19th Hole
‘What’s going on?’ – Justin Thomas left frustrated with two officials over ruling at Hero
During Thursday’s first round of the Hero World Challenge, Justin Thomas called for a rules official and subsequently, a second opinion, on the par-5 9th at Albany Golf Club.
- Related: Justin Thomas WITB 2022 (December)
The players were playing lift-clean-and-place, and Thomas’ ball came to rest about 5o yards short of the green in an area where it was difficult to identify if the ball was sitting in the fairway or the rough. The ball had gathered some mud, so if the rules official had decided that his ball was in fact in the rough, he would have to hit a pretty difficult shot given the condition on his golf ball.
“Basically, what’s going on?” Thomas asked the official.
The official told Thomas that the change of color in the grass was indicative of the change of fairway to rough, and therefore he would have to hit his ball as it lied. Thomas argued that the grass was cut to the same length in both spots, therefore the color didn’t matter.
“But you see, what I’m saying, this is also beat down from the carts, but look at how much longer this is than this,” he said before walking over to the thicker grass. “Like see, this is the same height [where his ball was and the apparent fairway.] I totally see it’s down grain and it’s a totally different color, but … the change of the length of grass is just what kind of confused me.”
After relief was denied by the official, “JT” called for a second opinion. While waiting for another official to show up, Thomas was heard saying to his caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay, ““It’s the same exact length, this is not rough.”
When the second rules official came over, he said: “I can see the cutline right here,” and pointed to the different shades of grass that the other official mentioned.
Thomas accepted the decision.
Interestingly, announcer Paul Azinger shared his opinion that the second rules official almost never will disagree with the first rules official’s ruling.
“That second opinion almost never works,” Azinger said to Dan Hicks during the broadcast.
“Really?” Hicks asked.
“Never,” Azinger said. “Very rarely will an official go against another official.”
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19th Hole
‘It’s in the works’ – Sequel to Happy Gilmore is reportedly on the way
In what will come as a pleasant surprise for many Adam Sandler fans, “Happy Gilmore 2” is reportedly in the works.
The original, “Happy Gilmore” is a hilarious movie about a former hockey player who becomes a professional golfer to get his elderly grandmother’s house back from the IRS.
While appearing on the The Ken Carman Show, Christopher McDonald, who’s better known as “Shooter McGavin” from the movie, said the sequel is in the works.
“I saw Adam about two weeks ago and he said, McDonald, you’re gonna love this. I said, ‘What is it?’ He said, ‘How about that?’ and he hands me the first draft of Happy Gilmore 2.”
“He showed me that and I thought, ‘Wow, that would be awesome’. It’s in the works. Fans demand it. I was very, very pleased when I saw that.”
It’s unclear which other original cast members will be returning but as long as Sandler (Happy Gilmore) and McDonald are in the movie, it should be a hit.
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19th Hole
Why Kevin Streelman sought USGA approval to use this equipment tool as he leads Valspar after round one
The first round of this week’s Valspar Championship proved to be quite difficult and the first-round leader for the event was a bit surprising.
Kevin Streelman, who missed the cut in four of his past five events, including three in a row, made seven birdies and was bogey-free on his way to a 64 (-7).
“I knew today was going to be solid and then it’s going to be hold-onto-your-shorts here for the next few days,” Streelman said in his post-round press conference. “So trying to just keep a good attitude and have some fun.”
Interestingly, Streelman tried out a new ball marker this week that he had to seek USGA approval for prior to teeing it up.
“It’s kind of cool little new ball marker I’m using that is legal that can kind of give you some visual cues that I think is pretty helpful. I was using that today, which I think kind of helped, as well.”
The marker has a line on it that gave Streelman a visual cue prior to hitting the putt.
Through ten holes in round two, the 45-year-old is at -6 and holds a share of the lead.
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19th Hole
The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club
Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg is known for his love of golf but received a shock recently when he was initially denied entry to Sydney’s Elanora Country Club.
The reason? His socks. As first reported by the Australian Daily Telegraph, Wahlberg turned up to the club wearing black socks, which is against the Australian club’s all-white sock policy.
Speaking to the publication, the club’s general manager Cathy Neagle confirmed the reason for the denial, saying: “We have dress standards. They do include white socks.”
Taking to Instagram, Wahlberg mimiked an Australian accent to poke fun at the decision saying: “Socks not allowed on every golf course in Australia, believe it or not. Some courses require you to wear white socks. These are gym socks, man! What?!”
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However, all’s well that ends well, as Wahlberg was happy to change into white socks to play at the club.
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