12/31/2021 - Balboa

We have had a lot of rain lately.  Our club will announce if we're going to play lift, clean and place for a tourney, which we sometimes do.  I always struggle with whether to play that local rule in regular play.  Usually I will decide at the beginning of the round, and let the people I'm playing with know.  I did not do that today.  The conditions weren't that bad.

I hit a great drive on #4, but it came to rest in an old divot.  So if I had been playing lift, clean, and place, would I have to put it back in the divot?

There are actually two Model Local Rules that cover this.  The first one is E2, and it covers the entire course (fairway, rough, but not penalty area or bunker).  This Local Rule requires you to place the ball in the original spot, after you have cleaned it.  So I'm playing from a divot again.

The more commonly used Local Rule is E3, known as "preferred lies."  They use this one a lot on the PGA Tour.  This only applies to fairways and other closely mown areas.  When this rule is in play, a distance must be specified for how far you can move the ball.  That distance can be a foot, six inches, or a club-length, but it must be specified.  This is the rule I usually would invoke, since this is the more commonly used one.  In this case, I would have been able to place the ball outside the divot.

Since I didn't indicate that I was playing either of these local rules, I played out of the divot, and shanked it.  I shanked everything today.

Note - You can always take relief from casual water on the course.  Within one club length of the nearest point of relief, no closer to the hole.

12/6/2021 - The S at Rancho Mirage (SCGA Tournament of Club Champions)

I was lucky enough to play in the SCGA Tournament of Club Champions at The S at Rancho Mirage.  They had rules officials going around on carts, which was very helpful.  One happened to be with us by the green and reminded us of a fairly subtle rule that was imminently relevant.

I was about ten feet off the green, and another player was about a foot off of the green, directly in my line.  I was confident on the rule that he could mark his ball at my request, even though it was not on the green.  The rules official interjected that he was not allowed to clean the ball in this scenario.  This is covered by Rule #14, which lists the only situations you can lift the ball, but not clean it.  These situations are as follows:

• To see if it is cut or cracked – cleaning is not allowed.

• To identify it – cleaning is allowed only as needed to identify it.

• Because it interferes with play – cleaning is not allowed.

• To see if it lies in a condition where relief is allowed – cleaning is not allowed, unless you then take relief under a Rule.

I also had to remind myself that the Local Rules that our club uses week to week are not in play for this tourney.  That came up when my cart-partner couldn't find his ball.  He asked if he could drop near where the lost ball was expected to be found.  The lost ball rule calls for stroke and distance.  Our club plays the Local Rule that allows for a two stroke penalty and dropping where the ball was lost, but that doesn't apply here.  So I had to inform him that he had to take a penalty stroke, and go back to where he had played his last shot.