Some golf rules have changed over the years

What you need to know:

  • At this years Barclays Kenya Open, the Captain at Muthaiga Golf Club, James Ondigo is cognisant of the important role that is played by caddies.
  • For this reason, he is planning to have a session with them just before the tournament to enlighten them on their important role when on the bags of the players.
  • The last thing we want to see, is a player losing out on account of his caddie.

Back in 1968, the Kenya Open Championship was played at Karen Country Club and the winner was Maurice Bembridge. He went on to win again in 1969 and 1979.

This feat has never been repeated.

No one else has won the Kenya Open three times since and as things stand, it is very unlikely to happen in the near future.

In the same year that he first won the Kenya Open, Maurice Bembridge was disqualified from the PGA Close Championship owing to an infringement of the Rules of Golf.

SACKED THE CADDIE

This happened during the first round of the tournament, when his caddie “found” the ball in the rough and Bembridge played it.

Some way further on, his own ball was discovered. The caddie admitted that he had deliberately dropped a ball in the rough.

His probably did this because he suspected that the original ball would not be found.

Bembridge sacked the caddie on the spot and reported the matter to the officials.

He was disqualified because back then, as is the case today, for any breach of a Rule by his caddie, the player incurs the relative penalty.

This is what today is referred to as a serious breach of etiquette.

The Rules of Golf back then were not very clear about a serious breach of etiquette. What the Rules provided for then was that a committee could apply a penalty of disqualification if they considered such action warranted.

The annals of golf history don’t say whether this is the Rule under which Bembridge was disqualified.

Today, the Rules of Golf give the responsibility to the Competition Committee to impose the penalty of disqualification for a serious breach of etiquette.
The intentions of a caddie when dropping a ball in the rough cannot be honourable.

The deliberate attempt to lie during a round of golf must be met with a similar penalty.

A few years ago, when I served as the Golf Captain at my home club, a similar predicament happened to my counterpart from Karen Country Club.

Owino Ayodo was participating in a Club Night competition at Limuru Country Club when his caddie decided to use a “foot-wedge” to nudge the ball in play back onto the fairway from the rough.

They were playing the last hole of the round and the caddie must have thought that he was doing his boss a favour. Unbeknown to the caddie, Ayodo had been suspicious of this tomfoolery and had been watching him keenly.

I had completed my round just a few minutes before when a dejected Ayodo came and informed me that he had to disqualify himself.

He explained to me what had happened and I quickly thought that he could still salvage the situation.

BECAME HAWK-EYED

“Since you were on the last hole, why don’t you go back, incur a one-stroke penalty, drop the ball where you think it was and hole out?” I suggested.

“You don’t understand Vincent. I can’t be sure if this caddie had not done this on other holes” replied Ayodo.

He had suspected the caddie of improving the lie of his ball on of the previous holes when he found his ball in the rough in a very unlikely position.

That is when he became hawk-eyed whenever the caddie was alone with the ball.

Needless to say, I was very embarrassed at the action of the caddie at our club.

The following week, I had a Rules session with all the caddies from the club.

Even though most caddies are honest, I had to let the caddies know of their responsibility in as far as the Rules of Golf are concerned.

At this years Barclays Kenya Open, the Captain at Muthaiga Golf Club, James Ondigo is cognisant of the important role that is played by caddies.

For this reason, he is planning to have a session with them just before the tournament to enlighten them on their important role when on the bags of the players.

The last thing we want to see, is a player losing out on account of his caddie.

Just as it was back in 1968, a golfer can get disqualified today for the actions of their caddie.