It was brought to my attention at the recent Northfield State Day, that a group was giving putts. It was witnessed on the 9^th putting green. Unfortunately, the person who witnessed the "gimme" did not recognize the player who picked up her ball without holing out. She also was not in a position to run over and call the person on it.

I witnessed a similar situation at Stratton this year. I saw a player chip a ball close to the hole, and it appeared as if the player just walked over and picked up her ball instead of holing it out. I was too far away to know if this is actually what happened, but after hearing about the incident at Northfield, I feel this situation must be addressed.

State Days are tournaments. We are all competing for prizes at these events and therefore USGA Rules are to be followed. Failure to hole out results in disqualification if not rectified before teeing off the next teeing ground or in the case of the last hole of the round, before leaving the putting green. Rule 3-2.

"Gimmes" have no place in State Days or any of our VSWGA Stroke Play events. Unless a ball is overhanging the lip of a hole, a putt of any length can be (and has been!) missed in tournament situations. That is why they MUST be holed out.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Shari Pfannenstein, Rules Chair, can be reached at pfanner@aol.com