Friday, August 17, 2007 Garcia: 9th Medsa Mayor's GK golfest tees off Aug. 18 By Imee Garcia
THE 9th Medsa Mayor's GK Cup is scheduled on August 18, 2007, at the Apo Golf & Country Club. It is an invitational golf tournament and the proceeds will go to the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Home Development Program of Davao City. This endeavor is committed to helping our less fortunate Davaoenos by way of building houses, and as the Medsa spokesperson has said..."by creating self-sustaining communities that would live up to our reputation as one of the top 20 Most Livable Cities in Asia."
Through the efforts of Medsa, the Mayor's GK Cup last year was able to raise funds enough to build more than 40 houses in the Tibungco relocation site. Hopefully, the funds that will be raised in this year's tournament will continue to support the building of more houses, a multi purpose area, as well as a public elementary school in the said relocation area.
Someone asked me a question awhile back. He asked--if his opponent's shot goes wild and they look for his ball in the bushes, and he find's his opponent's ball, is he obliged to tell his opponent that he's found the ball?
For the information of the non-golfers, if your opponent's ball is considered lost, he will have to hit another shot and incur a penalty of 1 stroke. This means that he has to go back to where he hit his errand shot from, and from there, hit again, thus losing stroke and distance. It is like losing 2 strokes, or rather, adding 2 strokes to his score. And as we know, the higher the score, or the more strokes one makes, the worse the player's game is.
So let's say there is one more hole left to play and you and your opponent have the same score so far. You hit your drive straight, and your opponent’s ball goes to the bushes. You both search for his ball, and you find it. What would you do? Would you call his attention and say you've found it, or will you step on it and bury it deep under the grass? Would you kick it further to the deep bushes?
Doing this will make you win the tournament easily. What does your conscience tell you to do? Forget what your mama taught you? Forget what you learned in school and in church? Be unsportsmanlike and get the trophy?
So what is the ruling regarding this matter?
Here it is--"The Rules of Golf do not specifically require you to help your opponent or fellow-competitor search for a ball; or to tell that golfer where his ball is if you find it. So the answer, according to the Rules, is a NO."
However, Golf is all about sportsmanship--`the spirit of the game.' There is also what we call "golf etiquette," and we must not forget, "the Christian way."
When the Rules of Golf were revised for 2004-2005, the USGA and R&A gave more authority to the Committee to punish a "serious breach of etiquette."
Rule 33-7 states: "If a Committee considers that a player is guilty of a serious breach of etiquette, it may impose a penalty of disqualification under this Rule."
So if you do not inform your opponent that you have found his ball, it can be considered a breach of etiquette, and you can be disqualified.
But then again, how will the Committee find out if you keep quiet about it?
Temptations! Temptations!
For those who think it is better to step on the ball, please make sure that no one sees you as it may be the end of your name in golf. How embarrassing that would be if people find out what you've done. Shame on you! (Slap! Slap!)
