Head Coach Blog

Hello golf fans.

I hope you are doing well and having a great week. This heatwave will catch any golfer not staying hydrated. Please be safe out there, the rain is coming soon!

I thought I’d lighten the air with a lesser-known golf story for this week’s Coach’s Corner. Seems even more funny knowing that he is now a European Ryder Cup winner!

Mum’s the word

Golf’s a hard enough game without your own mother calling a penalty on you – and yet that’s precisely what happened to Viktor Hovland during The PLAYERS Championship in March 2021. The Norwegian was given a two-stroke penalty in the opening round at TPC Sawgrass after he accidentally putted his ball from the wrong place on the 15th hole. Hovland had moved his marker to clear the line for playing partner Justin Thomas. When he returned it, he moved it in the wrong direction… something his eagle-eyed mother Galina noticed whilst watching on TV. She phoned Viktor after his round and brought it to his attention. The then 23-year-old then raised the issue with tournament rules officials, reviewed the footage and was assessed a two-shot penalty for his error. Why wasn’t he DQ’d for signing an incorrect scorecard you ask? You’ll find your answer under Rule 3.3b3, which allowed him to be retroactively penalised for unknowingly violating a rule. Lucky boy.
– Bunkered.co.uk

A two-shot penalty is never fun. Be aware of your actions on the golf course, you could miss out on your personal best score, come short on winning a big tournament, or worse – disappoint your mother.