R I T A ’ S R U L E

Rule 9.6 Ball at Rest Moved by O utside Influence

By Jamie Komancheck, PGA Head Golf Professional

In the Northeast, golf season doesn’t begin in earnest until mid-April and The Masters has been played. S o, what to do in the winter months? Thankfully this past March, our family spent a few weeks watching the Netflix documentar y Full S wing (ok, we really binge watched it over a few days.) There were so many good episodes, filled with great personalities, and drama between the PGA Tour and LIV. Rita really enjoyed getting to know the players better, with her favorite being Tony F inau Probably because she saw all of his kids having fun.

Af ter watching all the episodes, Rita asked if we could go to Augusta and watch The Masters this year (cue the CBS theme music, for it was a question like no other…) W hat ’ s a father supposed to say when he gets that question from a four-year-old with blond hair and blue eyes? How fast can we pack!

We arrived ear ly Wednesday morning and headed right to the first tee for the ceremonial first tee shots. We then walked all 18 holes with the first few groups to see all the holes I was exhausted from c limbing the hills, but Rita could have gone around again, she just wanted to watch more golf. We compromised and decided to watch the Par 3 contest instead

We parked our chairs in the front row by the 9th tee and watched the best players in the wor ld, legends of the game, and family members ser ving as caddies, all hit shots to the 9th green. As we sat there, Rita got several high fives from the players, and several of the children who were dressed up as caddies stopped and played with her while they waited. It was an amazing experience.

Eventually Tony F inau and his entourage of kids came to the 9th tee. There was a group on the green, and another group waiting on the tee, so his group had a little wait. Rita said hello, and told him about watching Full S wing. They hit it off instantly. I enjoyed talking with

Tony and the players in his group while Rita played with Tony ’ s kids.

F inally, it was time for them to play the hole. All three players hit the green. Then they each has their caddie play a shot. I was engrossed in the action. S o much so, that I didn’t realiz e Rita wasn’t sitting next to me W hen Tony motioned for his caddie to hit, his caddie deferred and one of Tony ’ s kids dressed in a full caddie bib approached the tee That ’ s funny, I didn’t remember any of Tony ’ s kids having blond locks that were sticking out from underneath the hat. It looked just like Rita! I immediately looked over at Rita’s chair S miling back at me and giggling was one of Tony ’ s kids! He let Rita borrow his caddie bib and hat! Oh.…my…. goodness!

I’ve never been more terrified of a golf shot in my entire life. Rita had all the confidence in the wor ld though. Tony had a junior c lub in his bag that Rita took a few practice swings with. S he lined up her shot and made a beautiful swing at the ball. It landed in the midd le of the green, started trickling back down a slope towards the hole About three feet from the hole, Rita’s ball bumped in to Tony ’ s ball and came to a stop. Tony ’ s ball started rolling towards the hole…..and eventually went in! Ever yone went absolutely nuts! The patrons were high fiving thinking Tony had a Hole-in-One.

Tony calmly let ever yone know that under Rule 9 6 Ball at Rest Moved by O utside Influence, if a ball at rest is moved by another player ’ s ball, there is no penalt y, and the ball must be replaced on its original spot S o, Tony had to replace the ball 3 feet from the hole. Tony had Rita walk with him up to the green (he doesn’t run during the Par 3 contest anymore), and had her putt in her birdie, which she did….and then the crowd went absolutely nuts! Tony flashed his amazing smile and gave Rita a high five At least that was what I was told I couldn’t see anything through my blurr y wet eyes!

Happy new golf season ever yone!