12/27/18 - Morro Bay Golf Course

I thought that the simplest rule in golf was Rule 4-4 (Maximum of Fourteen clubs).  This round made me wonder if the Rule 11 (definition of Teeing Ground) isn't even simpler.  The definition is:

The "teeing ground" is the starting place for the hole to be played. It is a rectangular area two club-lengths in depth, the front and the sides of which are defined by the outside limits of two tee-markers.

One of the guys I was playing with kept teeing his ball in front of the markers.  It was a casual round, so I didn't say anything, but I did want to look up the penalty.  I think it's a trip to Dairy Queen...

and I'm right...

Per rule 11-4b, if you tee off from outside the teeing ground, it's a two stroke penalty.  AND, you have to correct the mistake (ie tee off again, hitting your fourth shot).  If you don't correct it before teeing off on the next hole, or it's DQ.

I don't play match play very often (ever?), but the penalties are always interesting.  Most penalties are loss of hole.  In this case, if you tee off from outside the teeing area, then your opponent may choose to cancel the stroke and make you replay it.  If he or she doesn't think the next one will be as good as the shot you just played.

Playing out of turn in match play is the same penalty - your opponent can cancel the stroke (if it was good) and make you replay it.  If it was a bad shot (or if your opponent is feeling particularly generous), then the opponent can allow you to continue with no penalty.

11/12/18 - SCGA Rules Workshop

Zoikes!  There are a lot of rule changes!

Some of the big ones:
You can putt with the flagstick in.
You can ground your club in a bunker.
You can remove loose impediments in a bunker.
No penalty for accidentally moving your ball while searching for it.


More details to follow, more info here:

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/major-changes/major-changes.html

11/3/2018 - Rancho Bernardo Inn (Club Championship)

We had our Club Championship today.  I was not in contention on the first tee, and was less so with each successive hole.

The greens are pretty speedy at RBI compared to what I'm used to.


On #1, I putted off the green from the back of the green with my third stroke.  The ball was nestled down, but since I was just off the green, so I chose to use my putter again for my fourth stroke.  The ball popped into the air and my putter hit the ball a second time, and it went into the hole.  Per Rule 14-4, that's a one-stroke penalty.  But I wasn't sure if I had to replay it or anything.  Nope.  I scored a 5 on the hole.

Our club offers a prize in each tourney for low putts.  Our rules for that are fair, and probably pretty standard:

• Putts are counted from your first putt on the green.  So if your putt rolls off the green, then your next shot still counts as a putt (even if you don't use a putter).
• It does not count as a putt if you use your putter from off the green (if you have not yet been on that green).

The committee decided that the penalty stroke did not count as a putt.  I wasn't in contention for low putts anyway.

Double-contact is not a penalty starting in 2019.

10/28/18 - Balboa 9

I almost got my first hole-in-one today, but it wouldn't have counted.  My tee shot on #8 hit the top of a tree and dropped about a foot from the foot golf hole.

So what's the rule if it had happened?  I'm pretty sure that the foot golf hole would play as an immovable obstruction (Rule 24-2).  Free relief within one club-length, no closer to the hole.

10/20/18 - St. Marks Executive

On a short par 3, I hit my gap wedge, and ended up with a major league embedded ball.  The ball was 3/4 below the surface of the green.  It was beyond repair.  I tried to repair it, but what I ended up with was level grass around where the ball mark was, but there was still a cavern underneath.  I couldn't find any rule to cover that.

But....

I placed the ball on top of the highly damaged spot and went to read the putt.  While I was reading the putt, the ball moved (due to gravity) a couple of inches.  In this situation, Decision 20-4/1 is pretty clear.  If the ball moves due to gravity, then the ball must be played from the new position.

So I'm pretty sure that I played within the rules.  As far as I can tell, if the ball didn't move, then I would have had to putt it while it was precariously balanced on top of the semi-repaired ball mark.

The embedded ball rule is changing in 2019.  Rather than just a closely mown area, you can get relief from a ball embedded in the rough starting in 2019.  Our club has played that as a local rule for the last couple of years (not in a hazard, though).

9/15/18 - Admiral Baker North

I know that if your ball hits a ball on the green, but you're hitting from off the green, then you play your ball as it lies, and the other player puts his ball back where it was.  If both balls are on the green, then it's a two stroke penalty on the player that hit the putt (Rule 19-5a).  (Don't do this).


But what happens if both balls are off the green?

As far as I can tell, this is covered by 18-5 for the player whose ball is hit (put it back), and 19-5 for the player whose ball did the hitting (play as it lies).

It kinda bugs me on the PGA Tour when players leave their ball on the green as a potential backstop when another player is chipping.  It's kinda cheating, isn't it?  They only seem to do it when playing with a buddy.  I don't think we will see that happen in the Ryder Cup next weekend.

9/9/18 - The Crossings at Carlsbad

The Crossings just aerated their greens, so they had great rates for the weekend.  I booked a 6:27am tee time.  It's barely light at 6:27am this time of year.  And it can be really foggy.  Amazingly, I only lost one ball, and that was after the fog had burned off.

So what does this have to do with the rules?  After I played, I wasn't sure if I should post my score, given the conditions of the greens.  Everyone else in the foursome indicated that it was 2-putt max.  That sounds a lot like a breakfast ball, a mulligan, or a gimme - common, but not within the rules of golf (ie cheating).

So I consulted with our handicap chair.  He pointed me at the list below:

(i) When fewer than seven holes are played;

(ii) When made on a golf course in an area in which an inactive season established by the Authorized Golf Association is in effect;

(iii) When, as a condition of the competition, the maximum number of clubs allowed is less than 14, or types of clubs are limited as, for example, in a competition that allows only iron clubs;

(iv) When scores are made on a course with no USGA Course Rating or Slope Rating;

(v) When a player uses non-conforming clubs, non-conforming balls, or non-conforming tees*; or when a player incurs a second breach of Rule 14-3.

(vi) When a player plays alone;

(vii) When a player ignores one or more Rules of Golf and fails to post an adjusted hole score as required under Section 4-1 and 4-2, or fails to record the appropriate penalty for a breach of rule. For example, if a player anchored the club while making a stroke during a round and did not record a penalty for doing so (See Rule 14-1b), the score would not have been played under the Rules of Golf and therefore would not be acceptable for handicap purposes.

Those are the only reasons not to post a score (USGA Handicap Manual, Section 5-1e).  And since aeration isn't on the list, then I have to post the score.  I have to.  It's not optional.  Even with all of those 3-putts....

It makes sense because weather impacts the course conditions, what time of day you play has an impact, and you still post regardless of those, so why wouldn't you post on aerated greens?

I was surprised to learn that you can't post a round that you played solo.  I did not know that.  I will stop posting those scores.

Another interesting thing that I did not know is Section 5-1d.  If you are DQ'ed from a tournament, you still need to post an adjusted gross score (what you would have scored, with all appropriate penalties, etc).

This is all enumerated in great detail here:
http://www.usga.org/handicapping/handicap-manual.html#!rule-14379

So you should be posting pretty much all of your rounds.  Even the good ones that lower your handicap...  ;)

*I'm curious about what a non-conforming tee is.  I'll have to look into that one....

Thanks to our Handicap Chair, Noel for providing most of this information.

9/1/2018 - Castle Creek

It's been a while since I last posted.  It's not that I haven't been playing, I just haven't encountered any interesting rules questions.  Or if I have, I didn't remember them when the round was over.

Today, I hit a bad chip that went over the green and came to rest about a foot from a maintenance shed.  I had no stance, no swing, and I was pretty sure that I should get relief....

I was right.  Unless it's out of bounds, the maintenance shed is an immovable obstruction.  So I get relief based on Rule 24-2 - Immovable Obstruction.

This rule only applies to stance and swing.  If the ball had ended up 20 yards over the maintenance shed, with the shed directly between me and the green, then I get no relief.  I have to either go over, around, or through.

As with most free relief, it's a free drop within one club-length of the nearest point of relief, no closer to the hole.

6/23/18 - Carmel Mountain Ranch

Carmel Mountain Ranch is closing next month, which is sad.  Maybe that explains why when we got to the 14th tee, there were no blue tee markers.  What to do?  Rule 11-4 says that it's a two stroke penalty to play from outside the teeing ground.  Decision 11-4 says that the correct procedure is to discontinue play until the committee resolves the problem.  No one was behind us, but holding up play for that sort of thing would not be looked upon kindly in Southern California.

Decision 11-4 also indicates that if the players play from their best estimate of where the teeing ground should be (based on the other tee markers), then there is no penalty, if no advantage is gained.  That seems reasonable.

My first thought would be to play from the embedded USGA / SCGA markers, but CMR doesn't have those.

6/20/18 - Mission Trails

We were playing the blue tees, and I hit the worst tee shot you can imagine on the second hole.  It came to rest up against the forward tee marker.  I was pretty sure that it was a movable obstruction, so that's how I played it.  If Tiger's boulder in Phoenix was a movable obstruction, then this fist-sized rock surely was, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xadPSF3H2Wo&feature=youtu.be

Turns out that I was right.  This is covered by Rule 11-2, and Decision 11-2/1.  The tee markers are fixed prior to the first stroke, and movable obstructions thereafter.

In our club, the penalty for not clearing the front tee markers with your drive is ridicule, and playing the remainder of the hole with a pink ball (if available), or playing the remainder of the round with a pink tee (if available).  You've probably heard of worse.

Rule 11 also covers teeing off from the wrong tees.  It's a two-stroke penalty.  So my best round at Torrey Pines North is an 87, not an 85.  Actually, I didn't correct it, so it's a DQ!  :|

6/9/18 - Arrowood

I referenced Decision 16/5.5 on the course today, as I had done exactly that:

16/5.5 Player Holes Short Putt and Allegedly Removes Ball from Hole Before It Is at Rest

Q.A player strikes a short putt into the hole and removes the ball from the hole. His opponent or a fellow-competitor claims he heard the ball bouncing in the bottom of the hole-liner at the time the player was removing the ball from the hole, and therefore the ball cannot be considered holed in view of the Definition of "Holed" which states: "A ball is holed when it is at rest within the circumference of the hole ...". What is the ruling?

A.The ball is holed. The words "at rest" are in the Definition of "Holed" to make it clear that if a ball falls below the lip and thereafter bounces out, it is not holed.

There are a number of interesting rules / decisions for scenarios like this:

17-4 - Ball Resting Against Flagstick
Basically if your hole-in-one has not fallen below the level of the cup, then it's not hole-in-one yet.  Be very careful when removing the flagstick.  If the ball comes out, then you have to place it on the lip.

16-2/0.5 is really interesting:

16-2/0.5 Ball Overhanging Hole Is Lifted, Cleaned and Replaced; Ball Then Falls into Hole

Q.After an approach shot, a player's ball is overhanging the hole. The player walks up to the hole without unreasonable delay and notices that there is mud on the ball. The player marks the position of the ball and lifts it. He then cleans the ball and replaces it. The ball remains on the lip of the hole for about five seconds and then, as the player is preparing to tap it into the hole, the ball falls into the hole. What is the ruling?

A.Under Rule 16-2, if a ball falls into the hole after it is deemed to be at rest, the player is deemed to have holed out with his last stroke and he shall add a penalty stroke to his score for the hole. In this case, when the player marked the position of the ball it must have been at rest. The ball must be considered to have been at rest when it was replaced; otherwise, it would have to be replaced again (Rule 20-3d).

Accordingly, the player is deemed to have holed out with his last stroke and must add a penalty stroke to his score for the hole.

Of course all of this could change the first of next year....

5/28/2018 - Sea 'n Air

Due to the collapse of the driving range fence onto the first fairway, hole #1 at Sea 'n Air has been shortened from a 500 yard par 5 (from the blue tees) to a 240 yard par 4.  So how do you post a score?

Section 5-2g of the USGA handicap manual covers this:

http://www.usga.org/handicapping/handicap-manual.html#!rule-14379


According to the table, 260 yards equates to -1.4 on the course rating, and -3 for the slope.  For men, from the blue tees, this is:

Rating = 70.6 - 1.4 = 69.2
Slope = 126 - 3 = 123

So if the course is playing 260 yards shorter than the rating, then you post manually, using these revised numbers.

5/5/2018 - St. Mark's

We had a couple of unusual rulings to make in our foursome at St. Mark's last weekend.  The first was casual water on the green, which doesn't happen in San Diego very much, especially in May.

Rule 25-1 indicates that an abnormal ground condition exists if the ball is on the putting green, and casual water is in your putting line.  If you are off the green (even in the fringe), then you would only get relief if the abnormal ground condition interfered with your stance or swing, not the line to the flag.  But on the green, you are entitled to relief if the casual water is in the line of the putt.  Relief is to the nearest point of relief, not closer to the hole, which may be off of the putting green.  Off of the green, you would drop the ball, but on the green, you would place it.

The second was a boundary fence interfering with the swing of a player.  Normally, a fence interfering with your swing would be an immovable obstruction.  In this scenario, free relief is available if the fence interferes with your stance or swing, but not if it is just in your line of play (see 3/17/18 - Riverwalk).  In the case it's a boundary fence, and so the fence itself is out of bounds, and cannot be moved.  This is noted on the scorecard.  So you can either play the ball as it lies, or take an unplayable lie and a one-stroke penalty.

4/1/2018 - Woods Valley

My drive on #2 hit a power line (and was never seen again).  I know it's a common local rule when a power line is nearby, so I checked the scorecard:

If a ball strikes the power lines during play on the 2nd and 8th holes, the stroke is cancelled, and the player must replay his shot without penalty (Rule 20-5). (emphasis mine)

This is based on a USGA local rule when power lines can interfere with a well-played shot.  The USGA doesn't want you to have the option of playing the ball where it lays.  You must re-play the shot (Decision 33-8/13).

I was wondering what the ruling would be without the local rule, and I was curious about the reference to Rule 20-5.  The second part is easy, but I had to look it up.  Rule 20-5 is all of the various rules for dropping the ball (or in this case, re-teeing it).

As far as I can tell, without that local rule, you would have to play the ball where it lays.  In my case, I couldn't find it, so I would have had to re-tee, hitting my third shot.

Other than a pair of 8's on the two toughest holes, it was a pretty good round (87 - it's good for me!)

3/17/2018 - Riverwalk

Our monthly tournament for March was at Riverwalk.  It was raining when we teed off, so we (the board) had decided to adopt a local rule for lift, clean, and place.  It stopped raining shortly after we started, so I don't believe anyone in our group used this local rule.  I'm not sure about other foursomes.

On the first hole of the Mission 9, one player ended up near a hazard, and behind a low wooden fence.  He asked if he could get relief, and we collectively decided that since the fence didn't impact his stance or his swing, that he was not entitled to relief.  I was pretty sure that was the right decision, but I wanted to look it up.

The fence is considered an immovable obstruction.  Rule 24-2 covers this scenario.  On the green, an immovable obstruction on the line of play would entitle the player to relief.  But if the ball is not on the putting green, then an immovable obstruction in your line of play does not qualify you for relief.  You shouldn't have hit it over there.  Sorry, Jeff, but I'm glad we got the rule right.

2/18/2018 - Balboa

Is bird crap a loose impediment?

Yes.  The definition of loose impediments includes:

• stones, leaves, twigs, branches and the like,
• dung, and
• worms, insects and the like and the casts made by them, provided they are not:
• fixed or growing,
• solidly embedded, or,
• adhering to the ball

So there you have it...

1/28/2018 - Farmers Insurance Open

I attended The Farmers Insurance Open yesterday, and I almost saw a spectator step on a ball in play.  It didn't happen, but it could have.  So what's the ruling?

The best I could figure, that would be a ball at rest moved by an outside agency (Rule 18-1).  But it gets interesting from there.  According to Rule 18-1, the ball must be replaced.  I don't think you could get the ball to hover above the hole created by stepping on it, but Rule 18-1, Note 2 refers to rule 20-3b in the scenario that the original lie has been altered.  Rule 20-3b says that you must place the ball in the nearest lie most similar to the original lie that is not more than one club-length from the original lie, and not closer to the hole.

My first thought was that you should drop the ball in accordance with Rule 25-2 (Embedded Ball), but I think placing the ball is more correct in this scenario.

1/1/2018 - Happy New Year!

You may have heard mention of the new golf rules coming into effect for 2018, but there aren't any. The new rules you've heard about don't go into effect until 2019.

Some of the proposed rule changes are pretty major.  Some highlights:

• Accidentally moving your ball would no longer be a penalty.
• Relief will be in inches, not club-lengths
• You can only search for a lost ball for three minutes instead of five minutes
• Free relief for embedded ball in the rough (our club has already adopted this as a club local rule)
• You will be allowed to repair any damage on the green (not just a ball mark)
• No penalty for hitting the flagstick with a putt

And they are still that - proposed.  You can read more about them here:

USGA - Major Proposed Changes

If you happen to play on the PGA Tour (or other high-level tours), then you won't have to worry about Joe Couch Potato calling in a penalty:

Common sense prevails as fans can no longer call in golf rules violations

Are they going to call that the Lexi Thompson rule?

I'll probably be writing more on these as the year wears on.  My first question is if the new rule 11.1 (see first link above) would take away the penalty double-contact.  My reading is that it would.