The San Diego Padres have partnered with Callaway Golf to present The Links at Petco Park – a once-in-a-lifetime experience marrying golf with baseball. From November 5-8, the home of the Padres will serve as a truly unique nine-hole golf experience.

The course begins on a putting green in the dugout of the home team. Golfers will then ascend to the ballpark’s upper deck for four holes where they will hit onto the field. No. 6 will see players tee off from field level near the Western Metal Supply Co. building before making their way to the Batter’s Eye in centerfield for No. 7. The bullpen houses the green for No. 8 while the rooftop of the Western Metal Supply Co. building sets the stage for the final hole.

Each hole features a special theme with an opportunity to win various prizes. At the end of the day, golfers will be able to take-in the experience from The Loft which will be converted into the Callaway Clubhouse.

All 1,600 available tee times were quickly booked when opened to the public, but with 29 other Major League Baseball teams, hopefully the idea catches on.

The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada announced today that SportBox Entertainment Group in partnership with the Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation will serve as the host organization of the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open, Saskatchewan’s Mackenzie Tour event, transitioning from eight years under VMC Sports & Entertainment Group.

Led by tournament director Hugh Vassos, the event has become a mainstay on the Mackenzie Tour schedule for the past eight seasons. “I have been privileged to work with Chief Darcy Bear and his people at the Whitecap Dakota First Nation, Saskatoon, other Saskatchewan communities, SIGA, SaskTel and all other past sponsors, and of course the best volunteers. I am proud of how the event has grown from an upstart event to a mainstay stop on the Mackenzie Tour,” said Vassos. “It’s been a great run for the past eight years, however in order to help manage its continued growth, it is time for new leadership. I am excited to see the involvement of the Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation with SportBox. Graham played the event twice and I think this is a natural progression to have their foundation now take an active role in the Saskatchewan tournament. I look forward to seeing the event make an even greater impact in the province going forward.”

“I’d like to thank Hugh for all his hard work in making the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open a success for the last eight seasons, growing it from nothing into what it is today and providing a foundation for it to continue to flourish. The tournament is among the players’ favourite stops every year and we’re looking forward to seeing it make an even greater impact going forward with the Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation,” said Mackenzie Tour President Jeff Monday.

Vassos will remain involved with the Tour in a consulting role going forward. SportBox Entertainment Group, a sport, lifestyle and entertainment firm that has business verticals in event management, consulting and talent representation, will assume operational control of the event. Graham DeLaet, a talent client of SportBox, will see his foundation as the driving force behind the event to raise funds for local charitable initiatives. SportBox Group, will work in collaboration with the Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation to ensure the event’s continued success, while integrating a strong community-centric focus.

With the event taking place in his home province of Saskatchewan, and DeLaet being an alumnus of the Mackenzie Tour, it was a natural fit for him to get involved. The Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation, which Graham started with wife Ruby in 2014, will work with SportBox to identify a local cause to support through the event to give back to the community.

The Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation was launched with a central focus on supporting children’s health and wellness, as well as supporting the development of junior golfers at all levels. Since 2011, Graham and Ruby DeLaet’s charitable initiatives have raised over $1 million for causes and organizations across Canada including the Children’s Wish Foundation of Saskatchewan, the Ronald McDonald House of Saskatchewan, the Weyburn & District Hospital Foundation, the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Saskatchewan, and the Calgary Flames Foundation.

“As an alumnus of the Tour, and the opportunity to be part of an event in my backyard, it made sense for me to team up with my agency so that Ruby and I can support the event, while also using it as a means to give back to charitable initiatives in my home province,” said Graham DeLaet. “I’m excited to work with SportBox and the Tour on shaping what the event will look like.”

“We launched our Foundation when Graham was at a point in his career that it made sense to start giving back to the people that supported him along his journey to the PGA TOUR,” said Ruby DeLaet. “Our Foundation represents Graham’s roots in Canada by supporting local causes that are close to us, and we’re excited to make a positive impact in the Saskatchewan community with this event partnership.”

The team at SportBox is also connected to the Saskatchewan market with a corporate office located in Saskatoon.

“This initiative is a strategic fit for SportBox because of the company’s presence in Saskatchewan, relationship and collaboration with Graham, and him having roots in the province and being embedded in the community,” said David Dube, Chairman of SportBox Entertainment Group. “We look forward to working with the event stakeholders and community partners to identify a local cause that the event supports each year, in addition to providing a great experience for players and spectators.”

SIGA (Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority) will continue to host the tournament as the event’s title sponsor. The tournament will be played at Dakota Dunes Golf Links, a SCORE Golf top 100-ranked course laid spaciously throughout natural sand dune formations and the indigenous prairie grasses that surround its edges.

“For the past eight years SIGA has been proud to be the title sponsor for Saskatchewan’s premier golf event – The SIGA Dakota Dunes Open. I would like to thank our fellow sponsors, the Mackenzie Tour and the many organizers and volunteers who make professional golf a reality in Saskatchewan. We look forward to working with the team at SportBox Entertainment Group in partnership with the Graham and Ruby DeLaet Foundation,” said Zane Hansen, President and CEO, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA).

The date for the 2016 SIGA Dakota Dunes Open will be announced at a later date.

SHANGHAI (AP) — Bubba Watson is in China this week, Japan next week, and there’s one more stop in Thailand before the year is over.

Golf is more global than ever, and the two-time Masters champion wants to be part of it.

“I wanted to win outside the U.S.,” Watson said Wednesday on the eve of his title defense in the HSBC Champions. “And after getting a taste of victory outside the U.S. here last year, I want to do that again. I’m going to try to do it again.”

Watson was portrayed as an uncultured American four years ago when he went to France and didn’t have the best week, which included comments about historic sites without knowing what they were.

But he’s getting the hang of it.

“Getting better as a golfer, as a person, I want to try different cultures and learn different golf courses in different areas of the world,” Watson said. “And so for me, it’s just fun. And right now, I’m playing pretty good. So I have the ability to travel and play and do some things that I want to do for my own career and my own personal goals. So that’s why I’ve travelled and played more than some other guys.”

This is his second trip to China – Watson played the Shenzhen International a week after the Masters this year.

He will play on the Japan Golf Tour next week, and then return to the Thailand Open. A year ago, he donated his prize money to the foundation of Thongchai Jaidee.

Watson said his first taste of international travel came early when he played on a U.S. team that competed in South Africa. He also recalls a trip to Ireland with some friends to play golf.

“I’ve traveled different places, and just watching golf on TV, watching guys from all over the world winning and competing, it drives you to get better in the game,” he said. “To get better, you want to try to get to all areas in the world and play against different talent and different cultures and see different golf courses around the world.”

He will have played in five countries by the end of the year.

Watson could have played six, but he said he was going to skip the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas a week after Thanksgiving because he needs a break.

SHANGHAI – Jordan Spieth’s description of his trophy collection from an amazing season brings to mind a scene in “Caddyshack” when Lacy Underall is at Ty Webb’s house and keeps finding uncashed checks littered about the living room.

There’s a U.S. Open trophy in one corner of his bedroom. A green jacket in the closet. A crystal trophy from the Tour Championship over here. The FedEx Cup trophy over there. Trophies from the Valspar Championship and John Deere Classic. A bronze of Jack Nicklaus for PGA Tour player of the year.

It’s all there for hardly anyone to see.

“I’ve never wanted to just display stuff,” Spieth said Wednesday. “That’s what we try to win, and when we win we get satisfaction. It’s very satisfying, and then we go on to the next goal. We go on to the next trophy. … I feel uncomfortable if it’s all out in the open.”

“When you achieve those goals and you have those trophies in your possession, that’s what is important to me,” he said. “People already know that I won. So what good does it do for me to have my friends over and just flaunt it in their face? Just keep it in my room and go for the next one.”

The next chance starts Thursday at the HSBC Champions, a World Golf Championship that technically starts a new PGA Tour season for the 22-year-old Texan, even though it still feels like he is winding down a year that brought him stardom and fame that he never imagined.

Last week, Dallas-based AT&T honored their prized client by building a mosaic of Spieth using more than 24,000 golf balls on a tee. When he arrived at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, he saw posters in the baggage claim promoting him along with Rory McIlroy and defending HSBC champion Bubba Watson.

Watson was portrayed as the magician. McIlroy was the fire. Spieth was the ice man.

“It’s really cool to see golf have recognition and fans around the world,” Spieth said. “It’s a dream come true for me, it really is. To have young juniors walking in our group today in 12 holes in the pouring rain, it’s just something that I probably didn’t even see in my wildest dreams. So to have it take shape is spectacular, but with it comes responsibility. And we have to continue to have years like we did this last year to keep it that way. If you don’t play well, you’re not going to see yourself in the airport in Shanghai.”

Spieth said he didn’t touch his golf clubs for two weeks after the Presidents Cup, which he said was the longest he had gone without his hand on a club since he was 12. The break was nice coming off a year that featured five wins, two majors and a record $22 million in earnings and the FedEx Cup bonus.

And now it’s back to work.

Half of the American team at the Presidents Cup that was in South Korea three weeks ago chose not to play the HSBC Champions for various reasons, though the field is loaded at the top – Spieth, Watson, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler, along with McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott.

McIlroy has a comfortable lead in the Race to Dubai on the European Tour, and his biggest challenge so far this week was just getting to the golf course. A nasty bout with food poisoning caused him to miss the opening ceremony in The Bund district Tuesday, and he only hit a couple of shots on the range Wednesday before feeling more pain in his stomach and heading back to his hotel.

With rain during the pro-am and in the forecast for much of the week, Sheshan International is lush and long and would seem to favor the big hitters. Watson won last year by holing a bunker shot for eagle on the 72nd hole, and then making a birdie to win in a playoff.

Johnson also feels like a defending champion. He went eagle-birdie late in his round two years ago to beat Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter, and then missed last year during his six-month leave from golf.

Johnson has been crisscrossing the Pacific Ocean the last month – South Korea to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Los Angeles and now Shanghai. Forgive him for being out of touch, but he only realized Wednesday that players in their 20s have won the last seven PGA Tour events, and no one older than 23 has won the three events of the new season.

He is 31.

“I still feel like I’m 21,” Johnson said. “I don’t consider myself being much older than those guys.”

Spieth still feels 22, even if he has reason to feel a year ago felt much longer. At the HSBC Champions last year, he still had only one PGA Tour win and no inkling how much his life was about to change with his pursuit of the Grand Slam and reaching No. 1 in the world.

And in his mind, the year isn’t over.

“This would be icing on the cake if we were able to compete and capture a win here,” he said. “Obviously, that’s our expectation.”

PICKERING, Ont. – The PGA of Ontario is relocating its offices to Angus Glen Golf Club.

“It’s a very exciting move for our association to partner with a world-class organization like Angus Glen Golf Club,” says Kevin Purcell, Executive Director of the PGA of Ontario. “We will have a smaller footprint for our offices than we currently have, but we’ll gain access to all of the excellent facilities at Angus Glen if we want to be able to host meetings or educational seminars on and off the course for our membership.”

Purcell explained that after 13 years, the current lease on the association’s offices in a commercial plaza in Pickering expires at the end of November. Earlier in 2015, he was chatting with Cailey Stollery, President of Angus Glen Golf, about other matters and mentioned that there might be the possibility of a move. Stollery told Purcell she had the perfect spot for the association. A deal was worked out to bring the headquarters to Angus Glen at a significant cost savings to the PGA of Ontario.

Prior to locating in Pickering, the PGA of Ontario had its offices located across from Angus Glen in an old schoolhouse on property owned by the club’s parent company.

“We are thrilled that the PGA of Ontario has chosen Angus Glen as their new home. Angus Glen has been a CPGA facility since opening in 1995 and because of this we have had the opportunity to work with dozens of PGA pros,” says Stollery, who is also a member of the board of the Golf Canada Foundation and the Canadian Olympic Association. “We are strong supporters of the PGA of Ontario and look forward to working more closely with them in the future,”

Opened in 1995, Angus Glen Golf Club is a 36-hole course that has twice hosted the RBC Canadian Open, a Canadian Pacific Women’s Open and thousands of charity events over the past 20 years. The North Course was renovated in 2006 and the renovated South Course re-opened earlier this year in time to host the first-ever Pan-Am Games golf championship as a lead up to the 2016 Olympics where golf will be played in Rio de Janeiro for the first time since 1904.

“This move will give our association many opportunities to increase our exposure within the public golf community and build brand awareness as we continue to grow the game of golf and develop industry leaders,” added Purcell. “I know the staff is very excited about the move to a golf course and all the facilities we will be able to capitalize on.”

The PGA of Ontario currently has four full-time staff members including Purcell. They will be moving on up to 10080 Kennedy Road in Markham the week of November 16^th to set up shop at Angus Glen GC.

If you ask Keith Pelley, the new Chief Executive of the European Tour, what his biggest adjustment has been since taking over the role after five years as the President of Rogers Media, the answer is simple: the driving.

No, not the big swing from the first tee at Wentworth Club – where both his office and his home is located, but the actual driving of his car around the streets of Surrey, England.

“I was taking my boy (Pelley has a 12-year-old son, Jason, and a 8-year-old daughter, Hope) to hockey and the GPS said to take the third exit, but I couldn’t get to the third exit. I’m going around the roundabout three times before I can get off,” Pelley exclaims, his voice rising and then turning into a hearty chuckle.

The 51-year-old has been at the helm of the largest professional golf Tour outside of North America for just over three months now, after taking over for George O’Grady, who was the Chief Executive for 10 years. Pelley recently had lunch with John Jacobs, who started the European Tour in 1972. He says Jacobs, who was a well-celebrated golf instructor and is now 90, was trying to change Pelley’s grip as their meal was finishing.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Pelley says. “It’s always been a lifelong dream to work in the golf business and work with a brand that has such a rich history. It’s an opportunity to combine business and sport, and one of the sports I love.”

Pelley’s stock was at an all-time high after he helped to negotiate the biggest television rights deal in Canadian history – the well-publicized NHL deal worth $5.2 billion – that is in its second of 12 years. According to SCOREGolf, Pelley first interviewed with the board of directors at the European Tour via Skype, and then was flown to England for a weekend of interviews and a presentation.

Pelley became a well-known sports media figure through the late 1990s as the President of TSN. In the early 2000s he was the CEO of the Toronto Argonauts, helping to lead them to victory at the 2004 Grey Cup. After that, he had a successful stint as the President of Canada’s Olympic broadcast media consortium, and then became President of Rogers Media in 2010.

“I loved my role at Rogers and I had an enormous respect for the whole Rogers family (Pelley then goes on to list each of the family members by name). My five years could not have been better,” he explains. “It was very difficult to leave Gary Bettman and the NHL deal – which was obviously very historical and one I was very proud of.”

But like many golfers, he had a desire to work in the game he loves. It was one of those jobs, he says, that comes along once-in-a-career.

“I love golf, and my family was certainly up for an adventure,” Pelley says. “The timing was right with the age of my kids and at the end, it was a very tough decision. I knew it was going to take something special for me to leave, and this was in fact just that.”

Pelley has had an interesting start to his tenure, as the Tour appears to be at a crossroads.

He has already granted Rory McIlroy – arguably the Tour’s biggest star – a special condition to participate in the season-ending Race to Dubai (due to the injury he suffered earlier this summer), and was in the news recently when Rich Beem withdrew from the Hong Kong Open in order for Ian Poulter to take his spot and play the mandatory 13 events needed in order to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team.

“For a professional golfer like Rich Beem to do what he did was terrific. It shows the class and maturity […] and Ian has done everything he possibly can to get there,” explains Pelley.

Through it all, Pelley recognizes the athletes and their characters are what make the Tour so successful.

“You’re dealing with the likes of Rory and Ian and Justin (Rose) and Shane (Lowry) and their personalities is one of our Tour’s main strengths. Over five weeks, we had winners from five different countries,” Pelley says. “Our players are our recipe for success.”

“This is a membership organization. The feedback and the dialogue we’ve had about growing it has been great, and (the players) are going to be a part of it,” he continues.

There are four events left in the European Tour’s schedule, including the WGC-HSBC Champions. Prior to that tournament, Pelley will be in Shanghai on a panel with industry heavy-hitters like PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, and Rickie Fowler, talking about the global game and a little bit more about 2016.

Pelley admits there will be some changes to the Tour next year, but says he is looking more long term than short term.

“Those plans we have from a long-term perspective will be articulated to the general public and players in due course,” he explains. “We have a strategy we’re working through, and are excited to execute in 2016.”

While adjusting to life across the pond (including the roads), and aggressively developing a go-forward business plan for the Tour, Pelley has also enjoyed working with his new colleagues immensely.

During the Blue Jays magical playoff run, he convinced his staff to become fans of the team. Even with the time difference, he couldn’t let go of the love he has for the blue birds.

“After we clinched, I sent John Gibbons a note and it came back to me about 15 minutes later. I saw it was five in the morning,” he says, laughing. “I thought, ‘What was I doing?’”

With the Jays out of the playoffs, Pelley’s focus remains solely on the task at hand: leading the European Tour through 2016 and beyond.

He’s learning something new every day, he says. Including the best way to get through those pesky roundabouts.

Nick Taylor is many things. Talented, genial, humourous, and, just maybe, ironic.

For a guy who, in his PGA TOUR profile, lists The Perks of Being a Wallflower as his favourite book, he is anything but a wallflower when it comes to golf.

As he tees it up Thursday as the defending champion at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss., the 27-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., boasts a “beau of the ball” resume.

For 21 weeks in 2009, he was the world’s top-ranked amateur golfer. He qualified for the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, where he made the cut, carding a 65 in the second round, the record for lowest by an amateur in that major’s history. The year before, he finished T2 individually at the World Amateur Team Championships, leading Canada to a ninth-place finish. This on the heels of winning the 2006 Canadian Junior and 2007 Canadian Amateur.

You can just imagine the widespread optimism when he turned pro in 2010. While the transition to pro stardom didn’t go quite as many had imagined, Taylor wasn’t perplexed.

“It has always been like that for me, making the transition,” he said in a recent interview with Golf Canada. “Whether it was from junior to amateur, or amateur to pro, or the Canadian Tour to the Web.com Tour and then the PGA Tour, it just takes me some time.” In fact, he didn’t get fulltime status on the PGA Tour until graduating from the Web.com Tour in 2015.

But once on the big tour, that pattern was demolished. In just his seventh PGA Tour start, Taylor rode a hot putter to victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss., shooting 66 on Sunday to come from four shots back for the win. In doing so, he became the first native-born Canadian to win on Tour since Mike Weir in 2007.

And then, back to reality.

“My game was up and down after that. Several times, I was in the top 10 going into the final round but made some silly mental mistakes on Sunday. But the more I get into that situation, the more comfortable I am, the more confidence I have that I can finish it off. I think, coming off the win, I had too many expectations, not enough patience, and tried to force things on Sunday.”

It wasn’t a bad year for Taylor, who was in the running for Tour rookie of the year based on his victory. He made just over a million bucks and finished 101^st on Tour. He is looking for more this year, and with good reason.

“It was so quick last year, from getting my card to winning. Overwhelming. But after having been here for a full year, with more friends and knowing the routine, the courses, where to stay, and so on, I feel much more comfortable.”

And, even several years down the road, Taylor recalls a particular situation that made him realize the “wallflower” role was not one he wanted.

“When I got back home from that World Amateur and heard all the talk about its magnitude, it made me realize what performing on a big stage was all about. Golf Canada was great to me as an amateur. So many team events, performance camps, and so on. It really made me realize what the future could hold.”

Historical footnotes:

1. Dan Halldorson, Manitoba-born like Taylor, won this tournament, an unofficial event then called the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic, in 1986. Six years later, B.C.’s Richard Zokol claimed the trophy. It was “unofficial” because, back then, it was played the same week as The Masters. Even though the tournament now is played the same week as the World Golf Championships HSBC Champions in China, it is considered an official event. The win gave Taylor a two-year Tour exemption along with US$720,000. In 1986, Halldorson won $36,000, five per cent of what Taylor got. In 1992, Zokol cashed the $54,000 winner’s cheque.
2. Mike Weir was the last Canadian to successfully defend a title, winning the 2003 and 2004 Nissan Opens at Riviera.

PHOENIX – John A. Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO, has been honored with the distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award at the HSBC Golf Business Forum in Shanghai, China.

Solheim was recognized for his contribution to golf and for his achievements, leadership and innovation within the business side of the game. He got his start in the business when he was only 13, working alongside his father, Karsten, on early putter designs in the family’s garage. He aspired to be an architect, but as PING’s business expanded, he turned his passion to designing golf clubs and helping Karsten grow the privately-held entity into one of the most influential golf companies in the world. As chairman and CEO, he leads the company’s strategic direction and oversees the design and development of PING products.

“This prestigious award has been given to the game’s biggest names over the years, so I’m very honored to have the Solheim name next to many of golf’s legends,” Solheim said. “I accept this on behalf of my family and the entire company because achievement is always the result of teamwork. We have a lot of great team leaders at PING who make my job easier, and together we give PING the reputation it enjoys in the golf world.”

In particular, HSBC saluted the Solheims (PING founder Karsten Solheim and his wife, Louise) for creating the Solheim Cup in 1990, and for John Solheim’s role in elevating it to global success and creating the PING Junior Solheim Cup in 2002.

“My parents provided me so many wonderful examples of leadership through the years, and creating the Solheim Cup has left a tremendous legacy,” Solheim said. “They were committed to growing women’s golf and inspiring girls to take up the game. Along with my family and everyone at PING, we continue to hold that event near and dear to our hearts because it’s the right thing to do and we truly enjoy being ambassadors for the game we love.”

SHANGHAI – The European Tour is contemplating what amounts to a level playing field for those who want to be considered global players.

Typically, being a member of the two largest tours in golf requires a top 50 world ranking. That effectively assures the player of getting into the four majors and four World Golf Championships, which would be more than half of the minimum starts required on the PGA Tour (15) and European Tour (13).

That’s a significant issue facing new European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley.

Pelley has spent the majority of his three months on the job talking to players of every level to figure out what works for them globally and what strengthens the European Tour. One solution under consideration is to lower the minimum requirement to five – provided that doesn’t include the majors and the WGCs.

That would make the requirement the same for someone like Justin Rose (No. 6 in the world) and Luke Donald. A former world No. 1, Donald fell out of the top 50 in May. He played all four majors, but only because he qualified for the U.S. Open and British Open. But he was not eligible for three of the WGCs.

“We’re evaluating and looking at that,” Pelley said. “Have we made a definitive decision? No. Will I give a bit more context in Dubai? The answer is yes. And that’s where we are. I’ve talked to a lot of players. Everybody has a different feeling. Some want to play on both tours that are not on an elite level. And if they’re not qualifying for the WGCs, they’re playing 33 to 34 events to play on two tours.”

The main incentive for keeping European Tour membership is being eligible for the Ryder Cup.

Ian Poulter thought he was about to lose his membership when he fell out of the top 50 and was no longer eligible for the HSBC Champions. He flew to Hong Kong and was helped immensely by Rich Beem giving up his spot in the Hong Kong Open. As it turned out, Poulter got into the HSBC Champions as an alternate.

“What I am finding, which is consistent with all of them whether that’s Ian Poulter, Luke Donald or Graeme McDowell, is they all want to be part of the process as we look to make some changes in the tour,” Pelley said. “They all want to embrace it. They have an unwavering desire for the tour to flourish.”

On his end, Pelley said it would be important to increase prize money to make it worthwhile for Europeans to play a little more often. But he sees no harm in making it easier for Europeans to follow the money to America and the PGA Tour.

“They’re no longer European Tour players or PGA Tour players,” Pelley said. “They’re global players.”

Due to the widespread use of an anchored putting stroke at both the professional and amateur levels, golf’s governing bodies felt that the challenges inherent within the game of golf needed to be preserved. The principles of the Rules, and specifically Rule 14, state that the ball must be fairly struck. The intention of the rule is that players must freely swing the club when striking the ball. Ultimately, anchoring enables players to physically “attach” the club to their bodies, thus gaining an advantage by providing support and stability.

Much consideration went into the wording and timeline that would lead to prohibiting an ‘anchored’ stroke. There was an unprecedented 90-day comment period for the proposed Rule 14- 1b, which allowed all stakeholders to provide feedback.

After all was said and done, May 20, 2013 marked the official announcement to approve Rule 14-1b. The extended period for implementation was agreed upon by all parties to ensure that golfers at all levels had enough time to adapt their method of stroke to the requirements of the rule.

The new Rule will come into effect on January 1, 2016, in accordance with the regular four-year cycle for changes to the Rules of Golf.

Currently, Rule 14-1 of the Rules of Golf does not have any subsections but it will be re-numbered as Rule 14-1a. The new Rule 14-1b will be as follows:

14-1B ANCHORING THE CLUB

In making a stroke, the player must not anchor the club, either “directly” or by use of an “anchor point.”

NOTE 1: The club is anchored “directly” when the player intentionally holds the club or a gripping hand in contact with any part of his body, except that the player may hold the club or a gripping hand against a hand or forearm.

NOTE 2: An “anchor point” exists when the player intentionally holds a forearm in contact with any part of his body to establish a gripping hand as a stable point around which the other hand may swing the club.

DEFINING ANCHOR POINT:

The use of ‘anchor point’ within this rule is to prevent the player from using a forearm as an indirect means of creating the same effect as holding the club or a gripping hand against the body. Ultimately, holding a forearm against the body stabilizes a gripping hand on the club (stable point) and allows the hands to work independently of each other.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Rule 14-1b is not an equipment rule. Belly-length and so-called “broom handle” putters are still allowed, provided such clubs are not anchored during a stroke and conform to the Rules of Golf.

For more information about Rule 14-1b, please visit golfcanada.ca/rules-of-golf