4/28/2019 - Balboa 18

I was introduced to a new term on the course today - "complete relief."  My ball went into a lateral hazard, and I dropped very close to the hazard, such that my ball was in play, but my stance was still in the hazard.  A member of our foursome indicated that I needed to take "complete relief."

As I read the rules, it looks like this applies to an immovable obstruction (2019 rule #16) or a "No Play Zone."  (2019 Rule #17.1e)  That was also a new term to me, but I think it's an area where you are not allowed to play.  You must take relief.  I know The Crossings has environmentally sensitive areas that you are not allowed to play out of.  And I have played other courses where flowers were considered a No Play Zone or Ground Under Repair.

I could have taken more relief (two club-lengths), but I didn't.  So I believe that since I could have played from the hazard, I was allowed to take relief with my stance in the hazard.  In fact, I believe that once my ball came to rest in the relief area (area #3 below), the ball was live, and I had to play it from that spot.

4/13/19 - Balboa

There was some good-natured discussion this morning about whether or not one of the players had teed up illegally on the 13th hole.  Is it he middle of the tee markers or the front?  Does the whole ball have to be within the teeing area?  So of course I had to look it up.

Rule #2 defines the front edge of the teeing area by the forward-most points of the tee markers.  It doesn't specify whether the whole ball has to be in the teeing area.  So I would play it back an inch or two, just to be safe.

A coyote was watching us tee off.  I handle the pressure and hit the green, and then two-putted for a par.

4/6/19 - Bonita Golf Course

I hit my ball into a fairway bunker, and it came to rest against the rake, which was in the bunker.  I didn't think this was a rule that changed for 2019, and it did not, though the number probably did.  The current applicable rule is Rule 15-2 - Movable Obstructions.  You can remove a movable obstruction with no penalty.  If the ball moves, you simply place it in the original position, still with no penalty.

It gets a little messy when the ball won't stay where placed.  Per rule 14.2e, you have to place it within the bunker, and you must place it no nearer the hole.  So if your ball came to rest against a rake on the back side down-slope of a bunker, and you can't place it anywhere in the bunker that isn't closer to the hole, then you have to play under the new bunker rule (19.3b) and take two penalty strokes.  That sucks.

In researching this, I read that the USGA recommends putting rakes outside the bunker to avoid this scenario.

I looked at rule 12 (Bunkers), and there was nothing about this scenario.  Rule 14.2 indicates that you must re-create the same lie that you had previously.

The ball didn't move when I removed the rake, but I did hit a really crappy shot out of the bunker.  I did manage to make a ~20 ft putt to save par, though.