9/26/2020 - The Crossings at Carlsbad

We were playing twilight, and it was getting pretty dark when we got to the 18th tee.  I didn't see my tee shot at all, but I found it in the fairway.  If I had not found it, I probably would have just stopped there and posted with my "most likely score."  But I found it, and could see the green (sort of).  So I hit my approach shot, and I could see it going left of the green (which is where I was aiming).  When I got the green, I could not find the ball.  It was pretty dark at this point.  I was pretty certain that it was not in a hazard.  I searched for ~3 minutes and did not find it.  So what's the rule?

The only thing I could find in the rules about darkness is when "the committee" decides that play should be suspended due to darkness.  In that scenario, if you have started the hole, you have the option to complete it, or you can mark your ball and resume when it's light.  In this scenario, I don't think it's unreasonable to call myself a "committee of one."  I'm quite confident that my ball was somewhere left of the green.  So I believe that my most likely score at this point is a bogey (chip on, two-putt).  So that's what I'm going to post.

9/23/2020 - Sycuan Singing Hills Oak Glen

 I had a great front 9, and then an unbelievably bad back 9 (20 shots worse).  I was well into the train wreck when I hit my approach shot on #16.  It should be mentioned that #16 shares a green with #2 on the Oak Glen course.  I never saw my approach shot, but I heard it go through some leaves.  Based on how long the ball was in the air before I heard it hit leaves, I thought it would have been the trees up near the green.  I searched near the trees for ~3 minutes and did not find the ball.  Our club plays a local rule that allows you to take a two stroke penalty in the fairway for a lost ball (versus stroke and distance).  This helps pace of play, and I didn't want to go all the way back to where I had hit my second shot from anyway.  So just before I hit my final putt, someone playing #2 mentioned that there was an extra ball on his green.  My ball.  So I _could_ have been putting for birdie, albeit 60 feet from the wrong portion of the green.

At least one member of our foursome thought that since I hadn't finished the hole with my second ball, then I could play my original ball.  Per rule 18:

If you do not identify your ball in that reasonable time, the ball is lost. 

It had been more than three minutes, and I had already chipped and putted my second ball.  For casual play, I would have tried the 60 foot "birdie" putt, but for a tournament, I took my 8 (one of several on the back 9).

9/19/2020 - Balboa

 We've been playing with hole inserts for months now, so that the ball doesn't fall all the way to the bottom of the whole, and we don't spread the corona virus.  Today was the first time that I hit a putt that bounced out of the hole due to the hole insert.  I was stunned, and I wasn't sure what to write down for my score.

So I consulted the USGA covid guidelines here:

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rulesarticles/covid-19-rules-and-handicapping-faqs.html

It is my judgement that the ball would have remained in the hole more than 50% of the time without the insert.  So I'm giving myself a par on #3.  Pars were few and far between today.  :|

I believe our club is still playing that you must hole out, so no wiggle room.  I should probably confirm that with our handicap chair before our next tourney.

9/12/2020 - Vineyard

People often mess this one up, so I thought it was worth noting - Order of play in stroke play is determined by who is further from the hole.  This means that if you're in a green-side bunker, and another player is on the green, but further from the hole, then the player on the green should play first.  People seem to think that the player in the bunker should play first, but that's not the case.  This is covered by rule 6.4.

Of course there is no penalty for playing out of turn in stroke play (it's different in match play).  And the rules explicitly acknowledge pace-of-play and ready golf.  So it probably makes more sense for player in the bunker to play first.  But that's not the rule.

I also learned something when I looked this up - If you and another player agree to play out of turn to give one of you the advantage, then you both get the general penalty (two strokes).  This is the actual context under which this came up.  I was playing terribly.  Another guy in the group had put up a great score on the front.  His ball was just inside mine on a putt that was just long enough to make you nervous (~3 feet).  He went to putt, but I intervened, indicating that it was my turn (and he might learn something from my putt and continue his good round).  Had his putt been outside mine, then we both would have been penalized.  As it was, I missed the putt, but gave him the read to make his.  But he was not able to repeat the score that he had put up on the front.

9/4/2020 - Torrey Pines North

I have heard that you're not allowed to practice during a round.  The pace was pretty slow, so this came up.  One member of our group was practicing chipping on the tee while we waited for the group in front of us to play their second shots (and while they waited for the group in front of them to get off of the green).  Is this legal?  My short game really needs the work....

So I looked it up.  This is covered under Rule #5.  Specifically, Rule 5.2 says that in stroke play, you can't play on the course prior to the round.  I was totally unaware of that.  So if you want to play a practice round before your club championship, you either need to do it the day before, or you could do it on a different course prior to the round.  It's totally fine to practice on the course before the round in match play.  Weird.

Rule 5.5 covers practice during the round.  The first line says:

While playing a hole and between two holes, you must not make a practice stroke.

 So it sounds like you would not be allowed to practice chipping on the tee box.  But the next lines of the rules say:

Exception – Between holes you may practise putting or chipping on or near the putting green of the hole you just completed and any practice green, and the teeing area of your next hole. But such practice strokes must not be made from a bunker and must not unreasonably delay play.

Kind of a weird way to construct the rule, but it looks like I am allowed to practice my chipping on the tee while I wait for the group in front of me.  That's good, because my short game really needs the work.

Also funny that they use both "practise" and "practice."  I guess the rules really are international now.

Watching match play on TV, you will often see a player re-take a putt that he missed, but you never see that in stroke play.  Based on what I read in the rules, I am not sure why this is.