Ladies’ Golf Blog
New Competition
There is a new competition in the diary on 27th September. Originally, I had saved the date for an event open only to those who challenged in a Captain and Pro; however, another exciting event presented itself and the diary was so tight that we decided to combine the two. The format will be fourball better ball with a shotgun start at 9am, followed by lunch, and a fashion show, where Head Golf Professional Ricky Pharo and the Sport Shop team will launch the autumn and winter golf collections. Similar to the Annual Medal and Stableford, only my challengers will be eligible to win one set of prizes, but there will also be an array of prizes for all entrants!
Challengers, playing in their original pair, have the option to sign up for the competition before the event opens on IntelligentGolf to the general section. Please email Louis Laville to secure your tee – louis.laville@roehamptonclub.co.uk!
Wallis Team
A huge congratulations to the Wallis Team for making it to the quarter finals of the competition, which is the deepest Roehampton Club have gone in this event. They had a fantastic run, beating clubs from Wimbledon Common, Hankley Common and Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Clubs. Unfortunately, they lost home and away to a very strong team from Windlesham Golf Club, so their season now comes to an end.
Competitions
Stableford 9th August
Congratulations to Rosemary Paterson, shooting 42 Points to win the Senior Ladies Trophy!
Silver Division Points
1st Tricia Culliford 39 (countback)
2nd Liz Collins 39 (countback)
3rd Angela Atkins 39 (countback)
Bronze Division Points
1st Rosemary Paterson 42
2nd Caroline Fairnie 39 (countback)
3rd Anna Tingle 39
Medal 16 August
Congratulations to:
Silver Division Nett
1st Siobain Rolston 72
2nd Gilly Webb-Wilson 74 Countback
3rd Tricia Culliford 74
Bronze Division Nett
1st Jinni Featherstone-Witty 67 Countback
2nd Cathy Stoddart 67
3rd Tessa Ringrose 69
Captain and Pro Match
Ricky and I had a most enjoyable game against Trish Boyington and Jane Peel. The challengers were on fire and gave us a proper thrashing. Jane had an amazing eagle 2 on the 18th hole, which had everyone on the terrace cheering.
What you can move on the course …
Just a refresher on what can be moved on the course, and what happens if you move your ball in doing so …
Rule 15 allows Loose Impediments to be removed:
- Loose Impediments are unattached natural objects such as stones, loose grass, leaves, branches, insects and similar that can be removed easily, clumps of compacted soil (including aeration plugs), etc
- Loose Impediments can be removed in any way, such as by hand or by using a towel or club
- if the player has marked her ball anywhere other than on the green, such as when it is in her opponent’s path, she may not remove a loose impediment that, if moved when the ball was at rest, would have been likely to have caused her ball to move. Doing so results in a one-shot penalty
- if the player’s ball moves when she is removing a Loose Impediment, the ball must be replaced on its original spot. If the ball was anywhere other than the putting green or teeing area, the player gets a one-shot penalty
- Sand and loose soil are not loose impediments in the general area of play, but may be brushed away on the putting green
- Natural objects are not considered loose if they are attached or growing, solidly embedded in the ground or sticking to the ball, although weirdly spider webs are considered loose impediments even though they are sticking to another object
Rule 15 also covers Moveable Obstructions, which are man-made objects.
- These may be removed as above, however the difference is that if the ball moves it must be replaced on its original spot but there is NO penalty applied. So, for example if your ball comes to rest on the grass next to a rake that has been left out of a bunker, or lands on top of a towel that was dropped on the course, you may move those objects and return your ball to its original position.
- Please note that you may NOT move tee markers when playing from the teeing area, nor may you move out of bounds stakes.
As the Rule Book is very clear that you can only remove natural objects that are dead and unattached, what does this mean when your ball is very near to plants that are healthy and growing?! Rule 8 allows that a player must use the least intrusive course of action to take her stance. So, she may back into a branch or bushes when that is the only way to take her stance, even if this moves the branch out of the way or causes it to bend or break or bend a branch with her hands to get under a tree to play a ball when that is the only way to get under a tree to take her stance. However, if the player does more than is necessary, she risks a one-shot penalty.
Examples of actions that are not considered fair are:
- Deliberately moving, bending or breaking branches to get them out of the way
- Standing on tall grass or weeds in any way that pushes them down and to the side so that they are out of the way, when a stance could have been taken without doing so
- Hooking one branch on another or braid two weeds together
Please see the Rule Book for more details and for very specific situations you might encounter.