No Such Thing as Illegal Pin Placements

Setting up a golf course is tricky. Not only do you have to rotate tee box locations and pin placements, you have to do so knowing someone will not like what you did. Such was the case yesterday when a few people joked or complained about the tough hole locations.

Certainly there were challenging pin placements but I don't think any could be considered illegal. Also, like wind and rain, it was the same conditions for eveyone. We all had to hit at the same pins and putt toward the same holes.

Now I will admit, I have sometimes tampered with the course setup. Most often it is moving tee boxes back or forth. Sometimes it is to find fresh patches of grass to avoid undue wear. Occasionally it is to make things easier such as when I go to the front of the third teebox when there is a strong west wind. I don't mess with the tee boxes on Men's Night though...at least not since Robin caught me doing it a couple of weeks ago. I did suggest moving a tee box slightly ahead yesterday after hitting a tree branch in my backswing. That seemed reasonable at the time.

The PGA rule 15-3(ii) recommends that holes should be placed at least four paces from any edge of the putting green and even futher if there is a sand trap near the edge or if the areas surrounding the green slopes downward. The key word in the previous sentence is "recommends". As far as I know, there is no minimum distance a pin must be from the fringe.

The rules also suggest that at least a 2 foot radiius surrounding the hole should be nearly as level as possible and of uniform grade. The hole shouldn't be placed on a steep slope on which a missed putt from above will roll a long distance from the cup. In this context, the hole placement on #3 yesterday might be questionable...but it was not illegal.

Having been part of the golf club board for a while, I know there are no shortage of opinions about how we do things. I recall voices of opposition to building the campground. Some people deemed it an unnecessary expense and a potential revenue loser. We know now that is not the case. At the time, it was frustrating to hear people complain when we were trying to improve the course. 

Recalling that frustration, I will pledge to be better. I will not complain about where the pins are and I will not move the tee boxes. We have a small but great group of employees and volunteers that put in a tremendous amount of time giving us a great place to play golf. I am going to resolve to be even more grateful and less critical of their efforts. I encourage you all to consider doing the same.

We had 36 golfers last night. Three of them scored 39 for the low round. Obviously they didn't have too much trouble with the hole locations. Good job Robin Kimpinski, Joel Ostash, and Dale Martin.

Skins only went on three holes. Austin Hunter won two alone when paired with the dummy card. He got $41.25 on #2 and $22.50 on #7. The remaining skin was claimed by Stephen David and Charlie McNabb ($22.50 on #5).

Closest to the pins were Charles McKay on #5 and Kevin Bartam on #9. Kevin had one of the four deuces with the others being recorded by Stephen David, Dale Martin, and Rhys Lanouette.

The Horse Race is scheduled for Saturday, July 25. Anyone interested in playing is asked to contact Scott Maynes.

Finally, don't forget the Nine and Dine tomorrow evening. This will be an opportunity for anyone who didn't play last night to complain about the pin placements.