When retrieving your ball, be “cup conscious,” says one superintendent.
Twitter: @shanerice33
When he isn’t busy doing crunches and chugging smoothies, Gary Player can typically be discovered sharing his opinions.
One of his latest scorching takes centered on an replace to the Rules of Golf that he described because the “worst rule ever.”
That could be Rule 13.2 a (2), which was revised in 2019 to provide gamers the choice of leaving the flagstick in when placing.
The aim was to assist enhance the tempo of play, and in that sense, mission completed.
But Player believes there’s been a draw back.
The ‘worst rule ever invented,’ in accordance with Gary Player
Alan Bastable
“You get these guy with their big hands, and they go to take the ball out of the cup, and they squeeze their hand in between the cup and the flag. They pull the cup up, and every cup you play now is raised.”
That’s hyperbole, in fact. But Player has a degree. Jamming your hand into the cup can certainly trigger harm.
So, what are the correct and incorrect methods to drag your ball from the underside of the jar? And if you happen to inadvertently harm a cup, what’s the easiest way to restore it?
With assist from Tom Kaplun, superintendent at North Hempstead Country Club, in Port Washington, N.Y., and a 19-year member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, we lined up a listing of guidelines.
Take it low and sluggish
There’s a nice line between brisk play and reckless haste. When you retrieve your ball, resist the urge to hurry. The most secure method is to take away the flagstick slowly and attain your hand in gently. No slamming. No jamming. No harm carried out.
Be cup aware
Let’s say you’re feeling lazy and eradicating the flagstick looks as if an excessive amount of effort. OK, nice. But do your fellow golfers and the upkeep crew a favor and take precautions. At North Hempstead, Kaplun requests that golfers be “cup conscious.” That means urgent your hand flat in opposition to the stick and sliding it slowly into the cup. In most instances, you’ll be able to pinch the ball between two fingers and take away it with out affecting the cup edge.
Ed. observe: Here’s that approach demonstrated by Shane Rice, the superintendent at Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club in Haines City, Fla.:
Forget your flatstick
Putters are designed to knock balls into the opening, to not pull them out. Using the top of your putter as a retrieval software is a no-no. “The cup is not large enough, and the scoop action destroys the edge,” Kaplun says. The market is awash in ball-retrieval gizmos, together with mini-plungers that connect to the butt of the putter grip. Those might be OK, Kaplun says, however they will also be “problematic” if you happen to’re utilizing a putter with a fats grip.
Don’t attempt to finesse it with the flagstick
You know the one the place you attempt to get the ball out by popping it from the opening with the flagstick? Kaplun is not a fan of that method both, because it typically includes tilting and jiggling the pole in opposition to the cup, which may knock the perimeters out of spherical.
12 golfer habits that *actually* annoy superintendents, in accordance with superintendents
Josh Sens
Some programs use edge-saving gadgets that sit on the backside of the cup, with a plate that lifts when golfers pull the flagstick, bringing the ball up with it. Those work properly, Kaplun says. The solely drawback is that golfers typically overlook they’re there and take another ham-fisted method as a substitute.
During the pandemic, some programs positioned pool noodles within the cup to forestall the ball from dropping all the way in which to the underside. Kaplun says that was the perfect edge-saving system he noticed throughout lockdowns. He favored it a lot, he’s considering of implementing it at his membership subsequent yr.
Repairing harm
If you harm a cup edge, don’t really feel dangerous. But do restore it.
Kaplun recommends utilizing a ball to faucet the dinged-up edge again into place. If the harm causes upheaval across the cup itself, Kaplun suggests utilizing the flat a part of your putter to faucet the lifted tufts again down.
