Abnormal Course Conditions (Including Immovable Obstructions)

Special thanks to Dave Saganski who sent his inquiry in to us.

QUESTION: My ball lies on a cart path (abnormal course condition) and I am entitled to relief. I have to take a stance on either side of the path to determine which side is my nearest point of relief but one side of the path is an area of the course that is impossible to take a stance in. (eg: thick shrubs, steep slope, large irregular rocks, etc.)

Does this mean I automatically drop on the side of the path where a stance is possible? Or do I deal with the consequences if the nearest point of relief from the cart path is in the bush even though I can’t take a stance there?

ANSWER: Unfortunately, Dave would have to play the ball as it lies or proceed under a different rule such as Rule 19 – Unplayable Ball. While the player is entitled to free relief, the Nearest Point of Complete Relief may not be the nicest point of relief.

In the diagram below, if the player’s ball lies at B1 (left handed player) the Nearest Point of Complete Relief is at P1. As it is not possible or very difficult to play, the option is to play the ball as it lies at B1 or proceed under another rule.

See the interpretation below for additional explanations.

Nearest Point of Complete Relief/4 – Player Determines Nearest Point of Complete Relief but Is Physically Unable to Make Intended Stroke

The purpose of determining the nearest point of complete relief is to find a reference point in a location that is as near as possible to where the interfering condition no longer interferes. In determining the nearest point of complete relief, the player is not guaranteed a good or playable lie.

For example, if a player is unable to make a stroke from what appears to be the required relief area as measured from the nearest point of complete relief because either the direction of play is blocked by a tree, or the player is unable to take the backswing for the intended stroke due to a bush, this does not change the fact that the identified point is the nearest point of complete relief.

After the ball is in play, the player must then decide what type of stroke he or she will make. This stroke, which includes the choice of club, may be different than the one that would have been made from the ball’s original spot had the condition not been there.

If it is not physically possible to drop the ball in any part of the identified relief area, the player is not allowed relief from the condition.

Nearest Point of Complete Relief/5 – Player Physically Unable to Determine Nearest Point of Complete Relief

If a player is physically unable to determine his or her nearest point of complete relief, it must be estimated, and the relief area is then based on the estimated point.

For example, in taking relief under Rule 16.1, a player is physically unable to determine the nearest point of complete relief because that point is within the trunk of a tree or a boundary fence prevents the player from adopting the required stance.

The player must estimate the nearest point of complete relief and drop a ball in the identified relief area.

If it is not physically possible to drop the ball in the identified relief area, the player is not allowed relief under Rule 16

Brody Istace headlined the action this week as the fall college season slowly wraps up in the United States.

Istace was on the big stage this week at the NCCAA National Championship on Oct. 21 to 23.

Competing for the Columbia International University Rams he finished the 54-hole event in a tie for 32^nd. The Kindersley product opened the event with a 79 and followed up with rounds of 85 and 79 to card a 27-over, 243.

This is the second straight year the Rams have competed in the national championship. The team has finished sixth overall in back-to-back years.

The team is now off until the spring season.

Kade Johnson/Roman Timmerman

The Southern Arkansas Muleriders were back in action on Oct. 21 and 22 at the Jerry Hrncair Invitational.

Yorkton’s Kade Johnson finished the 36-hole event with a four-over, 148 (76, 72) that left him in a tie for 18^th.

Roman Timmerman of Saskatoon placed tied for 25^th with a score of plus-seven, 151 (76, 75).

The Muleriders team placed sixth in the event at the Territory Golf Club in Duncan, Oklahoma.

The school’s golf program will now prepare for the 2020 championship season that begins in early February.

Marc Sweeney

Saskatoon’s Marc Sweeney assisted his team in a seventh place finish out of 19 schools at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Fall Preview.

The University of South Carolina Beaufort golfer finished in a tie for 40^th at the event in Adairsville, Georgia on Oct. 21 and 22. Sweeney opened the tournament with an 82. He followed that up with rounds of 78 and 75 to finish at plus-21, 237.

The Sand Sharks will close their fall season on Oct. 28 at the Dave Adamonis Sr. Invitational.

Josh Nagy

First year Robert Morris University player Josh Nagy made his second start of the year on Oct 19 in Grasonville, Maryland.

The Saskatoon product stroked an 11-over, 83 in the first, and only round of the Towson Invitational.

The second round was rained out. Nagy finished tied for 45^th but the Colonials won the team event with a score of plus-one.

The NCAA Div. 1 program has won at least one event for 11 straight years.

The program’s fall season has concluded.

Overall the first year of Carey McLean’s college golf career was satisfactory for the Deer Valley product.

McLean is attending SAIT in Calgary where her and the Trojans recently competed in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships near Montreal. She said the national experience was a great way to end her first year which was successful.

“It was pretty good,” she said of her rookie season on the Alberta Collegiate Athletic Conference (ACAC) circuit. “I was kind of surprised how well it went. Going into it I didn’t know what to expect in the tournaments, but after playing our first one I got used to it. We play with the same girls, they are really nice, I’ve made so many friends, and the girls on my team, I love them.”

The highlight of McLean’s first year would be the ACAC Championship. She was leading the event after 36 holes, but she ended up claiming a very respectable bronze medal for a third-place finish. The Trojans as a team also claimed bronze earning them a trip to Ste-Victoire De Sorel, Quebec. Leading up to the two championship events McLean said she had plenty of support throughout the season.

“My coach was really happy, my parents are proud,” she said. “I wish I would have done a little better in some events, but I can’t change the past now. I can always improve for next year.”

McLean finished in 19^th place at plus-53, 269. She felt the nerves in round one shooting 94 but her game got better in the weather-shortened event. The 72-hole championship was cut to 54 holes. She shot 87 during round two and 88 in her final round. She said earning a trip to the championship and the experience was positive.

“It was a little nerve-wracking that’s for sure,” she admitted. “Going into it we wanted to have fun, we knew we wouldn’t win, but just to go there and play and see the course and how beautiful Montreal is.”

Now that the season is over and Calgary courses are shutting down McLean said she is using the time to catch up on her school work. The team continues to practice once a week in a dome and the Trojans also hit balls on their own to stay sharp for the next season. McLean is a regular on Saskatchewan Order of Merit tour and expects to compete in the Saskatchewan Women’s Amateur and hopes to be back on the national stage in the future. She said the experience she is getting at college is making her a better player overall.

“I think so, I know I am always going to have nerves when I play, I guess that’s normal hopefully,” she laughed. “If we go again next year I will be okay, I’ve done this before, I can do it again and hopefully have better results.”

Charge, and charge again are the words of advice from Ace of Carts owner Darren Schoonbeart when it comes to winterizing your golf car.

Golf courses across Saskatchewan continue to close daily across the province leading to a long winter of parked carts. The owner of Saskatoon based Ace of Carts said preparing your cart’s battery for six months of winter is the most important task of winterizing your car.

“What we recommend on any of the car models is to do what is called a double-charge,” Schoonbaert explained to Golf Saskatchewan. “That would be charging the vehicle fully, so letting it run it’s full charge cycle and then you are going to unplug it and plug it back in again.”

That process will top up all the batteries in the electric car’s system. Carts utilize four or six different batteries in their system. Schoonbaert said disconnecting the battery from all power sources is the next step.

“For Club Cars, we get people to lift their seats, fleet car or individual and flip the tow run switch to tow. After it’s in tow then we have you disconnect the mains on your battery. That would be your main positive that runs on one side of the battery and then your main negative,” he explained.

Keeping your cars inside is ideal but storing the vehicles outside isn’t detrimental. Most courses cover their carts with tarps over the winter months in outdoor storage sites. Individual carts left at courses are somewhat protected from the Saskatchewan elements but aren’t in heated storage units. Outside of battery protection Schoonbaert said winterizing the unit is simple. You can spend some time cleaning your cart after a few months of wear and tear.

“You do want to make sure the batteries are clean,” he said. “We kind of have four rules, you want it to be charged, cleaned, tight, and watered. Those would be the four main points.”

“Watering” your cart is making sure you add distilled water to the batteries allowing a chemical reaction with the acid to create the charge.

If you have a gas-powered car or a fleet of them at a course, battery maintenance still pertains. Schoonbaert said preparing the leftover fuel is another key component of maintenance. Adding Sea Foam to the fuel will do the trick.

When it comes to cleaning your cart during the year or prior to storage, lemon Pledge is the best tool for all plastic and seats. He joked don’t use the Pledge in the spring to spiffy up your cart, the product will leave the seats and steering wheal very sticky.

To see more information on winterizing your golf cart, click on the Ace of Carts video.

An old adage states, when one door closes another opens. Melville’s Chloe Sies knows this and has used it to her advantage on the golf course and in the classroom.

After spending a semester at Red Deer College and winning a collegiate event, the school cut the golf program. The team learned about the slicing of the golf squad two weeks after winning the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) team championship. On the advice of UBC Okanagan Heat golfer Samantha Copeland, Sies applied for the Kelowna based school.

“Red Deer wasn’t a good fit, the program wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do with classes,” she explained. “The program (Human Kinetics) I’m taking now is absolutely perfect for me so, it just seemed like a great fit to come out here.”

The move west was better for the 2016 and 2017 Saskatchewan junior girl’s champion in the classroom and on the course. The Heat is a USports program, a step up from the Alberta Collegiate Athletic Conference. Sies said her game is elevating with the move to the next level.

“I hate to say it’s just CCAA but, it was just colleges and smaller schools, less competitive players. Now I’m playing USports. Our first tournament this year was an NCAA tournament, we had schools from everywhere down south and really great players. It was awesome to play against them and get to know them,” she said.

UBC Okanagan hosted the Can-West Championship which was also their national qualifier. Sies admits the team felt the pressure on their home course and they didn’t play their best golf.

“We felt a lot of pressure, everyone as a whole, we imploded,” she admitted. “I didn’t play well, I’m not proud of the scores I put up, but it was a good experience. We’re probably going to host again next year so hopefully we’ll get a chance to go to nationals next season.”

The Heat did rebound this past week finishing their season in Victoria at the Vikes Shootout. Sies placed eighth overall and the team placed second. She said the club felt great after the result building towards next season.

Her semester at Red Deer counted towards her university golf eligibility, she will have two years left. As for her education, Sies hopes to get into Med-School once her bachelor’s degree is obtained.

Deer Valley’s Carey McLean has wrapped up her first college national championship.

McLean will conclude her first year of college with a 19^th place finish at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Canadian Championships in Ste-Victoire de Sorel, Quebec on Friday.

The SAIT student shot a three-round total of plus-53, 269 (94, 87, 88) on the par-72, 5,523-yard course.

Élizabeth Labbé of Lévis, Quebec won the championship with a 54-hole score three-under, 213.

The SAIT Trojans placed eighth overall as a team.

The championships were supposed to be 72 holes, but weather forced the cancellation of Thursday’s round.

You can see the complete leaderboard here.

Long-hitting professional Maude-Aimée LeBlanc is retiring from professional golf. The 30-year old Sherbrooke, Que., native announced her decision on her official Facebook page.

“I decided to retire from professional golf forever. Over time, I realized it wasn’t my dream and it didn’t make me happy even after good performances. I didn’t like the person I was on the golf course and I’ve always wanted to do something more rewarding than hitting a little white ball. Also being constantly away from home and the people I love was very difficult. I am very excited about the next chapter of my life and I have a lot of things I want to accomplish. I am extremely lucky to have met amazing people through golf and incredibly grateful for the support of so many people over all these years. I will never forget it ?”

LeBlanc finished 7^th at the 2011 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to earn tour status in her first attempt. In 2012, her rookie year, she would have led the LPGA Tour in driving distance with an average of 282.6 yards, but with limited status, she did not play enough rounds to qualify.

She’s amassed more than $365K in career earnings since 2012 and currently ranks No. 393 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. Her best year as a professional was 2016, when she earned $173,443 and finished 81^st on the on LPGA Tour’s Official Money List.

She’s competed at the CP Women’s Open 11 times (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) with her best finish being a T14 in 2016.

As an amateur, LeBlanc was a member of Golf Canada’s Team Canada high-performance program from 2006-2010. She played collegiate golf at Purdue University, where she helped her team win the 2010 NCAA Team Championship. She also captured the 2006 International Junior Orange Bowl and 2006 Canadian Junior Girls Championship.

Golf Canada wishes Maude all the best in her future endeavours.

 

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Carey McLean and the rest of the field in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Championships will have Thursday off after weather in Quebec forced the event organizers to reduce the event to 54 holes.

The Deer Valley product is sitting in 19^th place at plus-37, 181 (94, 87).

Round three will be played on Friday, McLean’s group tees off at 8:40 a.m. Saskatchewan time.

Chloe Sies

Melville’s Chloe Sies has returned to the college golf circuit for UBC Okanagan.

Sies and her Heat teammates were in Victoria for the Vikes Shootout on Monday and Tuesday, the last event of their fall season.

After being fifth through day one, Sies finished in a tie for eighth at 13-over, 162 (78, 84).

The team won the silver medal at the tournament.

A provincial organization that specializes in working for people with spinal cord and other injuries is using golf to raise funds and awareness for their clients.

Spinal Cord Injury Saskatchewan Inc. (SCISask) recently hosted a golf tournament at Mark’s 9 Golf and Country Club just outside Prince Albert that netted the organization an estimated $15,000 for their programming. During the event on Aug. 24 the SoloRider adaptive golf cart that is housed at Saskatoon’s Silverwood Golf Course was used by Kirk Fontaine. SCISask executive director Launel Scott reached out to Golf Saskatchewan regarding the availability of the cart. The SoloRider was transported to Prince Albert for the event with great success according to Scott.

“Because the tournament was for our organization we wanted to bring awareness to and also have golfers who live with a spinal cord injury or some other physical disability so, it became a quest,” she said. “We knew the SoloRider existed, but it was a quest to find it and how we could access it.”

Fontaine was injured in a car accident three years ago and does have some leg movement but doesn’t have lower body strength to walk 18 holes. He has tried other sports such as archery, skeet shooting, and shot put, and admits golf is fun. Accessing the SoloRider and allowing Fontaine to play in the tournament brought an awareness to the cart and potential future players.

“We could provide the access to one of our clients who said they were interested in golf,” Scott said. “Secondly it created further awareness that getting the SoloRider and this possibility created awareness.”

Although the event was the first for the SCISask, Fontaine used the cart in a fundraising tournament at Harbor Golf and Resort in Elbow. Saskatoon based LA Charities hosted their third event this summer with proceeds going back to the spinal cord injury group. With that tournament and the one at Mark’s 9, Scott said the SoloRider and its use is becoming more known.

“There was a lot of people there who were unfamiliar with even the existence of the SoloRider or that there is an accessible golf cart, so they were able to see that first hand,” she said.

Scott said the awareness for their clients is important but showcasing the SoloRider to courses could open the game to more people in the future.

“One of our outcome hopes is people that own golf courses would be interested in having a SoloRider at their own course,” she said.

13 teams took part in the inaugural event that will now be an annual fundraiser for the organization with four front line staff in Saskatoon and Regina. The group relies on a mentorship program to provide services to clients. It’s difficult to actively reach 1,600 people with four staff, especially in rural markets. Scott hopes the SoloRiders in Saskatchewan (Golf Saskatchewan owns one at the Royal Regina Golf Club) allow for more of their clients to access the sport and enhance their lives on a social level.

“Golf is a pretty social activity, usually you are golfing with a buddy, on a team, or with complete strangers,” she added. “It allows for people to gain or continue access to a social activity.”

The Spinal Cord Injury organization provides their clients with “life journey” programs and assistance. Starting with rehabilitation, basic home life, education assistance, inclusion, and aging with an injury or disability are core components of their work. Finding employment for injured people is a priority of theirs as well. Saskatchewan has a wheelchair sports governing body that promotes excellence for athletes across all genres, Scott said their group uses sports as life enrichment.

“Our business is assisting individuals to regain their self-reliance and their independence and their participation back into the community. The activities that we try to introduce to somebody is for those underlying purposes, not to develop athletes,” she explained.

Coincidently, October is National Disability Employment Month.

For more information on the SoloRiders and their availability in the province contact Golf Saskatchewan at 306-975-0850.

Carey McLean and her SAIT Trojan teammates were on the course for round one of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships on Tuesday.

The Deer Valley product is coming off a third-place finish at the Alberta championship a couple weeks ago. In Ste-Victoire De Sorel, Quebec, she shot an opening round plus-22, 94 to sit in 19^th place. McLean will begin round two at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The 54-hole event will conclude Friday.

SAIT is eighth as a team.

Jacob Kydd

Regina’s Jacob Kydd has been busy south of the border competing in two events over a five-day period.

The Royal Regina Golf Club member competed in the Battle at the Henge on Oct. 11 – 12 and at the NAIA Midwest Invitational on Oct. 14 – 15 for Indiana Wesleyyan University.

At the Battle at the Henge in Winona Lake, Indiana, Kydd placed tied for 24^th at plus-17, 159 (77, 82).

As a team the Wildcats placed third.

The squad travelled to Silvis, Illinois for their second event of the week. Kydd again finished in a tie for 24^th. He shot rounds of 78 and 75 to finish at 11-over par.

The Wildcats team earned fifth place overall in the 19 team competition.