Sure and they probably might once ball technology has become more standardized. But they haven’t yet. It’s kind of like how those single piece swim suits that made you faster we’re briefly allowed in competition, then banned. The rules on technology and equipment always take time to catch up.
Yes, they could, but they haven’t. Why should they when there are still good reasons for the rule?
Not really. The different clubs are critically important to the structure of the game. While it’s possible to play with just one club, it’s more a parlor trick than serious game play.
I am rather less enthralled than the PGA about how important it is to use only one model of ball for an entire round of golf. To me, it’s sort of like the balk rule in baseball. The infractions are almost always unintentional, almost never incurred to generate a competitive edge, yet the penalties are very harsh.
Golf is well known for what I consider to be picayune rules bordering on fanaticism. A famous case from years ago involved Craig Stadler. He had a lie that was extremely difficult and involved him going down to his knees in a wet and icky spot to attempt a shot. To avoid getting his pants completely soaked, he spread a towel and knelt on that. AFTER the round, and because of a phone call made by a fan who was watching on TV, Craig Stadler was disqualified for “building a stance” to attempt a shot. Now, if you Google that and see a picture of it, it’s quite obvious that Stadler wasn’t “building” anything, he was trying to keep his pants dry.
Wasn’t there also someone disqualified for not signing their card correctly?
Signing an incorrect card. That’s submitting an incorrect score. It’s pretty much one of the fundamental principles of the way golf is scored.
It was the correct score. His partner agreed it was the correct score. Thousands of people watched on tv that is was the correct score.
Dumb as fuck rule. It’d be like the Bucs forfeiting the super bowl because Tom Brady forgot to sign a “you won the superbowl!” agreement.
eta Googled to find the incident. Apparently there are very recent ones. The one I’m thinking of was years ago and there was no question the stroke count was correct.
Can you link to what you are talking about?
No. It didn’t show up in the first page of the google results and I don’t care enough to bother. Did see this golf.com article that agrees that it’s stupid and outdated though.
That’s only because the rules allow different clubs. If there were another version of golf that restricted players to one club, but allowed swapping among fourteen different balls, then that would be critically important. The rules and the structure of the game are tightly interwoven, but not unchangeable.
If the baseball bat was flat and the ball a cube, the game would be endless fun. What’s the logic behind the round bay and round ball?
That link is EXACTLY what I said. He shot an 84 and signed for an 83. An INCORRECT score.
What exactly was wrong with the incorrectly signed scorecard with the correct score? If you don’t know that, it’s a bit rich calling it stupid and expecting anyone to agree with you.
I didn’t claim that link said it was a correct score… Weird for you to claim some sort of victory for that.
It’s stupid in that there’s no reason for a player’s written score and/or signature to have anything to do with the game. Everyone knows what every player shot. There’s no benefit at all to having the players keep score. Is it about getting the ball in the hole or who can correctly write numbers? Give me a fucking break.
Come back with some evidence of what you originally claimed.