GOLF RULES

Did you see President Estrada's published photo swinging what looked like a 7-iron at a teed ball at the Malacañang Park driving range? Though he's a well-known lefty - often seen on TV writing with his left hand - he's swinging right-handed. (For non-golfing readers: imagine a clock-face with a ball in its center. A right-handed player hitting towards 12 o'clock would stand at 9 o'clock while a lefty would take his stance at 3. But, unlike baseball bats or tennis rackets, golf clubs are handedness specific - with clubheads facing right for lefties, or facing left for right-handed players.)

Is it unusual for a lefty to play golf right-handed? Not really. Many lefties have been known to do that - the most famous being the immortal Ben Hogan. On the other hand, Phil Mickelson, currently one of the planet's top pros, belongs to a truly rare breed: a natural "righty" who prefers to play golf left-handed.

I see from the President's photo that he uses what I'd call the "Vardon grip plus one"- since he does not hold the club with just the little finger of his right hand overlapping his left forefinger: instead, both his right little finger and ring finger ride atop his left forefinger. In the regular Vardon grip, righties place only the little finger of the right hand over the left forefinger; of course it's vice-versa for lefties playing left-handed.

The Vardon grip, often simply called the overlapping grip, was named after Harry Vardon, the great British pro who sailed across the Atlantic in 1900 to give exhibitions in America, causing the New York Stock Exchange to close (take note, Boss Erap!) as Wall Street stockbrokers and traders took the day off to watch the famed golfer hit "gutties" - gutta percha balls - so long and so accurately with a hickory-shafted driver (imagine what he could have done with today's high-tech balls, titanium heads and graphite shafts!).

Jack Nicklaus, the best golfer the world has ever seen - before Tiger Woods, that is - uses a variation of the Vardon, called the interlocking grip, since the little finger of one hand is hooked with the forefinger of the other hand. My son started with this grip when he began playing at eight but switched to the overlapping in his twenties. The least successful is the so-called baseball grip, where all ten fingers are placed on the club.

Here's a tip for the President, though. If he can't seem to get comfortable swinging right-handed, he ought to follow his natural bent and try playing left-handed. In which case, it would be a good idea to get a lefty, actor Patrick Guzman, to bring his left-handed golf set to Malacañang Park. Watching Patrick's left-handed swing should help. I've played with him and, man, he whacks his ball the proverbial mile! In tandem with lessons from a pro, Erap would learn the correct swing faster if he had a fellow lefty to copy.

Q. [from actor Subas Herrero, [email protected]] Playing at Aguinaldo with Noel Trinidad and Gary Lising, at Hole No. 9, my ball made it across the "jabong" but rolled back into it. So I wanted to drop in front of the water, one club-length from the point where my ball had entered the water, but Noel and Gary insisted that I drop behind the water, an area much farther back. Were they correct?

A. Yes, your fellow actors were right. That "jabong" is a water hazard, not a lateral water hazard. Hence, according to Rule 26-1, "If a ball is in or is lost in a water hazard...the player may under penalty of one stroke (a) Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot where the original ball was played; or (b) Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped..." That option you wanted to take would be available only for a lateral water hazard (marked by red stakes or lines) - not for a "regular" water hazard (indicated by yellow stakes or lines).

A friend and I are out on the bay, sailing. A freshening wind propels our sailboat swiftly across the water; the setting sun turns the blue sky, the fluffy clouds and the shimmering sea into glorious hues of gold, pink, lavender and purple. A magical time. And there I am, in the midst of it all: stunned, overwhelmed, grinning like a fool. But my friend has eyes only for his cell phone, reading text messages. I ask him what's so interesting. "Erap jokes," he says, and gives a sample. Dare I repeat it here? Why the hell not? It's only a joke!

Question: If Erap and Jinggoy were on a sinking ship, who would be saved?

Answer: The Filipino people!

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