Old Warson CC #13 Vol. 2 No. 2 ThMe etropolitan Pres oudly ented Pr By UPCOMING EVENTS FIRST PRIZE IN METROPOLITAN OPEN USGA E VENTS NCREASED Exclusive Corporate Partner I - US O PEN QUALIFYING TO $25,000 May 14 GATEWAY CUP MATCHES Norwood Hills CC AT BELLERIVE Entry Deadline: April 29 PUBLINX : A G OLFING TRADITION FOR PGA P ROS RETAIN CUP US S ENIOR OPEN 55 YEARS QUALIFYING IN MATCHES AGAINST May 19 PAGE 16 AREA AMATEURS Persimmon Woods GC Entry Deadline: May 6 IMPROVE YOUR GAME IN The renewal of the Gateway Cup US W OMEN ’S OPEN 2015 BY GETTING IN Matches in recent years provides a QUALIFYING E-S HAPE level of competition between area golf June 2 PAGE 6-7 professionals and top amateurs that St. Clair CC was lacking for several years. Not Entry Deadline: May 6 only was the camaraderie between AMATEUR SERIES players lost, so was the opportunity to KICKED OFF APRIL 20 see the talent on display from players MAGA E VENTS AT WING HAVEN on both sides of the game. NORMANDIE AMATEUR PAGE 18-19 Arriving at Bellerive on Sunday, April 12 for the beginning of the four May 16-17 ball matches, the 28 players - 14 on Normandie GC each side - were eager to get play Entry Deadline: May 8 under way. Bellerive was in good OLD WARSON CUP condition as the fairways were May 30-31 beginning to green-up and, as usual, Old Warson CC the rough provided plenty of - Invitational- challenge. Scott Brauer, head professional at See pages 8 &11 BECOME A VOLUNTEER Meramec Lakes, and Andy Frost, for full schedule PAGE 14 (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 March - April 2015 STAFF CURT ’S COMMENTS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Curt Rohe - [email protected] Finally, some golfing P.J. B OATWRIGHT INTERNS - 2015 weather has graced us in the St. Michael Kegin & Nicholas Wojciechowski Louis area! A lot of things [email protected] happening at MAGA since the last issue of The Metropolitan… METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIPS Amateur Series kicked off, we Amateur Championship Match Play Championship had a great 2 days at Bellerive Curt Rohe Open Championship CC with the Gateway Cup Executive Director Women’s Amateur Championship Matches and our Rules Committee Junior Amateur Championship met and are ready to get going for the season! Senior Amateur Championship Metropolitan Cup Matches Each season MAGA is fortunate to hire two interns Four-Ball Championship through the PJ Boatwright Internship Program from the Mid-America Junior Cup USGA. MAGA is happy to have hired Michael Kegin and USGA QUALIFYING ROUNDS Nicholas Wojciechowski. Both are University of Missouri US Open Qualifying (Local and Sectional) students, Kegin is graduating this semester with his Bachelor US Senior Open Qualifying Degree in Park, Recreation and Tourism. Wojciechowski is US Amateur Qualifying completing his sophomore year at Mizzou and is an Evans US Mid-Amateur Qualifying Scholar, marking the 5th consecutive year MAGA will have US Women’s Mid-Amateur an Evans Scholar for the summer. We will profile these two US Junior Amateur Qualifying in the next issue of The Metropolitan. US Amateur Public Links Qualifying US Senior Amateur Qualifying US Women’s Open Qualifying The Play 9 Series was schedule to kick off April 25, but US Amateur Four-Ball with only 10 entries for the opening event we elected to US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball postpone the Ballwin GC event. Our hopes are to gain some traction with the next event May 9 at Joachim GC and re- EXECUTIVE BOARD schedule Ballwin for later this summer. Stanford S. Grossman – President Emeritus Thomas J. O’Toole Jr. – Vice-President Thomas O. Sobbe Jr. – Vice-President The really busy months are around the corner with May M. Ray McCraine – Secretary being extremely busy to start off the summer. Thank you for G. Scott Engelbrecht – Treasurer taking a few minutes to read The Metropolitan and catch up G.F. (Rick) Meyer Jr. – At-Large Member on what is going on around MAGA and remember to check H. Mick Wellington – At-Large Member out WWW.METGA.ORG for more updates on upcoming MAGA news! ADVISORY COMMITTEE Scott Thomas, Chairman Dustin Ashby Keep it in the fairway! As always, feel free to reach out Tom Barry to me at [email protected] . Skip Berkmeyer Jim Dunn Curt David Rhoads Curt Rohe 2 The Metropolitan March - April 2015 player asked the Official “Why didn’t you tell me I had the option of playing from the tee, my provisional ball was only two feet from the hole?” The Official ULES OF OLF ORNER explained that since the player’s original ball was R G C found and identified within five minutes of the player’s arrival, his provisional ball was no longer in play and WHEN TO ABANDON PROVISIONAL BALL had to be abandoned [Rule 27-2c]. [Note: even if he had holed his provisional ball, it would not have The third hole at Normandie Golf Club is a counted]. Had the player decided to proceed under downhill 200-yard par 3. Players know that a tee shot the Rule 26-1a, he would have had to return to the veering toward the area short and right of the green is teeing ground under stroke and distance, hitting problematic. This area cannot be seen from the back three. tee and incorporates a cart path, large bushes near the green, a couple stately trees, a small stream, a bridge, But what if the player, having found his ball in the a lateral water hazard overgrown with small trees and lateral hazard, had proceeded to play his provisional brush, and sometimes ground under repair. Lots of ball (now out of play) just two feet from the hole? He things can happen – most of them bad. would have incurred a two-stroke penalty for playing a wrong ball [Rule 27-2c] and been required to correct During the 2014 Normandie Amateur, a player hit his action [Rule 15-3] by playing his original ball as it his tee shot toward this area. A spectator lay in the lateral hazard or proceeding under a Rule accompanying the group, who happened to be 26-1 option. If he had not done so before teeing off standing in this area, heard the ball rattle around at the 4th tee, he would have been disqualified. among tree branches and thud to the ground. He quickly followed the sound into the lateral hazard and Contributed by John Thorman, MAGA Rules saw a “fresh” ball, which he pointed out to a nearby Committee. The Rules of Golf Corner will feature a Official. All of this was unbeknownst to the player who member of our Rules Committee. appropriately played a provisional ball (in case his Rule 13-1: Play the Ball as it lies. original was lost outside the lateral water hazard; Rule 27-2a), hitting it stiff to within a few feet of the hole. Rule 26-1: Relief for Ball in Water Hazard; a. Proceed under the stroke and distance provision of The player made his way down the hill and the ball Rule 27-1 by playing a ball as nearly as possible at the was pointed out to him. He identified it as his ball and spot from which the original ball was last played (see inquired as to his options. Playing the ball as it lay Rule 20-5); or b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point [Rule 13-1] was risky given the mushy ground covered at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the with sticks and leaves. Playing the ball within two club water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on lengths of where it last crossed the margin of the which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far hazard [Rule 26-1c(i)] posed a challenging shot over a behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or bunker fronting the green. Not at all practical were c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the options of playing from behind the lateral hazard, the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and keeping the point where the ball last crossed the not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original margin of the hazard between the hole and the spot on ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) which the player would drop the ball [Rule 26-1b], or a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard playing from within two club lengths of a point on the equidistant from the hole. As additional options opposite margin of the hazard equidistant from the available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hole [Rule 26-1c(ii)]. The player decided to play his hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the ball as it lay before the Official could mention hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed proceeding under stroke and distance (i.e., replaying the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the the tee shot; Rule 26-1a). opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole. Unfortunately, the player took three strokes in Rule 27-2c: Provisional Ball; When Provisional Ball to extricating his ball from the hazard, which led to a high be Abandoned score for the hole.