the term nearest point of relief but Match Play Championship bit in recent weeks. what exactly is it, when does it come into play and, your ball as near as possible to where it lies and no Open Championship most importantly, how do you figure out where the closer to the hole. Women’s Amateur Championship MAGA is gearing up for another Curt Rohe heck it is? • If you choose to take relief (and you certainly Junior Amateur Championship exciting season of MAGA Executive Director don’t have to), the nearest point of relief identified Senior Amateur Championship Championships, Amateur Series and The definition (straight out of the Rules of Golf) is must provide complete relief. Metropolitan Cup Matches that, Four-Ball Championship the Play 9 Series! Registrations for all MAGA conducted A couple of other points: Mid-America Junior Cup events open on March 1, which is also the 1st day to post “The nearest point of relief is the reference point for scores for handicap purposes in our region. Schedules taking relief without penalty from interference by • You are not entitled to relief from immovable USGA QUALIFYING ROUNDS are all available online at www.metga.org and your club an immovable obstruction (Rule 24-2), an abnormal obstructions or abnormal ground conditions if your US Open Qualifying (Local and Sectional) or facility will have our 2016 Schedule of Event posters to ground condition (Rule 25-1) or a wrong putting ball is in a water hazard or a lateral water hazard. You US Senior Open Qualifying display in the next couple weeks. green (Rule 25-3). It is the point on the course must proceed under the water hazard rule (Rule 26). US Amateur Qualifying nearest to where the ball lies that is not nearer the • The nearest point of relief refers to the US Mid-Amateur Qualifying position of the ball, not the position of your feet [I’ve US Women’s Mid-Amateur Briefly I would like to touch on a handicap topic that has hole, and where, if the ball were so positioned, no US Junior Amateur Qualifying created some stir since the beginning of the year, that is interference by the condition from which relief is had a player argue this with me during a match]. US Amateur Public Links Qualifying the change that scores while played alone are not allowed sought would exist for the stroke the player would • The nearest point of relief can be to the left US Senior Amateur Qualifying to be posted for handicap purposes. Peer Review has have made from the original position if the condition of, to the right of, or behind the condition. Note that US Women’s Open Qualifying always and will remain the essential element of the USGA were not there.” the ‘behind’ option is often overlooked (who wants to US Amateur Four-Ball Handicap System, without it, a Handicap Index loses its move their ball further from the hole?). US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball inherent value and is just a number. By playing alone, a Clear as mud? Let’s break it down: • “Nearest” implies that there is one point that meets all of the requirements. While it is theoretically EXECUTIVE BOARD player loses the advantage of someone alongside who can • First, when we are talking about the nearest Stanford S. Grossman – President Emeritus remind the player of a Rules or verify if they made a 5 and point of relief, we are only taking about situations possible that there are two equidistant nearest points Thomas J. O’Toole Jr. – Vice-President not a 6. Additionally, studies show that golfers who play where we have interference from an immovable of relief, it is extremely unlikely. Thomas O. Sobbe Jr. – Vice-President alone are typically “practicing”. They drop an extra ball obstruction (e.g. a cart path, a pump house, etc.), an • The nearest point of relief must be strictly M. Ray McCraine – Secretary and hit a shot, take multiple putts on the putting green, abnormal ground condition (e.g. casual water, ground interpreted. It is not necessarily the nicest point of G. Scott Engelbrecht – Treasurer under repair, etc.), or when our ball lies on a wrong relief. You don’t always get to pick the fairway side of G.F. (Rick) Meyer Jr. – At-Large Member etc. and those scores are not eligible for score posting the cart path. H. Mick Wellington – At-Large Member anyway. putting green (i.e. any putting green other than the putting green of the hole we are playing, including • I’m always amazed when a player picks his ball ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thank you all for your continued support of membership practice greens). up to take relief before determining what his options Scott Thomas, Chairman with MAGA and we hope you enjoy The Metropolitan • For obstructions and abnormal ground are, in this case where the nearest point of relief is. It is Dustin Ashby as we embark on our third season of the newsletter. We conditions, “interference” occurs when a ball lies entirely possible that the nearest point of relief is in a Tom Barry are starting off with a great look back at MAGA Founder in or on/touching the condition, or when the worse position than where the ball is on the cart path! Skip Berkmeyer condition interferes with your stance or the area of (And if you subsequently decide not to take relief and Jim Dunn Tom O’Toole Jr.’s journey to USGA President. As always, replace your ball on the cart path, you incur a one- David Rhoads if you have any questions please feel free to reach out to your intended swing. If the ball lies on the putting Curt Rohe me at [email protected]. green, “interference” also occurs if the condition on stroke penalty under Rule 18-2 for moving your ball at the putting green intervenes on the line of putt. For rest.) Metropolitan Editor a wrong putting green, “interference” only occurs Jim Healey Continued on page 18 2 3 Tom O’Toole - A Retrospective Assuming the presidency in 2014, he had already had a significant impact on the game, chairing the Executive Committee which determines where events will be held. In 2014, he presided over the highly successful He’s been a caddie for a National Champion; he played high school “back-to-back” US Opens held at Pinehurst, won by Martin Kymer and hockey at St. Louis U. High and collegiate hockey at St. Thomas Michelle Wie. Then, in 2015, the Open was played for the first time in College (MN) and he was the manager for the St.