This Day in Golf History: December 31

The stymie rule officially died on this date in 1951. The rule called for balls to be played as they came to rest on the green; you couldn't mark the ball and pick it up. That meant that if a golfer's ball stopped between the hole and another player's ball, that player had "laid a stymie" and the "stymied" golfer had to putt around the ball or in some instances tried to chip over the ball to hole out. To see an example, search for “Paul Runyan 1938 PGA Championship at Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort” to see old newsreel video of Runyan chipping over a stymie successfully in his victory over Sam Snead. Also, Champions Tour golfer Bob Gilder was born on this date in 1950 in Corvallis, Oregon. Gilder attended Arizona State and won six PGA Tour events.