Aug. 22, 2025

The Golf Rules with author Richard E. Todd

Show Notes
Transcript

GS#428 March 18, 2014 Richard E. Todd was trained on the rules of golf by the USGA and the PGA. His new book "The Golf Rules: Stroke Play - Learn The Rules of Golf By Watching Others Break Them" is an entertaining little book that presents the rules of golf in a funny, short story format. Unlike the painfully dry legalese of the USGA's Rules of Golf, Richard's book takes you on a round with a typical foursome as they encounter...and break.. the rules.
In addition to being a lifelong golfer, he's also a one of the original Golf Smarter listeners from 2005.
http://TheGolfRules.com

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Golf Smarter number four hundred and twenty eight, published on

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March eighteen, twenty fourteen.

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Welcome to Golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain

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insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the

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Golf Smarter podcast. Great Golf Instruction never gets old. Our

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interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations

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like this that are no longer available in any podcast app.

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The USGA's Rules of Golf is very hard to read,

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but by design it is the legal explanation of the rules.

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And you were talking about difficulty understanding. You know, there's

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a ball and there's the ball, and they are completely

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two different things. Or you have a golfer and the

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golf No, technically that's the definition. You know, like I

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am the golfer and you are a golfer. The ball

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I'm playing is the ball as opposed to the one

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in my pocket.

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Which is a ball.

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It is very confusing. The usg does a great job

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at creating a definition that is the epitome of what

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it needs to be.

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The Golf Rules. Stroke Play, a fun and informative book

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by Richard Todd.

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This is Golf Smarter sharing tips and insights from golfers

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and golf professionals to help lower your score. It's worked

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for your host, Fred Green.

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Welcome to the Golf Smarter Podcast. Richard.

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Hey, Fred, it's great to be on.

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Thanks, thank you. So you've written this cute little book.

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But you're not an author, you're not a golf instructor.

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You're a guy with a job like all of us.

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But you had this need to write a book about

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golf rules.

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Why I did? I, Like many golfers, I tried to

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get through the USGA's rule book.

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Uh it's I know, I know.

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Well, actually, I guess I should say, like many most

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people don't own a copy, let alone crack it open.

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But I tried several times in my life to get

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through the book. And the last time was about three

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years ago, and I had read the section on tending

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the flagstick and immediately flashback thirty years to me being

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a teen and my dad taking me out with his

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friends for the very first time on the course. You know,

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of course, that's one of those wonderful times where you

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really feel proud because the old man's showing you off

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to his friends and the first tea, you know, had

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the jitters.

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But kept it in the faraway.

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You're going, well, I'm on the first green, I'm tending

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the flagstick. My dad's just off the green, and of

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course he sculls it. It's going for a bee line

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for the hole, and I start pulling the stick out

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and he starts yelling me to throw it back in

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because he's hoping for that ricochet, and of course that

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doesn't happen. And what does happen is the ball shoots

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right off the green and down the hill because it

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was a hilltop green. And at that point he proceeds

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to tell me how happy he is that I'm here

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intending the flagstick. Everybody in the group heard him. People

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on the course I think, heard his comments to me,

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And at that point, you know, I'm feeling less than

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a caddy, just I shouldn't even be on the course.

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So again, flash forward back to thirty years. I read

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this section and realize I was right, he was wrong,

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but it stayed with me for thirty years. At that point,

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I said, there's got to be a better way of

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learning the rules than from somebody telling you, because that

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somebody generally heard it from somebody else who heard it

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from somebody else who did not hear it from an

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authority figure who knows the rules right right, And so

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I said, well, that story in itself is a great

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example for this rule. Well why don't I do that

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for all the rules? And one thing led to another,

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and three years later we have the Golf.

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Rules as opposed to the Rules of Golf, which is

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the USGA's book. And you know, you're absolutely right. I

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have it sitting on my desk, the Rules of Golf,

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the twenty twelve, twenty fifteen version, and I've never opened

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it because a couple of years ago I try, I

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opened up the rule It's like, you know, I should

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know this stuff, and I started in like I can't

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get through this. I have no idea what they're talking about.

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You know, it just didn't. It didn't sit with me.

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I couldn't absorb it. But when I read your book,

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everything changed all of a sudden, all these rules, everything

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was in context of a round of golf, and I

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started recognizing things that I've been through and that people say,

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what's the rule on that fred because they think I

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would know, and I'm.

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Like, oh, exactly, So, then how how did it come

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to be that you wrote the book as a story.

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That first thought of the example, and then I just

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started putting more and more together, and I'm thinking, well,

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how can I blend this into a story as opposed

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to just, you know, two hundred and fifty examples, because

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that's out there and that's boring, and it just hit me.

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So I've been golfing for thirty some years and I've

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got lots of experiences, so it wasn't too hard to

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piece them all together. Although this book, when you talk

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about writing it, I didn't do it in a real

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systematic way. I had the rules of or, I had

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the USGA's Rules of Golf sitting open. I had notes

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on what I wanted to do. I had the decisions

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on the rules of Golf open, and I had a

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notepad and I wrote this out old school with paper

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and pencil, and I'm constantly flipping pages back and forth.

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And of course I had scorecards laying around because I

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was trying to come up with ideas for whole layouts.

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And it took a while. But you're right, the USGA's

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Rules of Golf is very hard to read it, but

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by design it is the legal explanation of the rules

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and you were talking about difficulty understanding. You know, there's

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a ball and there's the ball, and they come they

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are completely two different things.

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Or you have a a golfer and the golf.

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No, technically that's that's the definitely you know, like I

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am the golfer and you are a golfer. The ball

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I'm playing is the ball as opposed to the one

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in my pocket, which is a ball.

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Oh my god, that you've just Okay, that clarified that

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I had no idea.

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Awesome, Yes, geez, it's very It is very confusing.

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You know. The USGA does a great job at creating

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a definition that, shall we say, is the epitome of

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what it needs to be.

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It explains.

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As a matter of fact, in two days, I'll be

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heading up to Detroit for the USGA's rules schools. I'm

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putting my little air quotes in the air. It's four

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days of in depth fun going through the rule book.

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Oh my gosh. And even after.

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Does this open to anybody? Can go to this?

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Yes, you can go to the USG's website sign up they.

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Have that will be a party. I can tell you

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there's gonna be guys who are are gonna just be

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drinking their break. Really a bunch of guys who are

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signing up to go hear about the rules that are.

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Not it's oh well, it's a it's a diverse group.

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Last year and you know, I was in Pittsburgh and now,

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most of the play people in the room are.

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Of course pros.

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There was somebody from the Big Break, individual from the

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Golf Channel tour. We even had USGA Hall of Fame

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members in the group as well as tour officials.

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So the level is is pretty up there.

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Although there was a gentleman that had yet to complete

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a single round of golf.

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No, so.

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Of course he had the most questions.

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Of course, but it's like put it to use, you'll

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figure it out. So are you a rules freak? Do

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you love rules? Do you love golf rules? I do?

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And also part of my day job is I'm a

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banking compliance manager.

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Oh so you're a golf compliance manager.

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On the course you're putting it.

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Yeah, when you're on the courus you are the compliance guy.

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Yeah yeah.

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And do you call people out on stuff all the time?

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No?

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That was one of the things that when people heard

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I was going to the school, They're like, oh, great,

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you're going to be one of those guys that nobody

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wants to golf.

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With, right, because I won't play with you if that's.

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Golf is as you know, it's it's a game for yourself.

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Although if I'm playing with three other of my friends

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and they're rolling their ball out of every divot and

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they're not counting strokes in the pond, it's not an

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even game.

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And it's funny. Yeah, yeah, so many people.

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It's irrelevant of how long you've been playing or how

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good you're playing knowing the rules. This summer I was

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playing with a friend of mine, just so you know.

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He's a NASA engineer, so he's no dummy.

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He's another so an engineer, so he's another complaint type

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of guy.

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Yes, but not about golf.

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He still has his golf bank he had in high school,

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which is he got from his dad. So it's the

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old leather golf bag and the clubs to match. We

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were on the third hole and he put one end

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of the lake and he looked at me and he says,

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what do I do? How do I score?

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That? He had no idea. Interesting, my dad called me up.

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My dad's been a scratch golfer He's been on leagues

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at least twice a week his entire life. One of

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his playing partners used to play at Ohio State and

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he was telling me about being an embedded lie and

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it took him four strokes to get out and he

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finished getting onto the green. His playing partner said, well,

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why didn't you just pick it up and drop it?

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He goes, I didn't know I could. So you never know, You.

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Never know, you never know. Well, now that you said that,

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I think it's a good opportunity for a teaching This

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is a good teaching opportunity. Here tell us what happens

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when you hit the ball in the water.

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Well, there are I believe four options now I write it.

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I don't have it all quite memorized. Of course you can.

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You can go back to the tee and play stroking distance.

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There's oh I'm having.

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A okay, but waite define stroking distance here if you

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have to go back to the tee. And I see,

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I'm obviously had that wrong in my head. I thought

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stroking distance is you'll take the distance where the ball

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went out, you pull it out, you just hit from

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right there, but you're hitting your third shot.

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Is that stroking distance, no stroking distances. You go all

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the way back to where you hit it, and you

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count the stroke.

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But so you're going all the way back to where

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you hit it from and you're hitting your shot, but

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you're not hitting your second shot. You're hitting your third

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shot correct. You count the penalty, you count the ball

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in the water, you count pulling it out, and then

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you count correct and then you count your next struck.

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Right, and that that goes.

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And let's let's pretend it's lost in the trees and

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you know a general area where it went in. But

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if you can't find it within your five minutes, it's a.

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Lost ball and you have to go back to the

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tea box.

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And you know, let's not get into the slow play

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issue there.

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Yeah, but or what marshalls do or don't.

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Do, right, I don't think I've ever seen anybody actually

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drive back or walk back two hundred yards to the

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tea box to hit again.

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You know, Well, that's what a provisional, that's what a

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provisional is all about. So you hit it, you like, oops,

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I think it's in the bush, it's in the trees

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over there, but I don't know if I'm going to

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find it, I might, but I'm going to hit another

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ball just in case I'm hitting. You announced to the group, right,

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This is part of the roles, part of the rules.

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You have to announce to your group. I am hitting

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a provisional, which to me, i'm hitting a pro v

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one provisional I'm hitting. That's why I won't play with

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those balls. It's like I might hitting provisionals. So all right,

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so now you're hitting the provisional. But if you don't

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find the first ball, and you better know what ball

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you're playing, then you've got to then you're hitting your

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third stroke.

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Yes, okay, exactly.

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Glad I have that right. So then what what is

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when do you get to say, all right, well, I

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lost my ball over here, or it's not to be found,

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or I hit it just beyond the out of bounds

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line here and just pull it no closer to the hole.

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But hit from that general area? Is that not? Is

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that cheating?

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Well, if you're talking out of bounds, yeah, there's no

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dropping near.

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It's go back.

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Okay, Oh is this a lateral? Are we talking about

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a lateral? What's a hazard?

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Is it a red steak or a yellow steak? Well,

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red steak is rare. I don't know what yellow means.

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We get red and white out here.

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Oh really, okay, I've never seen anyellow steak. Wait so yeah,

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it gets very confusing as you can see.

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Yeah yeah, so wait now we don't know if what

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when you take a if it's a lateral hazard, what

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does that mean? Do you know you can You didn't

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write the rules of golf. You wrote the golf rules.

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Right, which explains them like a lateral hazards. So we've

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got the stroke and distance and go back. You can

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drop behind the lateral hazard on a line from the

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flagstick to where you're at. But depending on how that

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creek moves, you could be farther back than the tea box.

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Isn't it where the ball goes over when it when

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it crosses the out of bounds or that area. Really

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they're sitting here.

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There's yeah, I know, I know, there's no there's no

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line of flight rule.

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Really mm hmm.

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People have been making that up. I mean the guys

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that I play with, it's like, you can't go any

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closer to the hall. You got to go in the

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line where it was like, really.

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Oh boy, I might be confusing my water hazards up

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right now.

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Okay, but yes, sorry to put you on the spot then,

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so okay, okay, So then let's talk about how this

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book reads, because I don't want to put you on

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the spot because I want to We're gonna we're going

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to do a part two of this conversation and we're

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going to get into some of these rules. So you

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better you better hone up quickly because we got about

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five more minutes and then we're going to head into

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a uh part two of this conversation. Are you gonna

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have time for that?

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Yes?

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Okay, so that's great, okay, good, so, so so tell

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me how you you laid it out. So these are

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not this is not an actual round of golf. Your

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book doesn't. It's just like compiling all these different rounds

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that you had in all these different moments where people

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didn't follow the rules. I almost sad cheated they didn't

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follow the rules according to the rules of golf, and

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someone gets called on it. So explain because I love this.

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Is what I loved about your book, is it put

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it in context. And then you at the end of

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each chapter, which there are eighteen because it's a round

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of golf, right, right. So then at the end of

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each chapter you have the footnotes to everything that you

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mark throughout the throughout the book. It's like here, I'm

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just I'm on page ten and he said I'll hit first.

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Dick spoke up since I have the lowest handicap, and

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then in parentheses you have C one dot three see

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one dot four. And then you go to the end

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of the chapter and says see one dot three. The

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order of play on the first hole is decided randomly

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by the lot. The person with the lowest score thereafter

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goes first has honors on the next hole, and then

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see one dot four. Order of play does not include

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handicap strokes, only the actual number of strokes on a hole.

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So it's like, oh, you know, it's like and I

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have an issue with the honors rule as it is,

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but that's my own kind of weirdness. But that's how

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the book works. And in through the eighteen chapters you

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pretty much cover all the rules.

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Right, yes, in a stroke play.

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In stroke well, this book is called the Golf Rolls

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stroke Play.

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Right, And of course you can't have stroke play and

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match play at the same time, but want to make

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that distinction because We've got two more books coming out.

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The next one's on golf eatiquette, and the one after

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that is on match play.

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Oh okay, good, thanks for letting me know. And I

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have a friend who does that every time goes aha,

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I beat you on that hole. That's the first hole

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I beat you on, but I'm down by nine strokes.

335
00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:19.440
You know, it's like he plays both match and stroke

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play on every round we play.

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00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.759
You can't do that, well, I suppose you could have

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two different games going, two different set of roles playing

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at the same time.

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00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:32.720
He's just trying to Can you play uno and poker

341
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at the same time?

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00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:37.920
No, come, you can't know that. Well, we don't play

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for money anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

344
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That's interested in the book too?

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What playing for money?

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Yes, USG of course has comments on that.

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And and go ahead explain.

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All wagering and bettering must be done and agreed upon

349
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before the round starts.

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Well, that's the way I feel about all rules for

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00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:03.319
the for a round of golf. Everyone agreed before we

352
00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:06.519
get started. Let's just agree that, you know, like anything

353
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inside the leathers a gimme. Okay, fine, you know, it's

354
00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.359
like as long as we agree on these things and

355
00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:13.000
you can't go oh wait and now on the third hole,

356
00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:15.400
Oh wait, I got another one. No, no, no, you can't

357
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do that.

358
00:19:15.880 --> 00:19:16.359
You know that.

359
00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:20.039
That's an interesting point. This gets down to knowing the

360
00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:22.400
rules and following the rules and what you're comfortable with

361
00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:27.559
the actual rules. Say, you can't agree to not follow

362
00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:32.599
a rule. That's disqualification. So what you just said would

363
00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:37.440
means everybody in your group would be disqualified from what, Well,

364
00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:38.720
there's not.

365
00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:42.440
Yeah, you really don't have a big pride, But I'm not.

366
00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:50.599
I'm not talking about competitive play, the local championship that

367
00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.440
I'm not. I'm just talking about a round of golf

368
00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:54.880
on Saturday with my buddies.

369
00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:58.000
And it's like nothing, Yeah, you can do that. You

370
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can definitely do that.

371
00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:01.960
You know whatever, you Golf is a game of fun,

372
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it's supposed to be.

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Just don't play with a compliance guy.

374
00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:09.599
You know he may agree to that, but you know,

375
00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:12.039
don't try to post your scores as a as a

376
00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.799
handicap for your for your handicap calculations.

377
00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:28.079
Oops, what's your favorite rule that you love to call out?

378
00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:31.640
Do you have one that you like you see all

379
00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:33.720
the time and go, you know you you really can't

380
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do that.

381
00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:36.599
You know, I'm gonna I'm gonna go with my son's

382
00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:41.960
favorite rule, and that's do not give advice. And he

383
00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:47.960
uses that because my father won't shut up the course

384
00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:50.119
pro you know, of course that doesn't know any of

385
00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:54.319
the rules, is always giving advice. So my son likes

386
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to tack on two strokes every time he opens his mouth.

387
00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:58.319
So wait, is that an official rule that you cannot

388
00:20:58.319 --> 00:20:58.880
give advice?

389
00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:01.559
Yes, it is a two stroke pel.

390
00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:04.920
Really, because I've got a guy who's telling you what

391
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:06.960
to do all the time, you just want to go

392
00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:09.039
leave me alone.

393
00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:12.000
Yes, rememborize that rule number I don't have a memory.

394
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:19.039
It's a two stroke penalty. Oh, David, you are me? Okay,

395
00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:21.319
this is we're interviewing Richard. David is the guy I

396
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