GOLF: Careful with that Local Rule for there is no relief after out-of-bounds ball

Golf Park Ngong Racecourse

Over at the Ngong Racecourse, there is a gem of a horse-nibbled nine-hole course called Golf Park.

On the eastern of course is the Ngong Forest which is home to a number of animals, including warthogs that regularly visit the course. The Nairobi District league team from Golf Park, also known as The Warthogs, are hardly beaten at their home course.

This is because of the fact that even though Golf Park is generally flat and short, has shallow bunkers and very friendly penalty areas, it probably has more internal out-of-bounds between holes than any two golf courses in Kenya.

Golf Park has always been known as the school of golf since it is the only quasi-public golf facility in country. Many beginners in Nairobi, including yours truly, have spent several hours learning the game at Golf Park.

Every Saturday you will hear the loud litanies of “aargh!” from the golfers who have hit their ball out of bounds. The horses and warthogs have become accustomed to the shouts and only lift their mild munching faces to briefly regard the noise-making golfers.

Without wishing to ridicule them, for I once counted among the rank and file of the beginners at the Golf Park, the new Rules of Golf must have come as a welcome relief to the newbies.

The fact that there were numerous videos and pictures from the Internet showing how to take relief on the fairway for a two-stroke penalty after hitting a ball out-of-bounds, made some of them adopt the rule as properly prescribed. 

Typically one is supposed to play a ball from the same place where they hit the previous ball out-of-bounds. However, with this new rule, many new golfers at Golf Park must have been  walking with a spring in their step with glee on the way to dropping another ball on the fairway at the point where the ball crossed the margin of the out of bounds.

The fear of the out-of-bounds was going to be a thing of the past at Golf Park until the Kenya Golf Union sent out an edict disallowing the use of the rule.

What many did not understand was that this was not one of the Rules of Golf. It is one of the allowable local rules.

The Local Rule, however, is not recommended for major competitions and whatever remote possibility that we could use it for our Saturday or club night competitions was quickly quashed when CONGU, the handicap system that we use in Kenya, declared it could not be used in handicapping events.

Since most of our competitions are entered into the CONGU handicap system, this was the final nail in the coffin of the existence of this Local Rule in Kenya.

Some have argued that this was by far the best new rule in as far as the speeding up the pace of play is concerned.

I initially thought it would be a good addition to our Local Rules and was a strong proponent of the same.

After some consideration, I realised it would give an undue advantage to the high handicappers.

Just to illustrate; if by a stroke of bad luck Jacob Okello, the most famous golfer from Golf Park, hit his ball out-of-bounds on the narrow first hole, he would probably have a 90% chance of hitting his third shot from the same tee straight down the middle of the fairway.

In my memory of playing the same hole as beginner, I always pulled my third shot onto the fourth hole and most of the time ended up in the rough. I know this would most likely be the case for most of the high-handicappers.

If by making the high-handicapper play the fourth shot from a nice lie on the fairway of the first hole after hitting the tee shot out-of-bounds is not seen as an undue advantage, then I don’t know what is.

 

Mr Wang’ombe is a Kenya Golf Union Executive