Golf In New York City Blog

Rules of Golf Changes For 2008
The United States Golf Association and the Royal &Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, Scotland recently announced many changes to the Rules of golf that will change the way the game is played. These two organizations are joint authors and owners of The Rules of Golf and Decisions on the Rules of Golf. Every four years they meet to Re-writes, interpret and maintain the Rules of Golf to guard the tradition and integrity of golf. These changes take effect on January 1, 2008.
Any changes to the Rules of Golf fall into one of two broad categories. Changes that improve the clarity of the Rules and changes that reduce the penalties in certain situations for fairness.
Some notable 2008 changes are:
Definition Advice - Amended to allow the exchange of information on distance,
as it is not considered to be “advice.”
Definition Lost Ball - Amended to clarify substituted ball issues and to include
the concept of “stroke-and-distance”
Definition Matches – Withdrawn, no longer in the rule book. Replaced by two
new Definitions, “Forms of Match Play” and “Forms of Stroke Play.”
Rule 4-1 Reduction in penalty for carrying, but not using, a non-conforming
club from disqualification to, in stroke play, a penalty of two strokes
per hole, with a maximum penalty of four strokes for the round.
Rule 12-2 A golfer will be allowed to lift a ball for identification in a bunker or
water hazard.
Rule 15-3 There now will be a two-stroke penalty for playing a wrong
ball from a hazard. In match play, the penalty will be loss of hole.
Rule 19-2 The penalty for the accidental deflection of a ball by a player, his
partner or either of their caddies or equipment will be reduced to one
penalty stroke in both match play and stroke play. (In 2007, the
penalty was loss of hole in match play and two strokes in stroke play.)
Design of Clubs
Adjustability - Amended to allow forms of adjustability other than
weight adjustment, subject to evaluation by the USGA.
Rules of Amateur Status
Rule 3-2a — Exception amended to clarify a cash prize for a
hole-in-one made while playing golf is permissible.

These changes will be included in the new editions of “2008-2009 The Rules of Golf”, “2008-2009 Decisions on The Rules of Golf” can be ordered online at www.usgapubs.com or by calling the USGA Order Department at (800) 336-4446.

For a full report on the changes go to usga.org.

To discuss any of these please visit our golf forum

Three Day Golf Programs offered during January and February in Port St. Lucie, Florida - Each School Limited to 6 Students.

Advantages of Attending:

• Three Day Program – First Two Days 8:00a.m. to 6 p.m. Last Day 8 to Noon.
• Accommodations are not Included. Bill Castner Can Provide A List of Hotels 
• 22 Hours of Quality Golf Instruction (See Curriculum)
• Six to One Student to Instructor Ratio. Instruction by Bill Castner.
• Adults and Junior Golfers Welcome
• Lunch Provided
• 36 Holes of Championship Golf - On Course Play (See Curriculum)
• Beautiful Location, World Class Practice Facilities, Great Golf Courses
• Video Instruction
• Unlimited Range Time
• Work Book

All Inclusive $895 Per Adult Student

All Inclusive $795 Per Junior Student

Florida Dates:

• School 1 - Thursday December 20 to Saturday December 22
• School 2 - Thursday December 27 to Saturday December 29
• School 3 - Saturday January 19 to Monday January 21
• School 4 - Friday February 1 to Sunday February 3
• School 5 - Friday March 7 to Sunday March 9

See Winter Golf In Florida 2008 for more information and to download the application form

Jack Nicklaus: Simply the Best! By Martin Davis

There have been many books written about the career of legendary Jack Nicklaus, but few are as informative and photographically outstanding as Martin Davis’ latest, Jack Nicklaus – Simply the Best!

Davis starts off the book with an overall tribute to Nicklaus’ many accomplishments. “Jack’s basic numbers are easy to remember. It’s just a straight arithmetic progression – 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 – as in one NCAA Championship, two U.S. Amateurs, three British Opens, four U.S. Opens, five PGA’s, six Masters and a member of seven winning Ryder Cup teams.”

From there, the book is basically divided into three sections, the first part filled with vignettes by some of Nicklaus’ better known on-course competitors, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson. Each speaks about the great respect that they have for Nicklaus, along with some his attributes, which really struck them.

“Jack was a different animal altogether, unlike anything I had ever chased” says Palmer. “It was uncanny how he could concentrate on the task at hand. I have never seen anyone who could stay that focused the way he did.”

Dave Anderson, the Pulitzer Prize winning writer from the New York Times, provides a lengthy biographical essay entitled “He Always Made the Putt (…Well, Almost Always).
Humorist Dan Jenkins talks about his “precautious” playing style, acknowledging his twenty second-place finishes in Majors. “Jack was first or second in 39 major championships. Think about that for a moment. How many more majors he might have won.”

“He had a way of knowing just how good he was and he never let his self-confidence, and often stubbornness, melt into arrogance,” adds broadcaster Jack Whitaker in his essay entitled “Always a Presence.”

The middle section of the book is filled with extensive photographs of Nicklaus’ swing and putting stroke, dating back to when he was 13 years old, with analysis by golf instructor Jim Flick.

The remaining two-hundred pages provides a complete reporting (both in writing and photos) of the major events in Nicklaus’ life, starting with the 1956 Ohio Open, and including his twenty major victories, a few misses, some team championships, his golf course design business, photographs from the Jack Nicklaus Museum and much more.
The finale comes with a 5-½ foot timeline of his life, folded into a two-page spread of Nicklaus being honored by the Ohio State University marching band during their football half-time tribute to him.

Between the well-written essays and more than 600 photographs, this coffee-table sized book is a “must-have” for any true historian of golf.
(Available at local books stores and also on-line. It is published by American Golfer, and retails for $60. It is the fifth book in a series on the world’s greatest golfers).