11/27/2020 - The Match

When the commentators mentioned that the players had played a practice round prior to the event, I was pretty sure that was a violation of Rule 5.2.  You're not allowed to practice on the course prior to a competitive round.  I've written about it before, but apparently that only applies to stroke play.  Rule 5.2 reads as follows:

5.2  Practising on Course Before or Between Rounds

“Practising on the course” means playing a ball from anywhere or testing the surface of the putting green of any hole by rolling a ball or rubbing the surface.

a. Match Play
You may practise on the course before a round or between rounds of a match-play competition.
b. Stroke Play
On the day of a stroke-play competition:

    You must not practise on the course before a round, except that you may practise putting or chipping on or near your first teeing area and practise on any practice area.

    You may practise on the course after completing play of your final round for that day.

I'm just jealous that they played the round in 50 minutes.  I think my record for 18 holes is more like 1:50.  Which is still a whole lot better than the 4.5 hours plus that it usually takes around here (especially on a weekend).

Clearly the R&A was involved in writing this rule, hence "practise."

11/7/2020 - Twin Oaks

I hit my approach long on #12, and left a big ball mark in the fringe.  It wasn't in my line, but a different ball mark in the fringe was.  I repaired both without thinking about it, and then realized that I'm not allowed to do that on the fringe.  Oops, two bonus strokes.

This is covered by rule #8, which says that you cannot improve your line of play.  Rule #13 makes an exception for this on the green.  The weird exception is that if one of your playing partners playing after you leaves a ball mark in your way, you can repair it.  The damage wasn't present when your ball came to rest, so you can repair it.  But if you're not certain which ball mark is yours and which is the other player's, then you can't fix either.

It's nice to fix it after you play your shot for the next group.

11/1/2020 - Torrey Pines South

I know it's not a penalty if you're chipping onto the green and hit another ball, and it is a penalty if you are putting and hit another ball on the green.  But what if you're putting, and your ball hits a ball that is off of the green?  It didn't happen, but it almost happened.

Rule 13 covers the putting green, but I couldn't find anything about ball hitting ball in that rule.  I found it in Rule 11, which covers Ball in Motion.  Broadly, there is no penalty if your ball hits another ball.  There is an Exception to this when both balls are on the putting green prior to the stroke.  That is subject to the general penalty (2 strokes in stroke play).  So if your ball is on the green, and your putt hits another ball that is off of the green, then there is no penalty.  There you have it...