What Is The Ruling?! Calendar

By Kiel T. Christianson,
Senior Writer

BECKER, MN – Lynn Hannula is a self-professed “golfing fool.” As a member of the USGA, MGA, MWPGA, MWGA, International Network of Golf (ING), National Association of Golf Tournament Directors (NAGTD), Women in the Golf Industry (WIGI), Executive Women's Golf Association (EWGA), and the Advisory Board of the Professional Caddies Assn (PCA), Lynn knows golf. And as a Rules Official for the state of Minnesota, Lynn knows the rules of golf, too.

Unfortunately, in Lynn’s opinion, the vast majority of golfers do NOT know the Rules of Golf. “The sad story,” laments Hannula, “is that 85 percent of ‘golfers’ don't play by the rules. In fact Americans seem to avoid the rules like the plague making golf ‘whatever they want it to be,’ which is not the same game I play. I'm absolutely on a mission at this point to regain the game in its entirety.”

Toward this noble goal, Hannula developed What Is The Ruling?!, a desk calendar with daily rulings, the purpose of which is to help golfers remember and understand the Rules of Golf, by making it more fun to learn the rules.

Or maybe there’s a glob of unidentifiable gunk on the green between your ball and the hole. Can you use your putter head, shoe, or glove to brush it away? Does it matter if your glove is on or off your hand?

What Is The Ruling?! is chock-full of equally puzzling scenarios, all of which have been adapted from actual rulings in amateur and professional tournaments. Remember when Tiger Woods had a bunch of guys from the gallery roll a boulder out of his way as a “loose impediment”?

The calendar has been licensed by the USGA. Even professional caddies and rules officials who have discovered the calendar have grown to depend on their daily “rules fix” each day. As someone who actually tried to read the Rules of Golf cover to cover once, I can attest to the fact that the rule-a-day approach is a lot more fun.

What Is The Ruling?! makes a fantastic, unique, and useful gift for golfers, and is a great deal at just $10. It’s available on-line at www.whatistheruling.com.

Also offered at this site is the Neva Slip golf towel. The Neva Slip ($13) is a multi-purpose velour towel with a tacky backing designed to help golfers keep their hands and grips dry and tacky in heat, humidity, and wet conditions.

Neva Slip can be machine washed and dried. According to its inventor Rick Sandretto, there is no sticky build-up on your hands no matter how much you use it, and it will retain its tackiness for some time.

And of course, Neva Slip is permitted under the Rules. Golfing – and ruling – “fool” Lynn Hannula wouldn’t have it on the website if it weren’t.

More information on both the What Is The Ruling?! calendar and and Neva Slip towel and order forms can be found at: www.whatistheruling.com or by calling 763-263-5100.