At this week’s U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club outside of Seattle, Washington the players are contending with the usual U.S. Open conditions””firm greens, deep rough, and challenging hole locations. The real challenge of Sahalee, however, is something that that will be there long after the USGA packs their last trunk of tournament supplies and the players move on to the next tournament on the schedule””trees! Without a doubt the signature feature of Sahalee are the trees that line every fairway. While the trees create a formidable challenge they sometimes assist play by serving as 200-foot spectators helping to contain wayward shots. From a Rules of Golf perspective, trees create a few interesting rules situations that came up during the first two rounds of this year’s 31st U.S. Senior Open””rules that could play a pivotal role before the champion is crowned on Sunday night.
The first question is what do you do when you ball hits a tree? Since a tree is defined as an “Outside Agency” (meaning it is not part of the player’s side) a ball striking a tree is a “Rub of the Green” and the ball is simply played as it lies. Most translate “Rub of the Green” as a “bad break” but the Rules define the term less subjectively. A Rub of the Green is when a ball in motion is stopped or deflected by an Outside Agency. A rub of the green is neither good nor bad, it just “is.” If a wildly hooking drive is snared by a tree and tossed gently back in the fairway, that is a “good” rub of the green. If, on the other hand, a towering iron shot heading directly at the flagstick is slapped cruelly sideways by the last branch, that is a “bad” rub of the green. In either case, the golfer must accept the break and play the ball wherever it comes to rest.
The abundance of trees at Sahalee also brings the unplayable ball rule into play. With so many trees so close to play it is only a matter of time before a player in this week’s U.S. Senior will find his ball so close to one of them that he will deem the ball unplayable. The unplayable ball rule (Rule 28) can be used at the player’s discretion any time except when a player’s ball lies in a water hazard. A player has three options when his ball is unplayable””all of which come with a one-stroke “price tag.” The first option is “stroke and distance” or playing the stroke from where the previous stroke was made. The second option is to go back on a straight line from the flagstick and where the ball lies unplayable as far back as desired. The third and final option is to drop within two club lengths of where the ball lies unplayable, no closer to the hole. This third option is likely to be the most popular choice of the players as it will, in most cases, prove to provide the greatest “bang for the buck” as it will allow them to gain the maximum distance from their previous stroke.
Of course the biggest factor the trees will play is simply influencing shots. The players who are able to place their tee shots in the correct part of the fairway and who are able to work their ball (mainly from left to right as the majority of the trees “in play” are on the right side of the fairway) will enjoy the greatest success. When all is said and done, the trees at Sahalee will play a key role in helping determine the 2010 U.S. Senior Open Champion. If you listen carefully you might even here them whisper the champion’s name!
