2013 GOLFWEEK AMATEUR GOLF TOUR

e-newsletter Summary

April 21, 2013

• Sign-up For Carolina Trace (Creek)- April 27, 2013
• Bentwinds - Winners and Full Leaderboard
• Improve Your Golf Swing and Your Golf Mental Toughness
• Where Are You InThe 2013 Point Standings Race?
• Tiger Woods - Why the Ruling at the Masters Was Correct
• Golf Rules Q&A - Ball Moves When Being Marked With A Putter - What Would You Do?
• Tour Weather Guidelines - Review and Reminder

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B FLIGHT BREAKTHROUGH ON GOLFWEEK TOUR

Fuquay-Varina, NC

April 20, 2013

It's a pretty simple formula: cut 13 strokes off your Tour scoring average and you're probably going to find yourself high on the leaderboard in Golfweek Tour play.

That's exactly what Cary's Steve Marinelli did today at Bentwinds Country Club to secure his 1st win "on-Tour". His 77 was the only sub-80 score in the flight and gave him a 3 stroke cushion over runner-up James Adams of Greenville. "The putts went in today" said Marinelli, who was competing in his 6th event of the young season.

(Flight Winners L to R) Championship - Rob Clarke;

A Flight - Matt Daugherty; B Flight - Steve Marinelli

Five players managed to break 80 in the A Flight, led by Matt Daugherty of Jackson Springs with a 74. Anthony Powell of Colfax came in second with his best effort of the year - a 76.

That score equaled the Championship Flight winning number turned in by Raleigh's Rob Clarke. The higher Championship Flight score was due to the fact that the Champ guys were playing from the Black (back) Tees, while the rest of the field were going from the Blue tees. "They were playing a different course than the rest of the field", noted Tour Director Bruce Hallenbeck. Winston-Salem's Zach Arms came in second, one stroke behind Clarke.

It took a playoff to determine the C Flight victor as Tour veteran Bill Wilkerson of Rolesville took on 1st year player AJ Haardt of Greensboro in a sudden death "shoot-out" after both finished with 87s in regulation play.

C Flight Winner - AJ Haardt;

D Flight Winner - Kurt Bryant (Photo Unavailable)

The rookie made short work of the playoff with a par on the first extra hole. It was Haardt's first win on Tour. Accepting his trophy for the win Haardt stated "This is what I've been waiting for".

Kury Bryant of Fayetteville ran off with his 2nd win in-a-row in the D Flight with an 88. Greg Green of Apex was 2nd with a 102.

THE GOLFWEEK AMATEUR GOLF TOUR

BENTWINDS COUNTRY CLUB EVENT

TOP FIVE SCORES BY FLIGHT

CHAMPIONSHIP (6680 yds)

Rob Clarke, Raleigh 76

Zach Arms, Winston-Salem 77

Gene Queen, Advance 78

Gerry Farmer, Greensboro 79

Jason Ray, Wake Forest 79

A FLIGHT (6345 yds)

Matt Daugherty, Jackson Springs 74

Anthony Powell, Colfax 76

William Green, Pinehurst 77

Joey Todd, Myrtle Beach 78

Mike Mullins, Raleigh 79

B FLIGHT (6345 yds)

Steve Marinelli, Cary 77

Jimmy Adams, Greenville 80

Greg Walker, Raleigh 81

Eddie Warren, Kernersville 83

Nick Slager, Winston-Salem 83

Scotty Lewis, Greensboro 83

C FLIGHT (6345 yds)

AJ Haardt, Greensboro 87

Bill Wilkerson, Rolesville 87

Will Staten, Fayetteville 89

Barry Fleming, Chapel Hill 90

Johnny Sears, Fayetteville 92

D FLIGHT (6345 yds)

Kurt Bryant, Fayetteville 88

Greg Green, Apex 102

Greg Dauscher, Zebulon 105

John Dorris, Raleigh 105

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"Improve your golf mental toughness 10-fold"

Every golfer has heard the saying "It's all in your head" or "Golf is 90% mental" or "Golf is the most mentally demanding sport in the world." Yet what do golfers do about it? Well, most often absolutley nothing! Not necessarily because they don't want to, but sometimes golfers actually think the mental game doesn't matter to them!

Click Here to Unlock Your Mind and Shoot Better Golf

EVERY golfer can benefit from increasing their mental toughness and harnessing the full power of thier mind!

Many golfers naively get stuck into thinking that the mental game only matters for elite players or pros who make a living golfing. Nonsense! EVERY golfer needs to use their mind properly.

• It is your mind that determines how well you learn when taking lessons. (and this training course is packed with accelerated learning techniques that will have you absorbing more from lessons)

• It is your mind that will allow you to set up to the ball correctly and commit to your swing (or not!).

• It is your mind that will either stay focused under pressure and get you to make a smooth, fluid stroke when you need to drain an 8 footer for the win, or have you choking like a dog and collapsing like a house of cards when the heat is on!

Click Here to Unlock Your Mind and Shoot Better Golf

"When you have a chance to shoot the lowest score of your life you won't choke - You Will Go Low!"

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GOLFWEEK CURRENT NEWS

TO All NEW & RETURNING GOLFWEEK AMATEURS MEMBERS: A 2013 APPLICATION IS REQUIRED.

ONLY TWO WAYS TO GET TO THE GOLFWEEK NATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Where Will You Be In The

2013 Year-End Point Standings Race?

Here Are the 2013 Point Standings By Tour

Raleigh/Pinehurst Tour

Triad Tour Point Standings

There are only two ways to get to the year ending National Tournament - win one of the four majors or be one of the Top 10 point earners in your flight.

As you plot your tour schedule be cognizant of the fact, only the top 10 are guarenteed access. Usually, most flight races are tight and depends on how well you play and of course how many tour dates you participate in during 2013.

Do you know how many tournaments you will need to play and what place you will need to finish in each tournament to ensure you have your automatic invitation? Don't be left out.

To see where you stand* during the 2013 Tour, click your Tour city below:

Raleigh/Pinehurst Tour Point Standings

Triad Tour Point Standings

* Points from this week's tournament may not have posted.

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Click Here for

2013 GolfWeek Amateur Golf Tour Schedule Pinehurst/Raleigh/Triad Tours

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Tiger Woods - Why the Ruling Was Correct

As much confusion still seems to surround the recent ruling at The Masters involving Tiger Woods, John Morrissett, former Director, Rules of Golf for the USGA, offers the following in hopes of clarifying what, once the key facts are determined, is a much simpler ruling than was initially thought by announcers from ESPN and The Golf Channel

First, the facts: On the 15th hole in the second round, Tiger's third shot struck the flagstick and came back into the water hazard (yellow stakes and lines) fronting the green. He elected to use the stroke-and-distance option under the water hazard Rule (Rule 26-1a). That option required him to drop a ball as near as possible to where he just played from, but Tiger dropped a ball approximately 2 1/2 feet away, a distance that does not meet the "as near as possible" requirement. He then played the ball onto the green and holed the putt, believing he had scored 6 for the hole.

A former Rules official, watching the telecast at home, called to report a possible breach. While Tiger was still playing (and that is the most important point of the entire incident), the Committee reviewed the video and, believing the results to be inconclusive, ruled there was no breach. The Committee did not tell Tiger of its ruling, and Tiger went on to return his score card for the second round, with a score of 6 for the 15th hole.

Following Tiger's post-round comments to the media that he had dropped "two yards" from the spot of the previous stroke, the Committee wondered if it had made the correct decision. It consulted with Tiger Saturday morning and retroactively penalized him two strokes on the 15th hole (for playing from a wrong place - Rules 26-1a and 20-7c) but did not disqualify him for returning a score for that hole that was lower than he actually made (Rule 6-6d).

While this seems like a complicated set of facts, the ruling becomes straightforward when it is boiled down to its basic elements: On Friday the Committee made an incorrect ruling (of no penalty), and on Saturday the Committee corrected that incorrect ruling. The key is that, before Tiger returned his score card on Friday, the Committee had reviewed the incident on 15 and made the ruling of no breach. (Even though the Committee did not tell Tiger of this ruling, it was still a ruling.) On reflection, the Committee realized it made an incorrect ruling and corrected that ruling on Saturday (with ample authority and precedent to do so).

If the Committee had not become aware of the incident and had not made a ruling before Tiger returned his score card on Friday, then it would have been a straightforward disqualification. It is interesting to note, therefore, that the timely telephone call actually prevented Tiger from being disqualified.

It should be emphasized that Rule 33-7 has been part of the Rules of Golf for decades (at least 50 years). This Rule was invoked to waive the penalty of disqualification for the score card error because the score card error was a result of the Committee's incorrect ruling during the second round. In other words, if the Committee had ruled correctly on Friday and had informed Tiger of the two-stroke penalty for playing from a wrong place before Tiger returned his score card, Tiger would have returned the correct score for that hole. Decision 34-3/1 provides authority for the Committee to correct its ruling by adjusting the previous round's score.

Contrary to what some reported, Decision 33-7/4.5, which was significantly revised two years ago, played no role whatsoever in the Saturday ruling at Augusta National. That Decision shows sympathy for the player who breaches a Rule because he did not know, and could not have reasonably known, the facts that led to his breach. In Tiger's case, he could have and should have easily known the facts of the case (i.e., that he dropped 2 1/2 feet away from where he was required to drop), so the principle of this Decision does not apply.

Consider the ramifications if the Committee had disqualified Tiger on Saturday. In that case, Tiger would have been justified in being furious at the Committee for failing to advise him of the issue before he returned his score card so that he could have avoided disqualification. Tiger made an error and was penalized two strokes; the Committee's incorrect ruling should not have resulted in further penalty.

I don’t think we will ever really know the answer to why the Committee dismissed the issue in the first place. That was clearly a mistake. Did the player’s celebrity influence their decision? If the initial call came in while Tiger was finishing on 15, why did it take them till he was on the 18th to review the video footage?

Some people have found fault that Tiger did not DQ himself. While that might have been a good PR move, it would not serve the game. The best thing for all parties and for the good of the game was to let the Committee make it’s ruling and everybody live with the result. End of story.

Doc

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Question from week #194

Sue has hit the green of a par four with her second stroke. Her first putt goes about three feet by the hole. Since this is stroke play, she announces that she will finish putting out. She intends to use the toe of her putter to mark her ball while she aligns her sharpie line in the direction of her putt. Unfortunately, when she places the toe of her putter on the putting green, she accidentally touches and moves her ball about a foot laterally. Sue uses her hand to retrieve the ball and places it back on its original spot next to the toe of her putter. She makes her next stroke.

What score did Sue make on this hole:

A. 4

B. 5

C. 6

D. 7

Answer:

A.

A ball in play that is to be lifted and replaced (or touched without lifting) under a Rule must first be marked. The position of a ball to be marked should have a ball marker, small coin or similar object placed immediately behind the ball. (R20-1). The use of the word “should” in the wording of R20-1 indicates the preferred method of marking. However, Decision 20-1/16 expands upon this recommended best practice technique to include other methods that, while they are not recommended, are permissible:

• placing the toe of a club at the side of, or behind the ball
• using a tee
• using a loose impediment
• scratching a line, provided the putting green is not tested and a line for putting indicated. As this practice may cause damage, it is discouraged.

Sue’s use of her club to temporarily mark her ball is permitted. As such, when she places her mark (the toe of her putter) next to her ball and she accidentally moved her ball in the process, she is exempt from penalty:

If a ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved in the process of lifting the ball under a Rule or marking its position, the ball or ball-marker must be replaced. There is no penalty, provided the movement of the ball or ball-marker is directly attributable to the specific act of marking the position of or lifting the ball. (R20-1)

As Sue properly replaced her ball on the correct spot and made her second putt, she made 4.

This lesson’s message: using a club to mark is permitted, though not recommended. BUT, what ever method you employ in this circumstance, remember you must mark before touching your ball. If you simply spin your ball in position without marking you are assessed a 1-stroke penalty for touching your ball in play (R18-2).

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Tour Weather Guidelines:

Primarily, we adhere to the same guidelines that the PGA Tour uses: If the course is open, we're going to play.

The only exception to this is that I'll never put any of you in harm's way during an event because of dangerous weather. (i.e. - lightening or severe cold and wetness).

In other words, I won't let the course "bully" us into playing where an unsafe condition might exist.

Because I arrive at every event at least two hours prior to the start time and I generally have to leave my house at least an hour before that to get to the course, there is no sense calling me just before the event, because I won't be at the office. The best avenue to take is to call the course if the weather seems threatening.

If you are on the roster for the event, and you do not get a cancellation notice from the course after calling them, you are expected to show up in time for the scheduled shotgun start.

GolfWeek Amateur Tour Full Leaderboard

Bentwinds

April 20, 2013

Tees by Flight:

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2013 Amateur Golf Tour Schedule

Raleigh/Pinehurst and Triad Tours

New course and Major* Tournaments in Blue.

* Major Tournaments reward double points to all players and flight winners earn automatic berth to National Championship

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