practice swings with head cover on

[goochy]

I was playing alone the other evening and on an adjacent tee box I watched a player taking practice swings with his driver with the head cover still on.

In light on Julie Inkster's DQ earlier this year I started wondering if this is a similar infraction...is a head cover considered a training aid during a practice swing?

[jvincent]

Unless the headcover is EXPLICITLY designed as a training aid then it is not deemed to be one.

For example, if you buy an after market headcover that is advertised as the "Swing Trainer" it would be against the rules.

If you bought a Bugs Bunny headcover that was the same weight but was only sold as "Bugs Bunny" headcover, it is OK.

[leftylucas]

What if Bugs Bunny used it on his driver??

[bobbyc]

i usually warm up with the headcover on (some wind resistance) but i also use a weight, or donut. once again i believe this is not a training aid.

[Kilroy]

It's OK to use a training aid before to warm up. It's not OK during the round.

[bobbyc]

exactly !!! which is what Julie did .. during the round on a tee box while waiting to tee off ...

[quinner]

exactly !!! which is what Julie did .. during the round on a tee box while waiting to tee off ...

I didn't think it was before the round. I thought she was waiting on a tee box for the group a head and was doing it to stay loose.

[gbower]

Julie did use the weight between the 9th & 10th holes while in an extended wait and that's why she was DQ'd. It's fine to use before the stipulated round has started.

[mpare]

But if the round had been suspended for an hour, for example, with the players remaining in place, I assume that she could have swung a weighted club with impunity during the suspension. Is that correct?

Julie did use the weight between the 9th & 10th holes while in an extended wait and that's why she was DQ'd. It's fine to use before the stipulated round has started.

[gbower]

Mike you are correct as the stipulated round was suspended and use of the weight would be all right as would giving advice to a fellow competitor. Once the suspension is over this would not be allowed.

[mpare]

You're one step ahead of me, Gerry. As for the decision on advice obtained during a period of suspension I have elsewhere expressed my belief that that decision was wrong because it fails to assure that the mischief that the Advice Rule (Rule 8) was intended to address is fulfilled. But that is a matter for another thread.

Mike you are correct as the stipulated round was suspended and use of the weight would be all right as would giving advice to a fellow competitor. Once the suspension is over this would not be allowed.