4/21/2022 - Balboa

I have hit the cart path on the right on #4 during my last two rounds, and in both cases, the ball kicked into the fairway.  Must be the friendly squirrels (more on squirrels below).

So can I pick my ball up in the fairway to see if it's damaged?  Per Rule 4.2c:

If you reasonably believe that your ball has been cut or cracked while playing a hole, you may lift it to check.

This is one of the instances where you can't clean your ball when you pick it up.  You must recreate the lie that you originally had.

The squirrels at Balboa are so friendly and domesticated, that a kid was feeding and petting a squirrel while waiting for the green to clear on #8.  I think that's a little too friendly.

4/16/2022 - Balboa

I was chipping on to the green on #5, and my ball moved during my backswing.  I did not stop the stroke, and my chip came up short of the green.  I was puzzled about the rules in this scenario.  I do not believe that I caused the ball to move.

It's laid out clearly in 9.1b:

If your ball at rest begins moving after you have begun the stroke or the backswing for a stroke and you go on to make the stroke:

    The ball must not be replaced, no matter what caused it to move.

    Instead, you must play the ball from where it comes to rest after the stroke.

So I did it right.  No penalty, play the ball from its new spot.

If I had caused the ball to move, there would probably be a penalty.  See Rule 9.4.  It's complicated.

If I had aborted the stroke, and I had not caused the ball to move, then I would have to play from the new position of the ball, with no penalty.

4/13/2022 - Torrey Pines South

Does it bother you when the tee markers aren't aligned properly?  It bothers me more than it should, but I guess that's my problem.  It bothered one of my playing partners enough that he would move the tee marker to align with the tee shot that he was going to play.

Clearly you're not allowed to do that, but what is the penalty?  Rule 6.2b4 says "If the player improves the conditions affecting the stroke by moving any such tee-marker before playing from the teeing area, he or she gets the general penalty for breach of Rule 8.1a(1)."  So how do you determine if the player did it to "improve the conditions?"  Well, why else would they do it?

So it's a two-stroke penalty to move the tee markers.

At least he put them back after he played his shot.

4/5/2022 - Cypress Ridge

It really bugs me that the SCGA / USGA don't trust me to post a score when I play solo.  I very often play with random people who have no idea what my score is, and no idea whether or not I'm going to post it.  So why do they not trust me if I'm playing solo?