They say all good things come to an end! And just like exposing the cardboard tube when you really need a fist full of Toilet Roll, or seeing the surface of that much needed cup of Tea pebble-dashed with the last of the milk you thought was ‘alright’, here we arrive at the last transmission from me as your ‘Porty Pro’!
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Quite symbolic really that my final week here at Portlethen has consisted of a handful of Course Closures and some atrocious weather! However the quieter days have been good on 2 counts: 1) – Very productive use of time in which to pack up the Shop
2) – No threat of Old Pound Coins!!! It`s fair to say I`m proud of the journey and trajectory we took the Professional Department on over the past 4 years. It wasn`t without it`s challenges, but it`s in those moments you learn the most. Very soon I`ll be starting afresh and needing to dive straight into unknown waters, however I will be doing so confident that I am even more skilled & experienced thanks to my time at Portlethen and therefore better equipped than ever to tackle whatever my new environment requires. |
I`ve compiled a short video that I felt gives a good flavour of the timeline and the aforementioned ‘Journey’ that I shared with you guys during my time here.
Click Here to watch video. |
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But while we are talking about ‘Walking Away’ it seems Haoting Li`s Caddy, Luke Tulong, didn`t walk away quick enough!! And once again the game and attributed headlines were made a mockery of. Much has been made of the ‘New & Improved’ changes to the Rules of Golf over the opening weeks of the year with the ‘Putting with the Pin in’, ‘3 Minute searching time’ and ‘Knee Height Drop’ probably taking most of the spotlight. Then there was the new terminology like ‘Yellow & Red Penalty Areas’, ‘Relief Areas’ and ‘General Area’ replacing Hazards, Club lengths and Through The Green. But one Rule that wasn`t widely mentioned, until now, was one which essentially would only really effect Tournament Professionals. And that was prohibiting the Players Caddy aiding the Player with alignment, in other words, they weren`t allowed to help the Player line up. Given that up until this new Rule came into effect Caddies were able to stand directly behind their Player, prompt them to get into the correct alignment, tell them when they were or if they weren’t, then only walk away when they (the Caddy) were happy that the Player could then pull the trigger. Now the new Ruling means the player gets penalized 2 STROKES for this – Click Here
Haotong Li got Penalised 2 Strokes for that which lead to him dropping from 3rd= to outside the Top 10 – An 80,000 Euro loss! I believe what the Rules officials have done here is set a very precarious precedent! And have clearly taken very little advice from the people who have played at that level. I took some screenshots of the incident at various times along the video. The R&A are claiming that the Caddy was standing in an illegal position while the Player was taking his stance. And by taking his stance, they mean preparing to execute the shot.
Pic 1 shows the Caddy starting to walk away, in Pic 2 the Caddy is not only no longer behind the line of play but he isn`t even looking at his player, and while that still image looks like the Players feet are in position you will see in Pic 3, that only now has he planted his front foot! Note the Caddies position now and more so the player's putter position. There is a high probability that any player, having assumed that stance, could merely be sizing up his putt (or that pesky line on the ball, grrrr – another bug bear of mine!) or about to have a Practice Stroke. If the player backed off his ball at this point would there have been a penalty!? Even by Pic 4 the player hasn`t even centred the ball on his Clubface, which means even the Player hasn`t technically aimed anything yet! Rewind a year and you`d find 70% of the LPGA Tour looked like they were playing ‘The Golden Shot’ with their Caddies giving it ‘left a bit, right a bit, left a bit, FIRE!!’
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Meanwhile Bryson DeChambeau produced a stunning performance to win at a canter in a record total of 24 Under Par. But with Bryson it was less of a Masterclass and more of an Award Winning Thesis! It`s actually a good job De’Scientist’ takes less shots than everyone else, because he certainly takes much longer than everyone else!! |
Which brings me back to the Rules! Much of the noise that accompanied the 2019 version of the Rule Book was that many months & years of painstaking consideration had been given to making the Rules simpler to understand, easier to administer and which would hopefully help speed up the game. One aspect was the time allocation each player gets to execute their shot. That final round on Sunday saw Team Bryson go through this rigmarole EVERY SHOT!! – Watch Video |
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Did you note the time? 76 Seconds to execute......that`s half a minute longer than he`s allowed....and it happens on most shots! Which in my opinion is a worse Rules Violation (and a more obvious and measurable one) than that of Hoacum Mi!? And it is made even worse, in my opinion, when the R&A come out with statement which you can read in full on the Haotong Li Link: But I`ve cherry picked a couple of pieces from it:
“…..there is no discretionary element to the Rule precisely so that it is easier to understand and can be applied consistently.” “…..our focus is very much on maintaining the integrity of the Rules for all golfers worldwide." The governing body can`t say on one hand ‘we apply the Ruling fairly and consistently, regardless of how subtle the breach is’ when on the other they are blatantly allowing another to be breached time and time again! I just feel that every time the Game tries to take a step forward, petty and pedantic incidents like this, just bring it down and make it look even more ridiculous to non-golfing viewers.
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The main highlight is that given that the course was closed on Saturday, only the top 7 scores will now be counted (i.e. 40% of 18 possible rounds 7.2)
Click Here to view the League Table. |
So all that`s left for me to say is a huge ‘THANK YOU’ to all of you who really got behind what myself and my Team brought to the Porty Party. Your support was invaluable. To ‘The Team’, again without the efforts of Aileen, Kamran, Sean, Ryan, Ross, Paddy & Finlay over these past 4 years I wouldn`t have been able to achieve what we did. I`ll leave with a lot of fond memories and some great friends. But this is a new Chapter for everyone and I know that you will all give your new Professional, David, as equally a warm and friendly welcome as you gave me. And perhaps I can speak on his behalf and encourage you all to be not only supportive but patient. When I arrived in 2015 I came with 8 years of building and running my own business already tucked under my wing. David, whilst bringing good experience from his previous positions, will be starting his empire from scratch. All of which requires considerable investment. Never mind the nice, shiny stock and products, the Computerised Till & Accounts System, Shop Fittings & Furniture, Workshop Tools, Hire Items and, dare I say even, weekly eNewsletter Content all come at a substantial cost. Plus all these things, including the Stock & the Staff, are Year Round Costs in a very Seasonal Industry so again please be mindful of this when it comes to deciding where you`ll make your Golfing Spend!? If you want David to succeed, moreover if you want him to stay, make sure you give him as much ‘Profitable Support’ as you can afford. I hope you enjoy great golf this season and beyond. Remember, I`d be delighted if you keep reading my weekly waffle even though it`ll have a different look as of next week! And I`d be even happier to see you visit me in my new surroundings!
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