Out of line

The Women’s World Cup of Golf at Sun City recently was one of the most enjoyable tournaments I have attended since being sent to cover my first golfing event, the national men’s interprovincial in George, in 1970.

I found the girls most charming – some for obvious reasons! – and, boy, can they play.

It was fascinating to see how they handled a difficult course such as the Gary Player, even though the set-up was not as long as they would have us believe, while there is no doubt the “sisters of swing” are more attuned to their galleries and those who support their sport than their men counterparts who are often ungracious or downright ungrateful.

One thing that did jar though was the high percentage of the players who relied on their caddies to line up their shots; especially on the greens but also on longer shots.

South Africa’s Laurette Maritz was possibly the prime example with her caddie squatting down behind her ball on the green and literally “lining her up” until they were happy that the putter and player were square to the line they had chosen.

This is not a new phenomenon. Nick Faldo used to get Fanny Sunesson to check that he was properly lined up and Bernard Langer also used to get Peter Coleman to check his alignment.

In Maritz’s case I felt the adjustments went on for too long, contributing to a somewhat mechanical stroke, but she was by no means alone with many of the girls getting their caddies to stand on the line and aim their long shots for them.

Not only did this contribute to an exceptionally slow pace of play (6½ hour rounds on the last day) but it confirmed a long-held view of mine that it contravenes the intrinsic spirit of golf.

I did not like it when Faldo and Langer did it and at the WWC there were indications that the practice was starting to get out of hand.

Surely adjusting oneself to hit the ball on line – whether putting or driving – should be part of the skill of the player. Getting the right line is an instinctive art which golfers down the year have worked hard at (with all kinds of aids on the practice tee) and I don’t know many times a player in the Pressroom has talked of getting his alignment right or discovering a small error which, when eliminated, enabled him to play well again.

There is, of course, no rule against it although it is my contention that overt help from the caddie contravenes the spirit of Rule 8 (Advice;Indicating Line of Play).

It is quite clear from the wording of the rule that the player is entitled to advice in deciding on his line of play but I’m not sure that the caddie is entitled to actually do the lining up.

Rule 8.2 (Indicating Line of Play) states: “a. Other than on Putting Green. Except on the putting green, a player may have the line of play indicated to him by anyone, but no one may be positioned by the player on or close to the line or an extension of the line beyond the hole while the stroke is being made.”

“b. On the Putting Green.” states: “When the player’s ball is on the putting green, the player, his partner or either of their caddies may, before but not during the stroke, point out the line of putting, but in so doing the putting green must not be touched. A mark must not be placed anywhere to indicate a line for putting.”

While I am happy that the rule is not actually being broken (and any number of rules officials around the world have permitted it) my contention is that indicating or pointing out the line is one thing but actually placing a player on line is quite another.

Hitting or putting the ball on line is the essence of golf and getting it right should be down to the player.