Newtown, CT

Sometime around 1:30 p.m. on Friday, December 14,2012, I stepped outside of PJ Clark’s, a saloon on 3^rd Avenue in Manhattan. Twenty four hours earlier the PGA of America had announced that Tom Watson would be the Captain of the 2014 Ryder Cup team. It had been a whirlwind couple of days in New York City. NBC’s Today Show, the Empire State Building press conference, and a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden plus numerous interviews and press conferences created  a week that I will never forget.

But, on the street corner that Friday afternoon at one of Sinatra’s hangouts, it all seemed like a blip in the past when I checked my Blackberry and saw reports that a mass shooting had taken place at the Sandy Hook Elementary School about an hour north in Newtown, CT. Four events of tragic magnitude stand out in my 59 years. The Kennedy assassination, the Columbine shootings, 9/11 and the Sandy Hook Elementary carnage are permanently etched in my memory bank.

Last Sunday, I went to Newtown to be part of a day that honored the first responders at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I joined Michael Breed, of Golf Channel’s “The Fix,” and participated in a golf outing hosted by Paul Miller, PGA professional at the 9-hole Newton Country Club. Sixty-eight players, most of them policemen, fire fighters and ambulance personnel, comprised the field.

“When you drive into Newtown, you will go about 8 mph and you will say to yourself, ‘How could something that awful happen in this town?’” Breed told me last week.

Newtown is charming and located in Fairfield County. It was founded in 1705 and is set in rural Connecticut. Its population is 28,000 and it contains several small boroughs- one of which is Sandy Hook. Newtown is truly Anytown, USA. Breed was right. It is unthinkable that this tragedy, which resulted in 32 deaths on December 14, 2012, could happen here.

Shortly after 9:30 a.m. on that fateful day, Adam Lanza shot his way through the locked glass doors at Sandy Hook and went on a shooting rampage that killed 26 children, ages 6-12 and six adults. Lanza shot all of his victims multiple times, including 6-year old Noah Ponzer, who he shot eleven times. Lanza later shot himself in the head when the first responders entered the school.

The courageous stories of the six murdered adults along with others inside the school, all primarily women, are well documented. Who knows how many lives were saved by their heroic efforts. My trip to Newtown only solidified my belief that this tragic story could have happened anywhere in our country. It’s a typical American town with people like you and me living in it.

According to Breed who lives about 30 minutes away in downstate Connecticut, the scene at Sandy Hook was so bad when the first seven responders arrived that they called into the Newtown police department and advised that no one else enter. To this day, those first seven responders have not returned to work.

Paul Miller has been the golf professional at Newtown CC for 19 years. The club was built in 1915. Like many small town private clubs it has fallen on hard times the last few years as its membership has declined from 270 to 187. Dan Baker works for the PGA of America and he described Newtown CC.

“I grew up there and was a junior member at Newtown CC. Joe Lacava, Tiger’s caddie, and I both played there. NCC’s greens are as big as car hoods which is why I generally hit it at the flag because if you were 20 feet right or left you were off the green,” said Baker.

“NCC, back in the day, was jokingly referred to as a bar with a golf course attached to it. The kind of place where golf was always fun. I wish I could be there today. Great memories!” recalled Baker.

On Sunday, Paul Miller and his members put the fun back into NCC. They created a day that quietly said thanks to all those first responders and area agencies that had been so instrumental in the events of 12/14/12. The club has offered complimentary memberships to any of the families affected by the tragedy at Sandy Hook. Three of those have taken NCC up on its offer and Miller will be giving lessons to a mom and dad of a Sandy Hook victim on Friday.

Miller, along with the help of Breed, created a raffle where every participant in Sunday’s outing received a prize. The donors were golfs greats- Woods, Palmer, Norman, Player, Nicklaus, Pavin, Stockton along with many of golf’s top manufacturers. The best surprise of the day was when Allen Newman, with the JetBlue Challenge, announced that all 68 participants in the outing would receive a free 5 day/ 4 night vacation to Casa De Campo.

Golf Digest and the Golf Channel covered the day on Sunday, but Miller and his NCC membership had refrained from any pre-outing publicity as they did not want to turn the day into a media circus out of respect for the first responders. Breed conducted a clinic and around Noon on Sunday, nearly 3,000 motorcyclists roared into Newtown. They had paid $2 each to be a part of the ride for Sandy Hook’s responders.

It was eerie. You could hear the sirens accompanying the roar of the  motorcycles while Breed was finishing up his clinic. I thought to myself, sirens can never sound the same in Newtown. It has to be a constant reminder, a daily torture.

Main Street in Newtown houses the Police Department and the Newtown Ambulance service. These were recognizable images from the national news stories back in December. Dickinson Road, the site of Sandy Hook Elementary is coned off prohibiting any kind of traffic near the school. It’s probably better that the painful reminder of that day be sealed off, but looking down that road past the cones still congers up sadness. The Trinity Church where so many of the memorial services were conducted stood tall and proud against the Connecticut horizon.

Sunday was a day of celebration .It was calm with a clear blue sky. Newtown was peaceful and almost surreal. Miller and his members at NCC managed to do the impossible. They made people forget the horrors of this small town, if only for a day. People laughed, the libations flowed, a few tears were shed but all in all- it was golf helping heal people’s lives. It was a great day in Newtown, truly Anytown, USA.            

   
 

May 1, 2013

News in the golf world never seems to take a nap in 2013. Every week is laced with some intense, high powered issue and this week has been no exception.

Vijay Singh was relieved from any wrongdoing in the case of his use of deer antler spray by the PGA TOUR. After considerable review by the TOUR, and Commissioner Tim Finchem, it was deemed that Singh had not violated the TOUR’s substance abuse policy.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has determined that the use of deer antler spray is not considered prohibited. Based on that information, and given WADA’s lead role in interpreting the Prohibited List, the TOUR deemed it only fair to no longer treat Singh’s use of deer antler spray as a violation of the TOUR’s anti-doping program.

Singh has cooperated with the TOUR investigation and has been completely forthcoming and honest. During his Tuesday press conference, Finchem emphasized that the TOUR is committed to increasing its educational initiatives to remind players of the PGA TOUR Anti-Doping Program and the risk of utilizing any product without full understanding of the ingredients contained in that product.     

Ironically, Singh withdrew from this week’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow this week in Charlotte due to an ailing shoulder.

On Wednesday, the USGA and R&A released a statement on the handling of the Tiger Woods’ drop on Hole 15 during the second round of the Masters. This situation raised two questions of interpretation under the Rules of Golf.

1.      The Ruling that Woods Dropped In and Played From a Wrong Place

The Rules do not define “as nearly as possible” in terms of a specific measured distance, because the conditions unique to each situation can affect how near to the original spot it is possible to drop a ball and because dropping a ball is an imprecise act. But, in this type of situation, in which the original spot was clearly identifiable as being just behind the back edge of the divot hole created by Woods’ previous stroke and the fact there were no other unusual circumstances, “as nearly as possible” means that the player must attempt to drop the ball on or next to (but not nearer the hole than) that spot. Woods did not do so. As a result, he was correctly penalized two strokes for dropping in and playing from a wrong place.

2.      The Decision to Waive the Penalty of Disqualification

In deciding to waive the disqualification penalty for signing an incorrect scorecard, the Committee recognized that it had talked to Woods- before he returned his scorecard- about his drop on the 15^th hole. About the Committee’s ruling, the Committee likely would have corrected that ruling and concluded that Woods had dropped in and played from a wrong place. In that case, he would have returned a correct score of 8 for the 15^th hole and the issue of disqualification would not have arisen.

The Decisions on the Rules of Golf authorize a Committee to correct an incorrect decision before the competition has closed. They establish where a Committee incorrectly advises a competitor, before he returns his scorecard, that he has incurred no penalty. Then the Committee subsequently corrects its mistake and it is appropriate for the Committee to waive the disqualification penalty.

The Masters Tournament Committee concluded that its actions taken prior to Woods’ returning his scorecard created an exceptional individual case that unfairly led to the potential for disqualification. In hindsight, the Committee determined that its initial ruling was incorrect, as well as that it had erred in resolving this question without first seeking information from Woods. Then they failed to inform Woods of the ruling.

As part of this ongoing assessment, and in keeping with its regular practice, the Rules of Golf Committees of the USGA and the R&A will review the exceptional situation that occurred at the 2013 Masters Tournament, assess the potential implications for other types of situations, and determine whether any adjustment to the Rules and/or Decisions is appropriate.

Let the implementation and execution of the rules rest with the governing bodies. But, I will maintain that as a player, Tiger Woods acted appropriately. I don’t recall seeing a situation in any other sport when an athlete would correct a ball or strike by an umpire; a referee’s flag or a line judge’s call.           

Finally, Tianlang Guan was offered sponsor’s exemption for the upcoming Byron Nelson Classic this month in Dallas. Some in the media have been critical of giving the 14-year old Chinese player exemptions into PGA TOUR events such as the one he received in last week’s Zurich event in New Orleans. Are you kidding me?

Guan made the cut at The Masters and then shot a second round 69 en route to making the cut at New Orleans. He has indicated that he will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open. It has been the most refreshing story in golf for the past month. A 14-year old who can compete with the world’s best players. Let this madness continue!