Just play the ball!

Golfmagic.com

Imagine the scene. Players on the 18th hole after a long and difficult match. The pressure is on. Playing an approach shot to the final green, one of the players is appalled when his ball hits a passing seagull, and ricochets off into the roughest rough there is. Not even a bunker, much worse than a bunker.

They gather round, and the debate starts:

• The seagull had been around for ages. Why hadn't somebody removed it?

• Whose idea was it to select that club? A stroke with a different club would have missed the seagull.

• This is an extraordinary event. The shot should be taken again, or a penalty free removal from the roughest of the rough to the merely rough granted without penalty.

• The debate goes on. (I'm not a golfer, and am aware that there will be lots of rules to allow for this - but you get the point)

There are no rules for coronavirus, or any other act of nature.

We have to play the ball where it lies. Allocation of blame is a pointless waste of energy - it just wastes time.…