Rules of Golf Page

2/16/2012 Questions: If a player has to take a stance in casual water in a bunker, but the ball is not in casual water,

a) May the player choose to make their stroke anyway?

b) May the player drop their ball in the bunker within one club-length of the nearest point of relief from the casual water, without penalty?

c) If the player chooses to take relief and when they drop their ball it embeds into the soft sand may they re-drop it?

d) May the player choose to drop the ball outside of the bunker under penalty of one stroke?

ANSWER:

a) Yes, it is not mandatory to take relief from an abnormal ground condition.

b) Yes, this is one of the options under Rule 25-1b (see below).

c) No, there is no relief for a ball that is embedded in a bunker; the player must play the ball as it lies following the drop.

d) Yes, this is an option afforded by Rule 25-1b(ii)(b), (see below).

Part of Rule 25-1b states;

A player may take relief from interference by an abnormal ground condition as follows: ....
.... (ii) In a Bunker: If the ball is in a bunker, the player must lift the ball and drop it either:
(a) Without penalty, .... the nearest point of relief must be in the bunker and the ball must be dropped in the bunker or, if complete relief is impossible, as near as possible to the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole, on a part of the course in the bunker that affords maximum available relief from the condition; or
(b)Under penalty of one stroke, outside the bunker, keeping the point where the ball lay directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the bunker the ball may be dropped.

Note: If a player opts to drop their ball in a part of the bunker that affords maximum available relief from the casual water they may not then invoke another option because they do not like the result. They must play the ball as it lies or declare it unplayable and choose one of the options under Rule 28, for a penalty of one stroke. Decision 25-1b/9.

12/20/2011 Question: What is the penalty if a player accidentally causes their ball to move while searching for it through the green?

ANSWER: The player incurs a one stroke penalty and the ball must be replaced. Rule 18-2a.

Note: There is no penalty if a player accidentally causes their ball to move while searching for it;

if it is in a hazard covered by loose impediments or sand
if it is in an obstruction or abnormal ground condition
if it is believed to be in water in a water hazard - Rule 12-1.

9/22/2011 QUESTIONS: A player's ball lies in a bunker resting against a rake;

f) No. If the ball will not come to rest on the spot where it originally lay, it must be placed at the nearest spot, not nearer the hole, where it can be placed at rest.

Rule 24-1a states;

"A player may take relief, without penalty, from a movable obstruction as follows;

If the ball does not lie in or on the obstruction, the obstruction may be removed. If the ball moves, it must be replaced, and there is no penalty, provided that the movement of the ball is directly attributable to the removal of the obstruction. Otherwise, Rule 18-2a applies."

9/10/2011 QUESTION: Is a player permitted to repair a deep pitch-mark on the first cut off the putting green if he wishes to putt towards the flagstick?

ANSWER: No, you are not permitted to repair ball damage that is off the putting surface. Rule 13-2 states that a player must not improve his line of play by eliminating irregularities of surface and this includes damage made by a ball that is off the putting green.

However, Rule 16-1c states that a player may repair damage on the putting green caused by the impact of a ball, whether or not their ball lies on the putting green.

8/20/2011 QUESTION: Player A chips his ball onto the green. Since Player B is standing near the ball as it comes to rest, Player A asks Player B to mark the ball. Player B agrees and does so. Has either player violated a rule?

ANSWER: No. Both players are acting within the Rules. Rule 20-1 states that a ball may be marked by any person authorized by a player, which, of course, can include another competitor.

8/15/11 QUESTION: A player has deemed his ball unplayable. Instead of dropping within two club-lengths, he determines where he will have the clearest shot to the green and drops in line with the hole approximately 50 yards behind where his unplayable ball rested.

What is the ruling?

ANSWER: There is no need for a ruling in this case. Rule 28(b) provides an option to drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly behind the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped.

8/11/11 QUESTION: If my ball is just off the green, do I get relief from a sprinkler head?

ANSWER: Your ball is off the green, but close enough that you want to putt; however, directly in your putting line - between your ball and the green - is a sprinkler head. Do you get to move your ball so that you don't have to putt over the sprinkler head?

The short answer: No. But read all the way to the bottom for a possible exception.

Here's the explanation. The rule in question is Rule 24-2, Immovable Obstruction. The sprinkler head obviously can't be moved, so many players believe that they should be able to move their ball (dropping one club length away, no nearer the hole).

If your ball was on top of the sprinkler head, you could move it. If it was resting up against the sprinkler head, you could move it. If the sprinkler head affected your swing or prevented you from taking your normal stance, you could move the ball under Rule 24-2.

However, none of those things applies in this example. The problem is that if you putt the ball, you'll have to go directly over the sprinkler head because it is in the line of your putt.

Rule 24-2 specifically addresses that problem in this way: "If the player's ball lies on the putting green, interference also occurs if an immovable obstruction on the putting green intervenes on his line of putt. Otherwise, intervention on the line of play is not, of itself, interference under this Rule."

In other words, in order to take relief because of interference with the line of your putt, your ball must be on the green. In our example, however, the ball is off the green. Therefore, you cannot move the ball.

Your options are to go ahead and putt across the sprinkler head, or to chip the ball over the obstruction and onto the green.

7/14/11 QUESTION: Shortly after a heavy rain, a player makes a stroke and her ball comes to rest at the base of a tree. Being right-handed, she doesn't have a shot due to the location of her ball unless she makes a left-handed shot. As she takes her left-handed stance, she realizes she is standing in casual water, an abnormal ground condition. She informs her competitors that she will be taking a free drop because of the ground condition.

Is she correct?

ANSWER: In this instance, the player was correct. Rule 25-1 states that interference by an abnormal ground condition occurs when either the ball or the player's stance is impacted by the condition.

Also, once she has taken relief from the casual water she may then play her next shot with either a right-handed or left-handed stance.

7/8/11 Question: What are the possibilities for a proper drop on a ball hit into a water hazard?

Answer: Illustrated for a water hazard (yellow stakes) YouTube video here. Illustrated for a lateral water hazard (red stakes) YouTube video here.

7/7/11 Question: In making a practice swing, a player dislodges a loose impediment (e.g., a stone or clump of grass), which causes his ball in play to move. What is the ruling?

If the loose impediment had moved the ball of another player during the practice stroke, then the relevant part of Rule 18-3b would apply and a one stroke penalty is also assesed. (Same reasonable care judgement regarding a practice stroke.) However, if it is a real stroke at the ball, then it would not be considered a penalty and the opponents ball should be replaced without penalty.

7/4/11 Question: After fully addressing the ball on the putting green, John makes an inadvertent strike of the ball. It moves forward only slightly and, having been resting in a ball-mark, rolls back to it's original position.

Does the inadvertent stroke count toward John's score?

Answer: According to the Rules definition of "moved," if the ball leaves it's original position and comes to rest in another place, it is deemed to have moved. In John's case it did not move and so he did not incur a penalty for the inadvertent strike of the ball.

6/11/2011 Question: While playing from a bunker, without touching the sand, a player removes a leaf and twig lying in front of his ball. Has he violated a rule?

Answer: If he's playing stroke play, he has incurred a two stroke penalty. If he's playing a match, he loses the hole. Rule 13-4 dictates a player may not touch or move a loose impediment lying in or touching a hazard. Loose impediments would also include loose stones/rocks. Occasionally, however, the removal of stones in a sand trap is expressly allowed by a golf club's published local rules but that is a very special case due to some exceptional conditions involving the traps.

6/11/2011 Question #2: Carl hits his tee shot into a water hazard. While using a club to probe for his ball in the water, he accidentally kicks the ball, which is actually lying in long grass on the bank. Is there a penalty?

Answer: Carl is penalized one stroke in either stroke play or match play for moving his ball when it is in play (Rule 18-2a). He may replace the ball and play it, or, under an additional penalty of one stroke, take a drop under the water-hazard Rule.

There is no penalty for moving your ball in water in a water hazard when probing for it with a club, but Carl's ball isn't in the water and the movement of the ball isn't directly related to the probing. In any type of hazard, including bunkers, if a ball is covered by loose impediments or sand, a player is allowed to probe for it and is not penalized if the ball moves. However, in this case, the ball is covered only by grass.

With the above exceptions, a ball in a hazard is treated just like a ball on any other part of the course under Rule 18-2a -- a player is penalized for causing his ball to move, except as permitted by a Rule (as in lifting it to proceed under the water-hazard Rule). So, be careful when searching for your ball in a hazard. If you move it, you will be penalized one stroke, even if it is in such a bad lie that you wouldn't be able to play it anyway.

Carl's fellow competitor, Tom, is probing for Carl's ball in the water inside a water hazard when he accidentally kicks the ball, which is actually lying on the bank of the hazard.

No. A fellow competitor is not penalized for moving a player's ball during a search. The ball is replaced.

6/10/2011 QUESTION: Mel and Chuck both hit their shots into a bunker. Upon arriving at their next shots, Mel steps into the bunker and proceeds to hit his shot.

As he exits the bunker, he sees what he believed to be Chuck's ball and realized it was his own. He had hit the wrong ball. What is his penalty, if any?

ANSWER: As from 1st January 2008 a player is now allowed to lift their ball in a bunker or water hazard for identification purposes. There is a consequential change to Rule 15-3, which introduces a penalty for playing the wrong ball
in these circumstances. Therefore Mel is penalised two strokes for playing a wrong ball and must then play his own ball out of the bunker. Mel must replace his ball at the place where it was played from in the bunker and is entitled to restore his original lie as nearly as possible.

5/29/2011 QUESTION: In stroke play, a player identifies their ball lodged in a tree, out of their reach, so they shake the tree and the ball drops to the ground. What is the ruling?

Answer: D) They incur one penalty stroke for causing their ball to move and have to replace the ball back in the tree where it was at rest.

The player should have deemed their ball unplayable before shaking the tree to dislodge it. As they did not, they incur a penalty of one stroke, under Rule 18-2a, for causing their ball in play to move. They should then replace the ball back in the tree, where it was before they moved it. If they do not do so and play the ball from where it dropped to, they incur a total penalty of two strokes. See the penalty statement under Rule 18, which states that when a player who is required to replace a ball fails to do so they incur the general penalty for breach of Rule 18, but there is no additional penalty under this Rule.

So, the player should have deemed their ball unplayable before they shook the tree to dislodge it, and then should have taken the option of dropping within two club-lengths of the spot directly under which the ball lay, but not nearer the hole, and taken a one stroke penalty for unplayable lie.

5/28/2011 QUESTION: During a round played in a severe wind, Player A's ball comes to rest on the green. As all four players approach the green, the ball begins to move, blown by the wind, away from the hole.

Player A states the ball was moved by an outside agency and he replaces the ball near the spot where it rested before it began to move.

Did he act correctly?

ANSWER: No, he did not. The Rules of Golf defines an "outside agency" as any agency not part of the match, not part of the competitor's side, and includes a referee, marker, observer and forecaddie.

Wind and water are not considered outside agencies.

The ball must be played from wherever the wind blew it to, whether that was nearer to, or farther from the hole.

5/28/2011 QUESTION: While playing particularly fast greens, a player's ball comes to rest on a steeply sloped area of a green. He then marks the ball and awaits his turn to putt. After replacing the ball and taking his stance, he decides not to ground his putter, just as the ball begins to roll without his touching it.

Has he addressed the ball and will he have to play the ball where it stops?

ANSWER: "Addressing the ball" is defined in the Rules of Golf as having taken a stance and grounding the club, except that in a hazard, the stance is all that is needed.

The golfer in the question hasn't addressed the ball and he will not incur a penalty. However, the ball must be played as it lies.

5/17/2011 Your practice stroke inadvertently hits the ball and moves it. (Hey, we've all done it at least once, right? I did it on the putting green in an IESGA tournament just last year.)

QUESTION: Davis is standing too close to his ball when he makes a clumsy practice swing on the
fairway and accidentally moves the ball with the toe-end of his club. What is the ruling?
A) Davis has made a stroke and must play the ball as it lies, without penalty.
B) Davis incurs a penalty of one stroke and must replace the ball.
C) There is no penalty but Davis must replace the ball.
D) Davis incurs a penalty of one stroke and must play the ball as it lies.

ANSWER: B) Davis incurs a penalty of one stroke and must replace the ball. Decision 18-2a/20. The answer depends on whether the ball was already in play.

If the ball is on the teeing ground and you have not yet made a stroke at the ball, then the ball is not yet in play. And accidentally hitting the ball with a practice swing in that situation does not result in a stroke or a penalty.

However, once you've made a stroke at the ball on the teeing ground, the ball is considered in play until you hole out. Then the question of whether a practice swing that makes contact is a stroke or penalty (or both) is covered under Rule 18, "Ball at Rest Moved."

And here's the ruling: If you accidentally move a ball in play with a practice swing, it's a one-stroke penalty. You must replace the ball to its original position and play it correctly.

Failing to replay the ball from its original position results in a total penalty of two strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play.

5/16/2011 How to find nearest point of relief and take the proper free drop (3 videos to illustrate)

Nearest Point of Relief: The "nearest point of relief" is the reference point for taking relief without penalty from interference by an immovable obstruction (Rule 24-2), an abnormal ground condition (Rule 25-1) or a wrong putting green (Rule 25-3).

It is the point on the course nearest to where the ball lies:
(i) that is not nearer the hole, and
(ii) where, if the ball were so positioned, no interference by the condition from which relief is sought would exist for the stroke the player would have made from the original position if the condition were not there.

Note: In order to determine the nearest point of relief accurately, the player should use the club with which he would have made his next stroke if the condition were not there to simulate the address position, direction of play and swing for such a stroke.

However, in taking the free drop (within the one club length), you can use any club you want. That means most of us will use the driver, the longest club in our bags; some golfers might carry long putters that are longer than drivers, and if you are one of those golfers, you may use the long putter. You can use any club in your bag to measure club-lengths for taking a drop.

YouTube video (DON'T LIFT THE BALL UNTIL YOU HAVE FULLY DETERMINED THE PROPER RELIEF POINT AND DECIDED IF YOU EVEN WANT TO TAKE RELIEF!)

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