The Met Golfer - June 2008

met golfer mailbag

Burke Knows Best

A member of our club, Champions Golf Club in Houston, brought your recent cover article to our attention [“Clubs at the Crossroads,” April/May 2008]. I thought the article made several good points, and is certainly meaningful to those of us here at Champions. Incidentally, the Met Area meant a lot to me. Coming from Texas, I couldn’t believe the conditions of the courses. My dad was from Philadelphia, and I had heard a lot about East Coast courses, but those in the Met Area were among the best I’ve ever seen!

Jack Burke Jr.

Houston, Texas

Editors Note: Burke won the 1949 Met Open at Metropolis CC while serving as head pro at the club, and later won The Masters and PGA Championship.

Architect in Residence Thank you for including Fazio Golf in the recent story on Wee Burn Country Club [“A Wee Gem,” April/May 2008]. We work on many clubs in the New York area, and truly appreciate the wonderful service that the MGA and The Met Golfer provide to the game.

Tom Marzolf
Fazio Golf
Henderson, N.C.

Heavy Metal

While metal detecting, I recently dug up this medallion (below), which reads “Metropolitan Golf Association War Relief Fund Labor Day 1918.” A long plant of some sort is wrapped in a curve on the right side. It might be an olive branch. Any clues as to this medal’s background?

Jay Mann

Ship Bottom, N.J.

Carry On

The article on the current state of golf clubs [“Clubs at the Crossroads,” April/May 2008] was very interesting, but I found it rather ironic that one of the accompanying photo-

graphs showed a golfer walking and carrying his own clubs (above). Most courses in the Met Area either do not allow this or severely restrict it. With increased demands on golfers’ time, maybe clubs should consider offering a “twilight” membership that would allow golfers to play only after a certain time in the afternoon, with unrestricted walking allowed.

Clive Hallwood Rockville Centre, N. Y.

MGA historian Bill Quirin responds: I found an article in the September 3, 1918 edition of The Ne w York Times that describes competitions that took place “under the auspices of the Metropolitan Golf Association on September 2, 1918.Tournaments were held at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, N. Y., and the Apawamis Club in Rye, N. Y., to benefit U.S. war efforts. Here’s the excerpt that describes the medal: “S. W. Howland… for leading in the thirty-six holes of play, received the gold medal offered by the Metropolitan Golf Association.”

In-Decision in Rules Quiz?

You have no doubt heard from fellow Rules geeks, but the quiz in your April/May issue had an incorrect answer. Question #6 described a match in which Gene told Peter he had holed out for a five. Since

Peter had a putt for six, he picked up his marker in the belief that he had already lost the hole. Gene then realized he actually had a six.

The published answer was that Gene lost the hole because he gave incorrect information. This was based on Rule 9-2 and Decision 9-2/5. However, this is exactly the situation described in Decision 9-2/6. Although Gene gave incorrect information, Peter’s putt would have halved the hole at best. Thus, the hole was halved.

Lest you think I pored over your quiz to find an error (okay, maybe just a little), this particular situation is personal. My partner and I lost a hole, and ultimately the match, because of this same incorrect ruling during a club event a couple of years ago. Much to my chagrin, I found the relevant Decision the next morning.

Dave Hardie

Chappaqua, N. Y.

TonyWimpfheimer responds:Good catch!You are correct that we should have referred to Decision 9-2/ 6.Th e problem was that (as is not unusual in the indexing system used by the USGA) that after you read 9-2/5 you think you have the answer. There seems no reason to read on to 9-2/6, which is an extension of 9-2/5.

We Want to Hear from You!

Have something to say about an article in The Met Golfer or a topic affecting golf in our area? Send your thoughts and comments to letters@mgagolf.org, or to Letters to the Editor, MGA, 49 Knollwood Rd., Elmsford, NY 10523. We reserve the right to edit letters for space and accuracy.