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DIAMOND RESORTS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONSJanuary 16, 2019Stacey CollinsPete LisLake Buena Vista, Florida CHRISTINA LANCE: Given we're the first week out with the new rules, we've seen what's come out of the PGA TOUR the last few weeks, I wanted to give Stacey and Pete a chance to be really proactive and reaching out to the players and make sure they're prepared going out for the year. Have Stacey and Pete give you a rundown of what we've been doing and a couple of the rules we're keeping an eye on over the next couple days. STACEY COLLINS: Thank you for your interest in all of this because it is super important. We are playing with new rules here in 2019. We're all learning together. We have gone through a whole education program for our LPGA players, rules officials, and our staff. We've been doing a couple of things. At Q-Series, at the end of Q-Series, and at the end of CME, we had all new rule books for all the players and caddies. We made all of that available. I'm sure you've seen our rules poster that's posted up there. We've got that posted in player locker rooms, caddie areas, club repair **, and we've also done this rules booklet that highlights all the changes, key changes for your players. Christina has a PDF of it. It's great. Our LPGA Amateur Golf Association is using it. It's kind of gone viral, which we're really pleased about that. We're sharing as much information as we can. So please, share it with everyone. A couple other things we've done is we have done, on Mondays and Thursdays, our LPGA players, players, caddies, and LPGA staff get an e-mail every Monday to Thursday, start at the beginning of the year and go all the way through Kia, highlighting some of the rules changes with a quick little video clip, showing players how to drop, where the relief area is, how to get out of a penalty area, some new rules about bunkers, just covering key topics from all the changes. And then today -- and with all these e-mail blasts, we have a designated mailbox where they can e-mail, players and caddies can e-mail the LPGA. We have a couple rules officials assigned to answer any questions players have. So that's been pretty popular as well. Starting today, Wednesdays and our Pro-Am days, usually 9:00 to 11:00, 1:00 to 3:00, that type of thing, we have rules officials out on the driving range, putting range in the areas so players and caddies can ask any questions that they have. So we're trying to be as proactive as possible, give them as many opportunities to learn. There's been a lot of good dialogue back and forth. So that's been really nice. And we do have a few extra bodies out here at this first event, and we will be available as well. We have Kathryn Belanger from the USGA rules and competitions department that's with us this week, and she will be with us at Founders as well as our first Symetra event of the year at Port Charlotte. So we do have USGA help as well. When we go to Australia for the big Open -- first stop of the European Tour, we won't have any officials there, but at the Australian Open Grant Moir from the R&A is coming out to help us. The governing bodies have been very supportive of the Tours, and they did a rules class for all the Tour officials -- PGA, Web, Champions, LPGA, Symetra. In December we had a rules class just for us. So that was great too. So that's what we're doing as far as pushing information towards our membership and our staff. PETE LIS: Did you mention the webinar? STACEY COLLINS: Oh, the webinar. Sorry about that. Pete's heading up a webinar last week, and we have another one scheduled next week, right? PETE LIS: January 29. STACEY COLLINS: Right. January 29, and we had over 50 people that called in for the webinar, which was great, players and caddies, and they can text in their questions as we were doing the webinar. So it was very interactive. So that was good. Q. Is it on the computer screen as well? STACEY COLLINS: Yes. So there's a PowerPoint presentation, along with Pete and some of our other staff, giving like a classroom, an educational program. But we took questions from the audience, so it was very interactive back and forth. I'm going to turn it over to you, Pete. Feel free to ask questions, but Pete's on the USGA/R&A Rules of Golf committee, so he is our point guard for rules. PETE LIS: I'm sure everybody has at least tuned in a little bit for the first couple of events of the year with the PGA TOUR and the Web.com. A couple of things have been brought to our attention or we have been asked questions -- and one more than I really thought would be -- and that will be looking at we anticipate a lot of questions is the dropping from knee height. It seems like social media has kind of taken that and posted some interesting clips, and the golfing world has put their own interpretations on it. It does look maybe a little different because it is, obviously, different. It was a long process to get to where we did with the knee height. But with the change in the relief area, to kind of tackle both at the same time, where a ball in previous years, you dropped it, if it rolled up to two club lengths, it was still in play. Now we have a designated relief area the ball needs to come to rest in. So with the dropping from knee height, even though it may not look quite right yet because we're all used to dropping it from shoulder height, it is going to allow the golf ball to stay in that one club length relief area for the most part. We do have a two club length relief area when we're taking lateral relief. So a ball that's playable two club lengths for lateral from a red penalty area. So it does help to keep the ball in that relief area. It's still a drop, drop, place. So drop it twice. If it rolls out of the relief area both times, you place it where the ball struck on the golf course the second drop. And one other change to that is now the measuring club -- there was never really a standard for that. It was any golf club you had in the bag was what you could use for measuring. Now it is specific to say it's the longest club in the bag, as long as it's not your putter. So if you have a long putter like Bernhard Langer, that putter would not be available to use in measuring, but typically it's going to be a player's driver for the most part. So you're not required to measure that out. There's no requirement for you to do that. It's just, if there becomes a question as to whether the ball exits the relief area, we will measure with that driver, or the longest club. And then probably the one that, I think, the LPGA has got the most questions about, because I think our players, the LPGA players are the ones that used it the most was the caddie that lined up the player to make a stroke. It really -- this is a big change, and I don't know the statistics on the number of players that used that in the past. However, the rule is really once the player has started to begin taking her stance for the stroke, and any information that can be obtained from the caddie standing to benefit the player for her next stroke with the caddie standing behind is not permissible with one exception. So, essentially, once she starts to begin to take her stance, if her caddie is standing behind her, it immediately triggers a penalty, and this is something that's not correctible. So if a player stands over her stroke and takes her stance and the caddie is standing behind and the caddie -- she realizes this and says, hey, step back, and she steps out, unfortunately, at that point there's been a trigger there, and it would be a penalty. So it's not a correctible error. The only exception to that is when the ball is on the putting green, and it's very specific to when the ball is on the putting green. Even though a player may be using a putter from off the green, if the ball is on the putting green, then the caddie can actually be standing behind the player in that case. And really, the change there and the reasoning is how often do you see a player standing over kind of looking down the line with their caddie, the player's caddie behind helping to read the line of putt? And really didn't want to disadvantage a player in that particular case because that's so fundamental that that's going to be permissible provided that, if the player is standing over it kind of in a spot that the stance will be taken, provided he or she moves out, the caddie steps aside, there would be no penalty. But if the player was to stand there, caddie standing behind, and she was to make a stroke, there would be a penalty in that particular case. STACEY COLLINS: The penalty is? PETE LIS: The penalty is a two-stroke penalty in that case, so it is a severe one. Q. What if the player is lining up and the caddie's behind and the caddie just moves and the player goes ahead and makes the stroke without the caddie there? PETE LIS: Can't do that. Q. If the player is away, looking at the ball away and the caddie is there looking at the ball, he can say aim toward the person in the green sweater? PETE LIS: Yes. There's nothing that precludes the player and caddie from picking out a reference point down the line, aim at the tree or aim at the person in the green sweater, provided she's not standing over the golf ball to make a stroke or very close to it. So if you're standing very close to it and your stance is to where you would be -- Q. You're in a stance position. PETE LIS: Stance position, and you simply move your two feet, shuffle your two feet up, that would be -- the player would be obtaining some information that would help her with the next stroke in that case. Those are really, I think, the three questions that we're getting the most. We are getting some questions about now being able to remove loose impediments really anywhere on the golf course. So you can remove them in penalty areas, formerly known as water hazards, loose impediments, you can ground your club in penalty areas and even take practice swings in penalty areas. Basically, the same for bunkers. You can remove loose impediments in bunkers without penalty. There are a few extra restrictions there. The player cannot ground her club either in front of or behind the golf ball, can't take practice swings and hit the sand in the bunker, essentially just can't do anything that would be considered testing. But if a player is just -- or caddie is just standing there waiting to play and they're leaning on their club and the club touches the sand, that's okay. If they go ahead and rake an area that's not near her ball, provided it doesn't do anything to improve her next stroke, there's no penalty there if she's doing it just to smooth, to create the course. No penalty there. STACEY COLLINS: Care of the course. PETE LIS: It really depends whether the player is improving the condition or not. That's the only time there would be a penalty. Q. There have been issues before about that? PETE LIS: Not to my knowledge. I don't think we really do anticipate many. One question was a caddie just brought to our attention was about leaning on the club. How close to the golf ball can you do that? Really it's specific to say either grounding the club either in front of or behind the golf ball, but if a pattern is noticed that all of a sudden they're leaning on their club close to the golf ball on every single stroke, then we may have to question why they're doing that, but it's pretty specific. As long as you're not testing the condition, for the most part with a couple of exceptions, grounding the club before, in front of, or behind, or taking a practice swing, there's really no penalty. And that just kind of goes along with the theme of the new rules changes have a more relaxed, more -- I guess you could almost say player friendly feel to them now. STACEY COLLINS: I've gotten some questions about yardage books and read books because there is a new standard for that this year, but our yardage provider has made those adjustments. So if you have a new yardage book, you should be okay. PETE LIS: If you have a new yardage book, and the USGA and R&A have an equipment standards piece where a developer can send their yardage book in to the USGA or R&A and have it essentially stamped for approval. It's not something they have to do every week. It's just, all right, they submit a book and they say, okay, as long as you develop your book to this standard, once it's been approved, that's okay. Q. If a player accidentally has the wrong yardage book, you can be in trouble? How would that be handled? Let's say a player discovers it. At what point does it become a penalty? PETE LIS: So very good question. The size of the book is really one thing that's changed. So it can't be more than 4 inches by 7 inches. All the information you have can't be more than 4 inches or 7 inches. Q. Someone can recognize that more easily. PETE LIS: And that's for green reading material. Once the ball has come to rest on the putting green and known to come to rest on the putting green, if you're 200 yards away and you hit it up there and you're like there's no way the ball's on the green, you pull out your green book at that time and you get up closer and see the ball is actually on the putting green, there's not going to be a penalty. It's when it's known to be on the putting green. So that's when the trigger is there. Once the ball is on the putting green, that's when you're limited to the green reading material. Has to be in a 4 inch by 7 inch, no bigger book than that -- it can be smaller than that. It does have to conform to the five square grid can't be more than 3/8 of an inch. So if it's more than 3/8 of an inch for a five-yard grid, that book would not be permissible to use for green reading materials. So it's really dependent on when you know that the ball is on the putting green is when there would be a penalty. Q. I have a flagstick question, a clarification and a question. What is the regulations of flagstick thickness? What is the range? PETE LIS: I'd have to look -- I would have to look that up. There is a suggested -- I wouldn't want to answer that right this second. I want to look it up for you because I don't want to give you the wrong information. Q. The reason I ask is yesterday at Kapalua, the men's event, most guys putted with a stick or at least tried it. Cristie Kerr said she didn't think anybody was going to putt with a stick here because the sticks are, quote, super thick here, which raises the question are there skinny sticks and thick sticks? Mike Milford told me yesterday that his understanding is the range is 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch. So I'm just trying to get clarification, one. And, two, the question is do you agree with Cristie on the field this week not putting with a stick in? PETE LIS: I haven't examined the flagsticks, to be quite honest with you. Again, want to look up the answer. There is a recommended. I have heard that some players will use a flagstick depending on a few things, the size of diameter, because they don't necessarily have to be a certain diameter, what the flagstick is made out of, whether it's made out of fiberglass or it's made out of metal. So with respect to is the ball going to ricochet off of it, or is it going to deaden the blow once it hits it? So to answer that question, I don't know. STACEY COLLINS: It is in the equipment standards. If you go to USGA.org/equipment, it should be in there. There are recommendations on the diameter of the flagstick. Q. What's deflection friendly, fiberglass or metal? PETE LIS: I think I heard it was fiberglass absorbs it and metal ricochets it. I believe that's what I heard. That came from a player on the PGA TOUR. Q. Somebody talked about Augusta still uses wood. PETE LIS: I don't believe so. Q. I don't know. I could be wrong. PETE LIS: I don't believe so. I'd have to refer to them on that. Q. I would imagine that you have to prepare for a lot of questions coming out from the fans, maybe even more than players, just being used to all the rules and seeing something different. PETE LIS: That's a good point with the spectators that are out here and they see a player putting with the flagstick in and the ball actually striking the flagstick for maybe potentially a short putt, I'm sure that would be something. Or in a penalty area, grounding their club, removing loose impediments, and if the spectator is not up to speed or has not studied any of the new rules changes, that would definitely be something, a shock to some spectators to see. I think that both the USGA and R&A have done a great job of getting this out there. It's been a long process, as we all know. It's not like it just started up last year that the announcement came, hey, we're going to change the rules. They've been talking about it for quite some time now. STACEY COLLINS: All of a sudden, now it's a reality. PETE LIS: It's a reality. We're very excited too from a professional level. It has been a long process. It's making that light switch go off to all of a sudden now we're changing what we've done for so long, a lot of us, because we all have a ton of experience, a lot of experience. For us, it's been a learning curve as well, and we're very excited, I think, to put these out and see how it goes. Q. Is Kathryn here from the USGA the whole week then? PETE LIS: Kathryn Belanger will be here the whole week. Q. Does she actually serve as a rules official, or is she just there to help you guys? PETE LIS: I think the plan is a little bit of both. She's planning to still be available on the 1st tee practice areas to answer any questions the players may have before they start their round, and then she'll definitely have one of our radios in case we get into a jam out there where, hey, we just want to make sure we're correct before we do something. She'll just be on radio to help us clarify. STACEY COLLINS: It's a very collaborative effort, and it has been the whole time. Q. The rules officials are available for the caddies? PETE LIS: They are open to the caddies. In fact, the practice station we have today has been open mostly for caddies to come over and ask questions. Not to say the players haven't come over and the players aren't interested in, it's just that when the player is warming up to get ready for her Pro-Am round, and a lot of the questions are, hey, my player just asked me this question. So I'm getting clarification. Q. Have they stumped you yet with anything? PETE LIS: Nothing yet, but we've had Kathryn here as well. Kathryn's been great with the process the whole time. She's been in all the rules of golf committee meetings and highly involved in even writing the code. So she knows her stuff. Q. So you have to enforce the rules for the celebs here too, right? PETE LIS: We have three officials here that will be actually -- they're designated to help out with the celebrities. It's not to say that, if we're there, if we have a question from one of the LPGA players and a celebrity has a question, we'll help them out at that point, but we do have three dedicated officials to help with that. Q. You have officials who are just doing -- PETE LIS: They're guest officials. STACEY COLLINS: PGA of America. PETE LIS: And they helped last year when it was the Champions Tour event, so they're familiar with how this celebrity event works. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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