Interclub Rules Fiasco

davep043 · August 21, 2019

> @bladehunter said:

> > @davep043 said:

> > > @bladehunter said:

> > > I guess I just don’t see the point or plus side for anybody now. And I don’t see a downside for the rule before.

> > >

> > > Why would anyone try to use a club that’s been bent and then bent back. It’s going to be crooked no matter what you do.

> >

> > > So I’m waking with wedge and putter plus towel in hand down a slope to the green on wet Bermuda rough. I slip , catch my footing and in one motion putter and wedge go flying up in the air. I try to catch putter and miss. But I get two fingers on it and subsequently flip it forward and back up. It hits toe down on a sprinkler head and the impact bends the neck and cracks it. If I bend it back it’s going to snap off. And it currently had around - 10 degrees of loft on it. So unusable. Playing partners see it alll. So we call an official and they go to my truck and bring me another putter. I putted with a wedge for 2 holes.

> > >

> > > As I understand it now I’d be screwed for the rest of the round. And nobody was protected. Only me penalized for an accident. .

> >

> > Actually, @bladehunter , you shouldn't have been allowed to replace that putter. From the 2016 Rules, you are only allowed to replace a club if it is "unfit for play".

> > > Note: A club is unfit for play if it is substantially damaged, e.g., the shaft is dented, significantly bent or breaks into pieces; the clubhead becomes loose, detached or significantly deformed; or the grip becomes loose. A club is not unfit for play solely because the club’s lie or loft has been altered, or the clubhead is scratched.

> > Your putter had had the loft altered, perhaps it WAS unusable, but it didn't fit the definition of unfit for play.

>

> What is that definition. It was purely unfit to hit a ball with. It wasn’t just “ the loft is wrong “. It was that the neck had around a 33 degree angle bent in it. I’d have been striking putts off the topline Or a 2 foot reverse press.

>

> I mean. I could play a driver with no head. Just may take me 300 strokes to move it 100 yards.

You described it as having a loft of 10 degrees, and therefore unplayable. The Rule I quoted was the rule in effect up until the 2019 rules came out. Alteration of the loft alone did not make the club unfit for play, under those rules. Now that you mention a 30 degree bend, the club probably DID fit the definition of unfit, but that wasn't part of your original description. But that's one thing the new rules cleaned up, you don't have to decide just what "unfit for play" means. How much bend in the shaft is required before it became "significantly bent"? How much alteration of the loft? Now its just a matter of damage, and who or what caused the damage determines whether you can replace it.

bladehunter · August 21, 2019

> @davep043 said:

> > @bladehunter said:

> > > @davep043 said:

> > > > @bladehunter said:

> > > > I guess I just don’t see the point or plus side for anybody now. And I don’t see a downside for the rule before.

> > > >

> > > > Why would anyone try to use a club that’s been bent and then bent back. It’s going to be crooked no matter what you do.

> > >

> > > > So I’m waking with wedge and putter plus towel in hand down a slope to the green on wet Bermuda rough. I slip , catch my footing and in one motion putter and wedge go flying up in the air. I try to catch putter and miss. But I get two fingers on it and subsequently flip it forward and back up. It hits toe down on a sprinkler head and the impact bends the neck and cracks it. If I bend it back it’s going to snap off. And it currently had around - 10 degrees of loft on it. So unusable. Playing partners see it alll. So we call an official and they go to my truck and bring me another putter. I putted with a wedge for 2 holes.

> > > >

> > > > As I understand it now I’d be screwed for the rest of the round. And nobody was protected. Only me penalized for an accident. .

> > >

> > > Actually, @bladehunter , you shouldn't have been allowed to replace that putter. From the 2016 Rules, you are only allowed to replace a club if it is "unfit for play".

> > > > Note: A club is unfit for play if it is substantially damaged, e.g., the shaft is dented, significantly bent or breaks into pieces; the clubhead becomes loose, detached or significantly deformed; or the grip becomes loose. A club is not unfit for play solely because the club’s lie or loft has been altered, or the clubhead is scratched.

> > > Your putter had had the loft altered, perhaps it WAS unusable, but it didn't fit the definition of unfit for play.

> >

> > What is that definition. It was purely unfit to hit a ball with. It wasn’t just “ the loft is wrong “. It was that the neck had around a 33 degree angle bent in it. I’d have been striking putts off the topline Or a 2 foot reverse press.

> >

> > I mean. I could play a driver with no head. Just may take me 300 strokes to move it 100 yards.

>

> You described it as having a loft of 10 degrees, and therefore unplayable. The Rule I quoted was the rule in effect up until the 2019 rules came out. Alteration of the loft alone did not make the club unfit for play, under those rules. Now that you mention a 30 degree bend, the club probably DID fit the definition of unfit, but that wasn't part of your original description. But that's one thing the new rules cleaned up, you don't have to decide just what "unfit for play" means. How much bend in the shaft is required before it became "significantly bent"? How much alteration of the loft? Now its just a matter of damage, and who or what caused the damage determines whether you can replace it.

Sorry. I said -10 degrees. But I realize I wasn’t very clear with that. It was bent so that of the grip was at address then the face pointed toward the ground. It was rurnt