The Spirit of the rules

[doc17]

You don't have to go help your mate find his ball.

I remember watching Monty and Westwood playing together in the final group on the Dukes at Woburn and Westwood stuffed his ball into rough 3 yards right of the 3rd green near a small bush. Westwood and his caddy were looking for the ball and also a couple of stewards. The crowd were on the opposite side and couldn't assist. Monty just stood by the crowd and blatently refused to go and help to look for Westwoods ball and instead just kept lining up his putt. Westwood eventually had to go back 180 yards and hit another ball. It seemed just to be un-sportsman-like but within the rules! That day i saw many players helping each other looking for balls that strayed off line, except Monty!!

 

[Sneds]

Phil is within the rules, he's just highlighting the fact that the PGA has a problem.

lol how noble of him!

 

[CrapHacker]

Personally I think the rules are there to take the uncertainty out of the game.

They are deliberately as complex as necessary to try to cover all eventualities. They could be simplified by having a rule that appends to the 'spirit of the game', and then try defining that, but allowing for reasonable interpretation under unclear circumstances.

But that would allow cheating. And for all the history of golf being a self policed game where the protagonists are the last line of fairminded gents, there's enough potential cheats out there to need as many bases covered as possible.

So guys like Seve, Tiger, Faldo, etc have all used the rules to their advantage, even if it's not within the 'spirit' of the rules.

It's been that way for well over twenty years now, I think it's far too late to start picking on Phil.

If a rule needs changing, change it.

Or open the game up to interpretation, and suffer the consequences.

 

[viscount17]

the spirit should encompass the letter,

the rules should be there to take the uncertainty out of the game but they have become unnecessarily complicated in trying to cover all eventualities, too often in one sentence.

 

[Herbie]

To me its simple, follow the rules but play to the spirit of the game. This to me means being fair to people who clearly don't know the rules well enough e.g learning the game, fairness would dictate a little guidance sometimes or advice on reading the rules whenever a question arises.

There have been many occasions where a little help or advice where allowed in comps would be fair on someone learning, and indeed in friendly games all help should be offered, yet at another time using rules to your advantage against players who should know better is also a good thing. That to me is the spirit of the game, but the rules are the rules as annoying as some are.

 

[USER1999]

Play to the rules, there is no 'spirit of the game'.

However, Phil should put his Ping wedge away. When a club is only allowed due to a court case brought by a manufacturer 20 years ago, clearly it is not the done thing to use it now. It is not the fault of the USPGA that there is a loop hole to be exploited, and it is not his position to moan about the rules introduced by the governing body. That is what tour commitees are for.

 

[muttleee]

When a club is only allowed due to a court case brought by a manufacturer 20 years ago...

It amazes me that bodies such as the R and A and the USPGA have to bow to the courts in cases like this anyway. Surely as governing bodies, it should be up to them to make the rules as they see fit and everyone else just has to live with it? On what grounds can a manufacturer take them to court in the first place?

 

[Imurg]

Play to the rules, there is no 'spirit of the game'.

However, Phil should put his Ping wedge away. When a club is only allowed due to a court case brought by a manufacturer 20 years ago, clearly it is not the done thing to use it now. It is not the fault of the USPGA that there is a loop hole to be exploited, and it is not his position to moan about the rules introduced by the governing body. That is what tour commitees are for.

You're contradicting yourself there.

Play to the rules - the wedge is legal(however that may be) so it can be used

"Not the done thing" - surely that is implying its against the "Spirit of the game"? - which doesn't exist...

If there was a particular driver in the same circumstances they'd all be queing up to play it.