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| When Westner waded out. |
When it comes to the Rules of Golf, I'm a bit of a fan. A copy of the R & A's 'Decisions' book is almost compulsory bedtime reading!
So when two gentlemen I have known for over ten years produced a video "Golf:Know the Rules", I had to check it out. And I was not disappointed.
David Rickman is a quiet-spoken Scot and Rules Secretary of the game's governing body, the R&A, while John Paramor, son of the legendary musical impressario Norrie Paramor, is the European Tour's chief referee. Both have had thousands of brushes with the laws - and every time have come out on top!
He once paid me the compliment of telling me to keep quiet while he asked a Rules question of several fellow golf-writers, because he knew I would have the answer.
In this one hour long presentation, which came about almost accidentally, when Paramor compiled a selection of clips of decisions to illustrate some points to referees, there are some classic highlights.
Seve Ballesteros trying to get a ruling when stymied behind a tree, Bernhard Langer chipping from the boughs of an oak and Wayne Westner wading out into a lake to play a recovery shot from a small island, are etched in most people's memories.
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| O'Meara gets a lift from Rickman. |
But there are some other gems I had not seen well worth the £12.99 cover price alone - all of which we can all relate to. Some are sad, most are hilarious, and all typical of the dry sense of humour of Paramor and Rickman.
They include Mike Clayton casually tossing his putter in the air and failing to catch it before it knocks his ball away from the hole (one stroke penalty) and Joakim Haeggman trying to avoid a penalty, despite being told by a fuming Colin Montgomerie ' but your in somebody's bloody garden!'
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| Paramor tackles Seve. |
Says Paramor: "We found that people were continually asking us for copies of these compilations, so David and I felt it might be a good idea to put together a tape for commercial purposes."
Adds Rickman: "This video brings together real-life incidents which illustrate the rules in an informative way. If through this video we can improve the knowledge and understanding of the Rules and make the subject entertaining, then we will be delighted."
And don't worry that a golf video might be released without Tiger featuring somewhere - it includes footage of probably the most outrageous ruling in tournament history, when it took 12 men to remove the heaviest 'loose impediment' ever discovered.
This video includes excellent commentary and introduction from Steve Beddow and Ken Brown and is available from most good stores (complete with a copy of the Rules of Golf). It is produced by Trans World International and released by Green Umbrella.
It should be on every golfer's Christmas list.
