Here’s a golf rule I’ll never have to ponder In Michigan (unless Al Gore comes through on his promise of Global Warming): What to do when your ball is lodged in a coconut tree.

It’s a topic of discussion in the Fiji Times:

Rules of the Week

This week Golf Rules refers to the common problems of golf ball lodged in Palm or Coconut Trees or other trees, lining our fairways. Under the circumstances for a ball lodged in trees unreachable by the player he or she then incurs a penalty under the “unplayable ball” rule and the player play a substitute ball at the original spot from where the last stroke was played

I’m pretty sure this problem was never imagined by golf’s founders in Scotland, either.

A couple of weeks ago, Stuart Cink was disqualified from the Zurich Classic for one of the most bizarre rules violations ever. During the third round, he hit a ball out of a fairway bunker into a greenside bunker some yards away. Cink left the original bunker, and his caddy raked it before he hit his next shot.

Not good. Cink didn’t think about it at the time, but later—after he had signed his scorecard—he realized the error. He should have taken a two shot penalty, and so was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

Even The GolfBlogger—a certifiable rules junkie—had not thought about that one. You see, he’d never actually gotten out of a hazard, so he still couldn’t test the conditions. And having a caddy rake is testing teh conditions.

Fortunately, the USGA has acted on the incident—and this no longer is considered an offense. It’s now not considered testing if you are in a similar, but different hazard.

Good. Now if they will just reverse the stroke-and-distance rule for lost balls and go back to the old rule of stroke only.

[A CLARIFICATION]

It seems that from 1961 to 1968, you could drop a ball within two club lengths of where a ball went out of bounds, or where it seemed lost, and take a stroke penalty.

Calculating your golf handicap is best done through your local club, or through one of the online services (in fact, that’s the only way it will be official). But for those of you who are curious as to how it works, here’s an explanation:

First, a player’s handicap is based on the best ten of the last 20 rounds played (it actually will work with fewer rounds, though). The first task therefore is to choose the scores to work with.

For each of those rounds, calculate a differential based on the following formula:

Differential = ( (Player Score - Course Rating) (113) ) / Slope

Then, use those differentials to average a handicap.

Handicap = (Average of Differentials) (.96)

In English: for each round you’re counting, subtract the course rating from your score. Then, divide that result by 113. Finally, divide the previous result by the slope of the course that you played. That gives you the differential score for that round.

The course rating is an evaluation of the difficulty of the course for a scratch golfer. Slope is a measure of the difficulty of the course for a bogey golfer as compared to the course rating. You’ll find both of those on the scorecard, or in the clubhouse. The “113” represents the average of all course slopes.

The lowest Slope is 55; the highest 155.

So what you’re doing is comparing your score to that of scratch golfers for that course, and then modifying the result based on the difficulty of that course compared to all other courses.

Once you have ten differentials, average those results. Then,multiply by .96.

I have no explanation for why you multiply by .96.

The end result is your handicap. However, each time you play a round, the whole thing needs to be recalculated, because it’s all based on your best ten out of the last twenty.

It’s important to note that your handicap is NOT an indicator of your average score. It’s an average of your BEST scores. It’s therefore not surprising when a player claims to be a 12 handicap, and shoots a 96 on any given day.

The average handicap for a male player is 16.1. The average for a female player is 28. Less than 1 percent of golfers play to a single digit.

And that’s just among players who bother to keep a handicap—something only dedicated golfers actually do. In the general population of recreational and weekend golfers, the average handicap likely is much higher.

The WGC Accenture Match Play Championship returns this week, and with it the annual confusion of American golf fans over what terms like Halve, All Square, Dormie, 1-Up and scores like 3 and 2 or 5 and 4 mean.

American golf fans are used to what is known as “stroke play.” In stroke play, golfers play a set number of holes—and the number of holes is known from the beginning—and the player with the lowest combined total score wins.

Not so in Match Play. In that format, the golfers are pitted against each other in a mano-a-mano format. In match play, players are concerned—not with the field—but with beating the player they are playing with.

The most confusing part of Match Play is in the scoring. Each hole in a Match is a separate event, and is taken in isolation. The player who finishes the hole in the fewest strokes wins the hole. The player who wins the most holes out of eighteen wins the match.

The hole-by-hole format means that it’s possible (and probable) that one player will get far enough ahead that the other has no chance of winning. For example, if Tiger and JB Holmes finish the 16th hole, and Woods has won three more than Holmes, there is no need to continue. At best, Holmes could win more holes, and still would be one hole down to Woods. So the match is called at 16. The final result would be Woods 3 and 2. That means that Woods won because he was up by three holes, with two holes left.

Like other international competitions, such as the Ryder and Solheim Cups, the playing format of the President’s Cup is unusual. Unlike a typical PGA event, which uses four days of “medal” play, international team competitions offer a variety of formats: foursomes, four ball and singles matches.

A “Foursome” is a match play format (for an explanation of match play, click here), in which a team of two players alternates hitting a single ball. Two teams; two balls. One player tees off, and the other takes the second where the first shot lies. Players alternate hitting tee shots.

A “Four Ball” match sometimes also is known as “best ball.” Like foursomes, four ball is played in teams of two. In this format, each team member plays his own ball throughout the hole. Four players; four balls. Then, at the end of each hole, the team’s low score is counted to determine who wins the hole.

There is a great deal of strategy involved in playing these events—particularly for the coach, or captain. As a golf coach, I was faced with a fundamental dilemma whenever my team had to compete in a match play team event: do you combine players with similar, or contrasting skills?

In a foursomes, the first instinct is to combine players with dissimilar, but complementary skills.  You might, for example, combine a long hitter with a short game specialist. Taking a look at the course, a coach then can identify the hole that confers the biggest advantage to the long hitter and assign him to tee off on that hole. This then determines who tees off on all the others, since tee shots are alternated between team mates.

Teaming players with different skills also can help to minimize the damage on any one hole. If a short hitter tees off, then the longer hitter can hit a higher numbered iron into the green, where, presumably, the short game guy can make a good putt.

The problem with this, however, is that it takes a player out of his usual game. If the bomber is used to taking wedges into a green, he will be uncomfortable hitting a longer iron after a wedge-and-putter guy’s tee shot. So, the other approach to foursomes is to combine players with similar styles. This ensures that players generally are hitting shots that are familiar.

On the course in foursomes, team mates must be constantly aware of the other’s abilities. Each must ensure that his shot puts the other in a position that plays to their strengths. It’s not simply a matter of hitting the best shot that you can.

For example, Tiger might be able to reach a par 5 in two. In doing so, however, the risk is that the ball ends up in a greenside bunker. If his partner is a sand wizard, that might be an acceptable risk; if not, he should lay up to his partner’s best distance.

Four Ball is a somewhat easier game on the coach. There, I usually combined players with different skill sets, on the theory that each hole would play to at least one of their strengths or weaknesses. Of course, with a player like Tiger, who has no weaknesses in his game, this isn’t an issue.

Another way of pairing players is by style. It’s often advantageous to pair a gambler with a cautious player. One can go for birdies, while the other plays for par.

On the course in a four ball match, the partners need to keep a good eye on how the other is doing. If player A has hit a ball to a safe spot, his partner might be able to attempt a riskier shot. If the risk fails to produce reward, the other player at least has a good chance. I like this format because played well, it encourages a gambling style of play.