Golf Rules

Golf rules are hard to understand.  Most golfers have never seen the inside of a rule book.  Basically they just hit the ball, find it and hit it again.  That works pretty well until you run into some tricky situation, such as your ball is resting on a sprinkler head.  What do you do next.  Well, you hope someone in your group knows the rules better than you.  You ask for help.

On the PGA Tour, they usually have a rules official you can ask.  Pro golfers are really scared of making a mistake because it could cost them tons of money.  Many times they consult an official even when they know what to do.  Better safe than sorry.

To make things worse, any fan watching television can call and point out a rule violation -- usually hours after the golfer has signed his scorecard.  This happened to Camilo Villegas at Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.  I'll spare you the details, but he unknowingly violated Rule 23 (look it up, it will be good for you).  A fan called in after Villegas'  round pointing out his rule violation and Camilo was disqualified.

Try calling the NBA to point out a foul that was missed.  Or better yet, call the NFL to complain about a missed holding call.  They would laugh at you -- as they should.  When I am King, I will order the PGA to turn off their phones during all tournaments.  If people want to bitch about a ruling, start a blog.