Rules, Rules, Rules…and still more rules!

They’re all around us…everywhere you look, this rule, that rule, stay off the furniture, shirt and shoes required, please pick up after yourself, no smoking…most of them make sense and yet we don’t even know sometimes if we’re abiding with them or  breaking them. Just look at the PGA/LPGA/Euro tours the last few weeks, Dustin Johnson, Julie Inkster, Jim Furyk and Miguel Angel Jimenez…hardly no names who can beg forgiveness for youth and inexperience, all victimized by rules that yes somewhat unclear at the time of infraction were very clearly defined. We even saw it in the NFL yesterday when Lions WR Calvin Johnson had caught an apparent game winning TD only to have it overruled by an obscure rule…that was clearly defined.

Anyway it brings me to this, a lot of you play in our citygolftour.com tournaments and I wonder just how serious it gets. From our standpoint we hope you are playing by the rules, but that is an assumption on our part. We certainly don’t expect it to be the US Open, but there are procedures within the rules that I would guess don’t get followed in a normal round of golf with your buddies on Saturday morning. So here’s a smattering of the most common rule infractions that you’re maybe unaware even happen.

“Gimmes” . . . An absolute no-no in stroke play. USGA Ruling-Additionally, in stroke play, if a player fails to hole out and does not correct the error prior to playing a stroke from the next teeing ground, he shall be disqualified – see Rule 3-2. In match play, if the putt has not been conceded, (Rule 2-4) the player shall lose the hole.

Provisional Ball. If you hit a ball that may, and I repeat may, be lost or out-of-bounds, you must declare a “provisional” ball and play it from the spot of the previous shot. Failure to declare that ball a provisional will immediately put that ball in play, under penalty of stroke and distance. So don’t even bother looking for the first one.

Which brings up the second issue with that…if you find your original ball you must play it…see Phil Mickelson Buick Open Torrey Pines about 4-5 years when he didn’t want to find a stray drive down in a valley but a spectator found it for him…he had to go play it. He wasn’t looking for it, he knew better.  It cost him a couple shots and the victory.

Ever hit a ball down the middle and then couldn’t find it? We’ve all done it especially in the northwest, but what is the procedure? Surprise, it’s not “just drop it here and play” as your buddy will accommodatingly say to you. The USGA says lost ball, back to the tee cowboy, you’re now hitting 3 off the tee under stroke and distance penalty.

Misconception-playing out of order. There is no penalty for playing “ready golf” provided you are not gaining an advantage by doing so. A decision left to the tournament committee…so keep it moving, nobody likes a 6 hour round!

Drops….here we go. Probably the most broken rule out on the course there is. First there is a proper procedure for lifting and dropping a ball. Then there is a procedure for determining where to drop the ball. It’s a little complicated…but it is well defined. )

First in lifting you MUST mark the position of the ball before you pick it up. Failure to mark is a 1 stroke penalty and if you don’t put it back down and remark before proceeding…tack on 2 more strokes for general stroke play rules breach. Ouch!  Now we have to determine where do we get to drop the ball back into play. First we have to define what the situation is – I recommend doing this before you even mark it and pick it up. Water hazards are yellow staked, lateral hazards are red staked. Out of Bounds is white staked. We’ll deal with hazards and cart paths drops as they seem to be the most common breaches.

Water hazards (defined by yellow stakes) see rule 26-
If a ball is in a water hazard or if it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:

a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or

b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or

c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or(ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

When proceeding under this Rule, the player may lift and clean his ball or substitute a ball.

Lateral hazard (defined by red stakes). A lateral water hazard is differentiated from a water hazard by the fact that it is, well, lateral. That is, it runs alongside or adjacent to the line of play, rather than across it. Similar to the procedure for a water hazard, the drop can be taken within two club lengths of the point where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard, no nearer the hole. Or a golfer can go to the opposite side of the hazard and drop at a spot on the hazard’s margin that is equidistant from the hole. (The option to drop on a line behind the hazard, keeping the point of entry between you and the flag, also exists for lateral water hazards. But that option is rarely used because it is rarely practical or desirable.)

A ball is considered in the hazard when it lies within the hazard or when any part of it touches the hazard (remember, stakes and lines are themselves part of the hazard).

Anyway there are so many more breaches that go on…I’m not abdicating here that we’ll all play to the strict letter of the law but that we’ll all try to abide by the rules as best we can. Golf is a gentleman’s game and therefore we should all try to do the honorable thing when we have questions or sticky situations.

Cart Paths-Many times we find our ball on the cart path. What to do? Under the rule of golf 24-2b, a golfer is entitled to free relief from a cart path if the ball comes to rest upon the path or the golfer’s swing or stance is inhibited by the path. A golfer’s stance is deemed to be inhibited if any part of his foot comes in contact with the path. After deciding that relief from the cart path is desired or necessary, the golfer must find the nearest point of relief that moves the ball no closer to the hole and mark that point with a tee.
The golfer is entitled to one club length of relief from that spot, which is usually marked with another tee. The golfer must drop the ball from shoulder height at any point in between those two tees as long as the ball is not being dropped in a hazard or onto the green.
A golfer may take this relief with no penalty. A golfer does not have to take a free drop when the ball comes to rest on the cart path, keep that in mind as releif may put you in a position that may be harder to play from.

So my question to you is…what is the most frustrating or unfair rule in golf. My favorite culprit is the inability  to fix spike marks on the green…you can fix all the pitch marks you want, remove all the pinecones and scoop up the elk poop, but don’t fix that spike mark or you’ll incur a 2-stroke penalty…absolutely ludicrous! What’s your pet peeve when it comes to the rules of golf?

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