Having the notebook take a Mulligan while trying to understand how the Tiger Woods family could so grossly misunderstand one of the great dictums from the game of golf. I mean, when was the last time you saw somebody use an iron to get to a Wood?

Somebody else who has been bashed as of late is Tom Hudson, but at least he did receive one piece of good news this past week.

According to a press release he e-mailed me, the Fair Political Practices Committee (FPPC) has exonerated Hudson’s Placer County Republican Central Committee (PCRCC) for its involvement in sending checks back and forth with a San Diego-area assemblyman named Joel Anderson.

Placer County fared much better than Fresno County’s Central Committee, which was hit with a $29,000 fine by the FPPC for similar chain-mail checks involving Anderson.

Anderson himself was nailed with a $20,000 fine by the FPPC, which should just about finish off his scheme to run for a State Senate seat from Temecula. Oh well, at least he’ll save on moving expenses, seeing as how he doesn’t live in that senate district.

Meanwhile, if Hudson thinks his troubled days have ended, think again. There’s a growing list of Republicans who recently seem to have little trouble imagining what political life would be like without the Himself chairing the central committee.

And a recent letter circulated by longtime Rocklin City Councilman Peter Hill won’t help Hudson.

Hill used the letter to “resign” from the Republican party, which means the county GOP list of elected officials now has shrunk by two, if you count 3rd District Supervisor Jim Holmes, who pulled that plug a few months ago.

Hill’s letter opened with “after consideration of recent actions by the (PCRCC), I have decided to leave the Republican party.”

Startling news from somebody who has served on that city council for nearly three decades, and — as he put it — won eight elections while running as a moderate Republican.

He appeared especially incensed that the PCRCC several times took him to task for supporting local tax measures. Now there are a whole bunch of us who don’t care for any kind of taxes, but let’s be honest here: Hill’s alleged sin was in letting the local electorate have a say in local taxation. It should also be noted that the Rocklin citizenry approv-ed each and every one of those measures.

As was the case with Holmes’ exit, Hill also pointed to the PCRCC making endorsements in local non-partisan races.

Back when the central committee first started up with those power-hungry moves, I wrote that it was ill-advised and would eventually bite them in their collective backsides. I know I’m now supposed to write “I don’t want to say I told you so,” but I’m not going to lie.

Hill’s closing paragraph said it best: “The PCRCC is on the wrong track. I have no desire to travel any further on an out-of-control train.”

So what is the local GOP hierarchy supposed to do now? Each of us knows the correct answer to that query.

In fact, we’re reliably told that several high-power Republicans are starting to lean on Hudson.

It’s probably just coincidence, but Hudson’s Facebook site — which had been open to one and all for viewing in order to see just how high-powered his “friends” are — now is restricted to viewing. And the California Republican Assembly Web site, which had listed Hudson in several places, now has grayed-out the spots where his name once was able to be viewed.

Do I think Hudson will pull the plug and resign from the central committee? Not hardly.

But I won’t be surprised if he steps down as chair, remains on the executive board and has somebody such as George Parks assume the chairmanship.

Of course, if that happens, look for Hudson’s lips to move whenever the new chairman speaks. ...

That Guy: Dave Rosenthal, who has added more than a few words to the lexicon during his lengthy stay at KAHI, appears to be on the verge of placing yet another word into the accepted vocabulary.

Rosenthal is now using the gerund “Shriving” to describe any act of motorists operating a hand-held cellphone while driving.

Don’t know if that verb can interchange with the act of using a red-painted curb as a personal parking space, but I’ll find out and pass the word along.

Rosenthal also suggests that the Auburn Police Department park motor officer Chris Foreman right in front of the KAHI studio.

“From what I see each and every day while on the air, Forman could write about 50 traffic tickets a day,” he said.

Jim Ruffalo’s column runs Sundays in the Journal. Reach him at jimruffalo@yahoo.com.