TERRE HAUTE — In baseball, there are things that the groundskeepers can do to a ball field to make the game play more to the liking of the home team, or at least be set up in a way that should favor the home team.
The length of grass and the amount of water used on the infield can affect ground balls and base running. In golf, how the greens keeper sets up a course for play has a great effect on how the scoring will go. Have you ever played a round and wondered if something out of the ordinary was added to the greens keeper’s corn flakes that morning? Those are the days when the pins seem to be in all the most difficult places.
A case in point was the set up for The Masters this year. This was the first time in Tiger Woods’ professional career that he had zero rounds under par for the tournament. The Masters is known for having slick, fast greens, placing great importance on a player’s short-game ability, but this year it had two extra ingredients to help defend the course from lower scores.
One, the weather, with cooler than usual temperatures (barely out of the 50s) and no rain since Tuesday night, was beyond the control of the greens committee. The other factor was manmade, via its new chairman of the Competition Committee, Fred Ridley, who is the immediate past president of the United States Golf Association. Not known for his compassionate nature where U.S. Open set ups were concerned, this year’s Master’s tournament stayed tough all four days.
What any greens keeper strives for in setting up a course, is fair play. That means allowing players to play the ball down as much as possible. They really don’t like marking up their course with white paint to mark ground under repair; someone might think they had been derelict in their duties!
However, there are areas that might need to be marked as ground under repair, especially near or on the greens and fairways, in order to make for fair play. The greens keeper can place the pin on a green in an area that is less likely to be affected by some ground under repair.
Last week during boys high school sectionals, the greens keeper at Rolling Meadows should have marked an area on the fifth green as under repair. This would have allowed players relief, or at least have had the pin in a different place. As it was, many players chose to use a wedge to get over the hard, cracked mud on the green rather than attempt to putt through it. That was a poor job of preparing for a tournament.
In order to make courses fair, greens keepers try to rotate the placement and difficulty of pin placements on the greens. A rule of thumb is the 6-6-6 rule, meaning pin placements at the front for six, middle for six, and at the back of the green for six holes. Within those areas, they’ll also try to make six placements easy, six of medium difficulty, and six with tough pin placements. Usually the closer a pin is to the edge of the green, the more difficult it is to get a ball in the hole.
Besides the ability to affect play through pin placement, the greens keeper can also affect play and scoring by tee placement. Again the 6-6-6 rule is usually applied, making for six forward, six middle and six back tee placements.
Usually a back tee placement means it is more difficult, but it is possible with some holes to alter the difficulty by moving the teeing area to one side or the other. Attention needs to be paid when placing tee markers to allow for two club-lengths back, and also that branches or bushes do not interfere with a players’ swing from any spot on the teeing ground.
The other area that greens keepers have great affect on scoring is the length of grass, in fairways, rough, and especially on the greens. Weather needs to be taken into account when it comes to mowing. In the spring when there is a lot of rain, if the mowers don’t keep the rough well mown, not only is scoring affected but also pace of play! Nobody likes to spend time on every hole searching for balls. In the hottest time of summer, greens might be allowed to grow a little bit longer rather than risk burning them out. Usually they are hard and firm at that time of year anyway, so making the greens lightning fast is not as much of a priority.
Remember to do your part in keeping our local greens keepers happy; repair divots and ball marks, rake traps, and keep trash off the course. Maybe you’ll be more likely to get that favorable bounce next time you play!
Quote of the Day: “Now I make my own rules — so tomorrow I shoot 64.”
— Roberto DeVicenzo when elected an Honorary Member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
Jennifer Myers can be reached by e-mail at jfmyers@xsthe.net.
Vigo County Golf Leagues
T.H. Elks Ladies 9-hole — Low gross: Lucy James. Low net: Vivian Niemyer. Low putts: Niemyer. Play of the day: Carolyn Sweeting, Dorothy Dwyer. Chip-in: Mary Silvers. Birdie: Silvers.
Rea Park Wednesday Evening Ladies — Week 5 results: Cannon-Bocard 13, Hamilton-Hiatt 12, Padgett-Johnson 12, Honselman-Long 11, Meyer-Atterson 10, Newton-Bedwell 10, Anderson-Spurr 9, Harden-Snow 9, Mann-Mahalek 7, Horrall-Mozley 6, Hyde-Rusk 6, Durand-Petty 6, Lanke-Pair 6, Swalls-McAleese 5, McCord-Clements 4, Ugo-Whitaker 2. Low gross: Brenda Anderson 39. Low net: Anderson, Sandy Lanke 32. Chip-ins: Lanke (2), Elizabeth Newton (3), Royce Whitaker (4), Mary Jean Petty (8).
Paitson’s Roofing Eastside Ladies — Standings: Sandy’s Touch of Magic 277, Mowbray Consulting 269, Turner Coach 254, Baesler’s Market 242, Coaches Corner 241, Daphne’s Beauty Shop 224, Page’s Market 207, Advanced Chiropractic 206. Low gross: Fay King 42. Low net: King 28. Play of the day: Kathy Nasser. Chip-in: Jimma Lou Comer (13). Birdie: Ann Hart 14.
Rea Park Tuesday Women’s 18-hole — Low gross: Sharon Horrall 80. Low net: Sandy Stabler 63. Eagle: Elizabeth Newton (8). Birdie: Susan Amerman (1), Stabler (6, 8), Sandy Sears (16). Chip-in: Amerman (1). Newton (8, 10), Stabler (8), Sears (16). Play of the day: Carolyn Hyde, Joyce Stipanuk.
Idle Creek Wednesday Evening — Low gross: Sean Brinkman 39. Low net: Brad Binns, Mark Furniss 32. Longest putt: Charlie Brinkman (14), S. Brinkman (12).
Idle Creek Home Builders — Low gross: Dan Ridge 36. Low net: Steve Scheid 28, Jim Pankey 29. Longest putt: Scheid (6). Closest to pin: Scheid (5).
Rea Park First Financial Bank Ladies 9-hole — Standings: Shepard’s Gas 181, VFW No. 1 171, Elliott Jewelers 168, Tabco 162, VFW No. 2 151, Bratt Animal Hospital 127. Low gross: Handley 51. Low net: Foster, Garrison 36. Play of the day: Patsy Miller (12, low putts).
Terre Haute Savings Bank men’s — National Division standings: Complete Kitchen & Bath 292, Lough Bros. 250, Pizza Hut 225, Fore Seasons Golf Complex 224, Paitson Bros. 223, SMC 183, Page’s Market 180, T.H. Savings Bank 153. Low gross: Jim Higgins (Complete Kitchen & Bath) 38. Low net: Jim Higgins (Complete Kitchen & Bath) 33, Robert Siner (Fore Seasons Golf Course 33. American Division standings: VFW No. 972 249, Lee Appraisal Service 244, Pabst Painting 229, Spring Clean Car Wash 219, Salt of the Earth 219, Poplar Flower Shop 203, Gurman Container 201, Callahan Funeral Home 184. Low gross: David Shirley (Poplar Flower Shop) 37. Low net: David Shirley (Poplar Flower Shop) 27.
Mark’s Par Three — Low gross: Don Bowden 35, Jim Foxworthy 35. Low net: Kenneth Coffin 26. Closest to pin: Jim Lindsay (No. 14), Longest putt: Charlie Compton (No. 17), Longest drive: Jim Foxworthy (No. 13). Standings: Old National Trust 286, Mattingly Collision 285, Midwest Gas 279, Tabco 273, Fuson Cadillac 259, Vigo Bowl 252, Don Wills Cash Register 238, Dew Drop Inn 234.
On & Off the Course
On and Off the Course: Set-up of course can have big effect
- On & Off the Course
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Death Notice: Feb. 7, 2013
• Gary R. Wright
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Donna Lynn Strahla Bown
Donna Lynn Strahla Bown passed away early Friday morning, Jan. 25, 2013, with her children by her side.
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‘The Match’ pitting amateurs vs. pros recalled 62 years later
Quote of the Day: “I play golf with friends sometimes, but there are never friendly games.” — Ben Hogan.
Bubba Watson has had a busy fall. Not only did he play all the way to the final round of the FedEx Championships, and in the Ryder Cup, he also played in an event commemorating a very famous match played at Cypress Point in 1956, pitting two of the greatest golf pros at the time against two of the best amateurs.
Come to think of it, all four were some of the best golfers of all time. This year’s event was celebrating The First Tee’s exceeding $100 million in pledges to reach 10 million new young people. It wasn’t televised and kept very quiet; only 225 people were in the gallery.
One of the people in the gallery was Mark Frost, the author of a book titled “The Match,” which is about that match played 62 years ago that was re-enacted in modern terms last week. The pros in 1956 were Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson and the amateurs were Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward. It was supposed to have been a private affair, built around a wager by two millionaires, George Coleman and Eddie Lowery. -
ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf from the wrong side of the brain
Imagine this scenario: a woman, small in stature (possibly freckled), walks into a hospital emergency room and says, “I have an emergency, I need a doctor quickly!” The admitting nurse, ever trying to be helpful, asks what the emergency is.
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Farmers looking at widely varying yields
Combines will roll through fields this weekend, bringing in the harvest from a summer with nearly no rain.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf debut in London would have been nice
As the Olympics get underway in London this weekend, I was thinking it’s too bad that the Olympic committee decided too late to add golf as one of the sports for this event; instead it will be added to the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Getting to Hoosier country’s best golfing venue part of the fun
If you are looking for Indiana’s premier golfing destination, then you should look no further than French Lick.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Indiana's Pete Dye courses worth the drive
You’ve probably heard of the Robert Trent Jones Golf trail throughout Alabama, but you might not be aware that Indiana has its own “Pete Dye Golf Trail” comprised of seven courses.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fathers typically a big influence on golfing sons
Some events fall naturally into place around holidays. The Fourth of July always falls somewhere during Wimbledon, giving all of the Yanks in attendance something to be boisterous about, to the chagrin of their hosts; The Masters often, but not always, ends on Easter Sunday, which is fitting since golfers find it such a reverent occasion.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Memorial just one of many visions of Jack Nicklaus
When Jack Nicklaus was a young man, the golfer he most admired was Bob Jones.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: With some tricky rules, golf is not a walk in the park
Golf is not a casual sport, even though it has a term called “casual water.”
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On and off the course: Sycamores seeded sixth heading into MVC golf tourney
It wasn’t too long ago that Indiana State University didn’t even have a women’s golf team.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: A hard ticket to come by
This is the weekend of the Masters Tournament, the first of the four major tournaments.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Some things on golf course are worse than steep putts
It’s not often that anything gets more scary on a golf course than a steep downhill putt, but on some courses around the world, things a little more on the supernatural side might give you a bigger fright!
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The shot heard round the world
I don’t know if the Golf Channel will show a “Best Shots of 2011” highlight reel, much like ESPN does for baseball or football.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Red, White and Blue visits the Isle of Green
In 2006, the Ryder Cup was held in Ireland at The K Club in County Kildare.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fall may be coming but golf season is far from over
Once the major tournaments are over with, what’s there to look forward to in the world of golf?
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf… simplified!
Golf is not a simple game. A golf course is made up of 18 holes, all different. There are par-3s, par-4s and par-5s; they all vary in length and elevation, and each has its own challenges. There can be water hazards, trees, sand bunkers, tall grass, hills, valleys — and then, if that’s not enough, there’s probably wind too.
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On and Off the Course: Northern Ireland builds on golf history
Northern Ireland is only about 5,452 square miles in area and has a population about the same as West Virginia, which is about 1,880,344.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Women’s Open at the Broadmoor
This is the weekend of the U.S. Women’s Open, and this year it’s being played at The Broadmoor, East Course, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Fort Golf Course: A Walk in the Park…
Indiana has some pretty spectacular state parks, but one of them gives you the ability to “spoil a good walk” by chasing a little white ball.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Father’s Day is a good day for golfers
Most people consider the time around Christmas to be the gift-buying season.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Playing with lead a difficult task
As exciting as last week’s Masters was, with six players being tied for the lead at one point on Sunday, it was very difficult watching Rory McIlroy fall apart to shoot an 80.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Masters a rite of spring
This is Masters weekend, the grand kickoff to the golf season for a lot of golfers. Sure, there have been tournaments on TV, because the professionals have been playing in Hawaii, California, Texas, Dubai, and other areas not so affected by winter as we are here in the Midwest, but to me, watching The Masters is a rite of spring.
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ON THE OFF THE COURSE: Some history on the Ryder Cup
I fell asleep in way too many history classes to ever qualify as a history buff. However, since I have grown up a bit (not much), I enjoy learning about all kinds of history. I often have questions about how something began, or how something came to be.
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On and Off the Course: Purdue's Kampen Course a gem in Indiana's rough
About a month ago, Indiana was still heavily mired in heat and humidity, making outdoor activities such as golf less appealing than usual. At that time it felt like the repressive heat would never go away, it would never rain again, and all of the grass was just going to continue to wither and die. And the month prior to that we kept getting rained out of golf events!
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On and Off the Course: Successful golfers know ... focus is the key
I have a good friend who coached his daughter’s basketball team for a number of years, and told me that his theme with the girls was always “focus”, until it was ingrained in their brains. Now when they play high school ball, if they hear “focus” yelled from the stands, they know the source.
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On and Off the Course: Technology adds even more fun to the course
You’ve hit a drive into some brush in an area marked as a hazard, but you can’t find the ball to prove it is there. And no one actually witnessed it go in the hazard. You just think that’s where it probably is. What is the rule for this situation?
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On and Off the Course: Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic a worthwhile charity event
On Monday, I worked as a volunteer for the Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic, Golf Tournament and Auction at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Indianapolis. It was an absolutely beautiful day, with clear blue skies, just a few wispy clouds here and there and a high temperature of about 76 degrees.
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On and Off the Course: Trends show golf in decline
You don’t have to watch the news or read the paper to understand that America is struggling on the economic front. The evidence can be witnessed at the local golf course.
- More On & Off the Course Headlines
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Death Notice: Feb. 7, 2013
Raw: Massive Funnel Clouds in Oklahoma
Raw: Widespread Destruction in Moore, Okla.
Raw: Rescue Workers Search Oklahoma School
Raw: Tornado on the Ground in Oklahoma
Raw: Aftermath of Massive Tornado in Oklahoma
Active Search for Utah Missing Mom Ends
Huge Tornado Kills Dozens Near Oklahoma City
Raw: Aerials Show Path of Oklahoma Destruction
Voters Could Elect LA's First Female Mayor
Raw: Rescuers Pull Tornado Survivors to Safety
Raw: Japan's WWII Atrocities Under Fire in Seoul
Raw: Aussie Zoo Shows Off White Rhino Calf
Oklahoma Gov: 'Hearts Are Broken' After Tornado
Raw: Walking in a Flattened Okla. Neighborhood
Obama Pledges Urgent Aid for Tornado Victims
Horse Saved From Slaughter, Goes on to Win Big
MLB Hoping for Large Replay Expansion in 2014
Raw: Witness Describes Scene After Okla. Tornado
America's Cup Officials Say Race Will Continue
Raw: Suspects Butt Dial 911, Lead to Arrest
VIRAL: Baby makes epic soccer goal
Arias Tells Jury What She'd Do if She Gets Life
The all-new Xbox One
RAW: Massive tornado strikes Oklahoma
VIDEO: Teacher reunites mother and son after tornado levels elementary school in Oklahoma City
Okla. tornado survivor finds dog buried alive under rubble
Jennifer Lawrence Gets Naked and Painted Blue as X-Men's Mystique
Pickler's Dance Moves Cause A Stir
Obama to tornado survivors: The country stands beside you
Reporter Cries Over Devastation
Sneak Peek: 'Modern Family' Says Good Bye
Trailer: 'The Last Stand' Available on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, Digital Download
IWitness Look at Moore, OK Tornado
RAW: Moore, OK tornado touches down near school
Robert Pattinson Moves Out
RAW: Russian dash cam catches car 20 feet in the air
Oklahoma tornado survivor: "Everything is gone"
Khloe Lashes Out at Kim Kardashian's Critics
Couple Argues As Woman's Lover Crawls Out Window
RAW: Brad Paisley Forgets Lyrics To His Own Song
