12/16/2023 - Rancho Bernardo Inn

By my recollection, concrete drainage ditches are often played as ground under repair.  I was a little surprised when the scorecard at Mission Trails indicated on the scorecard that they should be played as a lateral hazard.

I was in one on #8 today at RBI, and I checked the scorecard.  The scorecard says "Holes #1, 2, and 18 concrete channel is defined as an immovable obstruction."  On those holes, I thought that drainage ditch would play as a yellow hazard.  But there's nothing noted for hole #8, so I took an unplayable lie.

Digging through the official rules, the definition of Penalty Area includes a drainage ditch (even if not containing water).  So I guess I took the proper penalty (1 stroke), but for the wrong reason (penalty area versus unplayable lie).

12/9/2023 - Cottonwood (Ivanhoe)

The "leaf" rule came under discussion, as Cottonwood is presently covered in them.  I found an article on Golf Digest referencing model local rule F-14, which covers the scenario.  If this rule is in effect, you can get free relief from a ball lost among leaves.  The model local rule can be found here.

However, our club did not put this local rule in place, so it's just a lost ball.  For pace of play, we do have a lost ball local rule in place.  This local rule allows you to take a 2-stroke penalty instead of stroke and distance.  Rule E-5 at the same link.

A local rule that our club has adopted is the rule that allows relief from a dirt cart path.  Standard golf rules only allow relief from man-made cart paths.  That one also came up at Cottonwood.

12/7/2023 - Cottonwood (Ivanhoe)

Now that Cottonwood only has one course, I'm not sure why they keep the Ivanhoe course as part of the name, but I guess they still do.

Usually when your ball goes into a lateral hazard, at least you don't lose all of the distance from your previous shot.  Unless you hit a tree, and it shoots across another fairway into the penalty area.  Where it crossed the margin of the hazard was at least 75 yards further from the hole than where I had just played from.

So I can play my next shot from the same place, right?

Yes (thankfully).

Rule 17.1-d (1) indicates that you can take stroke and distance when you hit into a penalty area.  So my second shot went off the tree into the penalty area, so I dropped #3 in the same spot, and then hit my fourth up the fairway.  It was a bad hole.

I also had a gopher hole in my stance on one hole.  My ball was not impacted by it, but my stance was.  Per Rule #16.1-a (1) you get relief for your stance in an abnormal course condition.

11/30/2023 - Golf Mart

My chipping has been so horrific lately that I was looking at getting a chipper.  Yes, I know people will make fun of me, but if it shaves strokes off my game...

So are they legal?

I couldn't find them in the USGA equipment database, but I don't believe that's conclusive.  I found this on the equipment FAQ:

Yes, chippers are iron clubs not putters, and therefore must conform with the requirements for woods and irons. For example, chippers may not have a putter grip, two striking faces or appendages for aiming purposes. See Part 2, Sections 1 through 5 of the Equipment Rules.

I browsed the sections referenced above, and the noteworthy parts are listed in the examples in italics above.

I looked at three different models, and here's what I found:

Ping Chipr - This seems to be the high end chipper.  And from what I could find, I believe that it's conforming.  I'll need to go back to double-check the grip.  Golf Mart had it for $119, which seems to be below list price.  Maybe it was a demo.

Pinseeker Chip 'n Run - The head appears to be conforming, but I'm pretty sure that there was a putter grip on the one I tried.  This would make it non-conforming.  Obviously the grip could be replaced, but that would take it beyond the $39 price tag.

Rezults Chipper - The head of this model had a protrusion for aiming purposes, so this one is non-conforming.  This one was also $39.

I have a gift card for Golf Mart, so I may have to invest in one of the first two and report back.

11/11/2023 - Admiral Baker South

I think it was Arnold Palmer who said that if he was playing a non-tournament round, he would carry 20 clubs, and practice different shots with all of them.

This didn't happen, but it came up.  What if you knowingly start a round with more than 14 clubs, and continue to play with more than 14 clubs?

If it was a tournament, it's two strokes per hole, with a maximum of four strokes.  So if you discover it and take excess clubs out of play after the first hole, it's a two stroke penalty.  If it's discovered on the second hole, it's four total strokes.  If no one notices until the third hole or later, it's the maximum of four strokes penalty, but you have to take the excess clubs out of play when it's discovered.  Failure to do so means DQ.

So what if you're playing a practice round using Arnold Palmer's philosophy?  I think the DQ equivalent for a practice round would be that you couldn't post that round for your handicap.  And if it was your career-low round, too bad, it doesn't count.

But if you get a hole-in-one under these circumstances, I'm going to say that you're still obligated to buy drinks.

10/14/2023 - Mount Woodson

I caught too much ball coming out of a green-side bunker, and my ball sailed well over the green.  I quickly raked the bunker and went to find my ball.  It turns out that my ball went out of bounds.  I was pretty sure that I had to drop in the bunker, but I thought maybe I could take relief on the line behind the bunker.  I wasn't sure, so I dropped in the bunker.  It didn't occur to me until well after the round that there could be a penalty for having raked the bunker.

There are a couple of rules in play here, so let's take a look....

If you're taking a stroke and distance penalty, you have to drop in the same area of the course (ie in the bunker).  This is Rule #14.6b.  If it's on the green, you can place it, otherwise you have to drop it.  You get a club-length from the original spot, no closer to the hole.

But was I allowed to rake the bunker?  Rule #12.2c(3) explicitly says that you are allowed to rake the bunker if you will be taking a stroke and distance penalty.  The same rule also says that you cannot rake the bunker if your shot does not get out of the bunker.  Similarly, if you are taking relief outside the bunker per Rule #19.3b (two strokes), then you cannot rake the bunker if it is in your line of intended play (which it probably is).

9/20/2023 - Twin Oaks

This is one that I often forget about.  You are allowed (encouraged!) to fix pitch marks on the green, and you can fix damage anywhere on the course, as long as you don't give yourself an advantage in doing so.  Where this often comes up is a pitch mark in the fringe.  You can fix it if it's not close to your line of play, but if it is, then you need to wait until after the shot to fix it.  In some cases, this probably means chipping rather than putting, to go over the pitch mark.  It's somewhat like being in a divot in the fairway.  People think that it's not fair, but it happens.  Life isn't fair.

This is covered in Rule #8.1a, and it's a two stroke penalty.  Sorry.

9/9/2023 - Arrowood

Am I a rules nazi?  Or just an asshole?  A guy in our foursome missed a tap-in, and I counted the stroke, and the ensuing tap-in.  It was a tournament.  You have to hole out on every hole.  We're an SCGA sanctioned club.  What would you do?

And then another member of our foursome lost his putter.  He asked if he could borrow a putter.  I said no, that would be a penalty.  You have to putt with a wedge, or some other club.  He was not thrilled by this.

So when we got to the green, I putted out and left the green before he was putting.  If I don't see him borrow the putter, I'm not going to give him the penalty strokes.  I thought I was being generous.  He gave me his score on the next tee, emphasizing the penalty strokes.  So I wrote down what he told me.  If he hadn't mentioned the penalty strokes, I wouldn't have written them down.

Reading the rule more thoroughly (Rule #4.1b), there is a maximum of four penalty strokes for the round.  But if the player continues to knowingly violate the rule after the first instance, then it's a disqualification.

So am I an asshole?

9/2/2023 - Balboa

If you watch a lot of golf on TV, you will see a lot of players who wedge their shirt under their arm before they putt.  It's supposed to remind them to "stay connected" when they putt.

Could you shove a glove in your armpit an accomplish the same thing?  Yes, but it will cost you two strokes.  This is covered by Rule 4-3, and this would be using equipment in an abnormal way.  But it's perfectly legal to use your shirt.

Interestingly, the scorecard for Balboa doesn't match the SCGA database for slope and course rating.  I know they print them in large batches, but...

8/23/2023 - Miramar (UCSD Casual Golf Club)

I had previously heard of this, and it came up again at Miramar.  If you are somehow playing your second shot from the teeing area, you are allowed to tee it up with no penalty.  This surprised me, so I looked it up.

Per Rule #6.2, if you are playing from the teeing area, then you are allowed to tee it up.  The teeing area is defined as two club-lengths back from the markers, and within the markers.  Regardless of how you got there (penalty stroke, rebound off a tree, etc), you're allowed to tee it up.  This is the rule that allows you to re-tee after a drive out-of-bounds (or into a penalty area).  It also would apply if your tee shot hit a tree, and bounced back to your feet.  You can play your second shot from a tee.  And you can play it from anywhere within the teeing area.

So it is legit, but it seems very unlikely.  I usually tee my ball up at the front of the teeing area, so unless it goes backwards (and backwards by only two club lengths), you're playing it as it lies.

8/19/2023 - Fairbanks Ranch

One of my playing partners was not having a great day with the driver, and decided to adjust it mid-round.  It is well known that this isn't allowed, but he said that he wasn't going to post the round anyway.  I learned a lot of rules that were previously unknown to me in looking up the specifics of this.

To start off, intentionally altering a club during the round is a violation of Rule #4.1a, and the penalty is disqualification.  But...

If an adjustable part of the club came loose, and you are restoring the club to its original configuration, then that is allowed.  Similarly, you are allowed to replace a club that is damaged during the round (unless it was damaged by abuse).

If you start a round with fewer than 14 clubs, you can add one at any point.

Interestingly, you are not allowed to replace a lost club.

What if you were to alter the club at the turn?  On occasion, when I have been playing poorly, I have changed tees at the turn, and then posted the round as two separate 9-hole scores.  I thought this would be legit, but closer reading of the definition of "round" leads me to think that it would not be acceptable:

Round - 18 or fewer holes played in the order set by the Committee.

So if you had planned to play 9 holes, and then you play 9 more, I think it's okay to swap tees or clubs.  But if it was your intent to play 18 holes, then I think you have to play them all with the same conditions (ie same tees, same clubs).

 

7/28/2023 - Oaks North (East / North)

I hate it when I break a rule out of sheer laziness.  I was teed up on the 5th hole of the East course, and the tee marker (in this case a rock painted white) was in my stance.  Rather than re-teeing, I just pushed the rock out of my way with my foot.

I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to do that.  Specifically, this is a violation of Rule #6.2.b-4.  I get two bonus strokes for my troubles.  Note that if I had teed outside the teeing area, this is also a two-stroke penalty, but it's a DQ if you don't correct the error (ie re-tee from within the teeing area).

The only positive on this is that I noticed a slight clarification on a rule I wasn't sure about.  The teeing area is defined by the front of the tee markers, and the outside of the tee markers, and then two club-lengths back.  I'm still not clear on whether or not the entire ball has to be in the teeing area, or just a portion.  I'm also not clear on the club-length if I'm not carrying a driver, but my playing partner is.  Is his teeing area different than mine?

6/21/2023 - Rancho Bernardo Inn

You get to the first green, and you realize that you don't have a ball marker.  Can you use a leaf or a small pebble?

I don't think you can.  The rules define a ball marker as "an artificial object..."

5/21/2023 - Balboa

I noticed on the first tee that one member of our foursome had what appeared to be a blue tribble on his golf bag.  If you don't know what a tribble is, you need to watch "The Trouble with Tribbles," an episode of the original Star Trek Series.

So it turns out that the tribble was attached to his tee, so that he could find it if it came out of the ground.  Is this legal?

This led me to an entirely separate part of the rules of golf that I knew was around, but I had never investigated thoroughly - equipment.

The rules on tees are pretty simple.  Tees cannot:

• be longer than 4 inches
• be designed to indicate line of play
• unduly influence the movement of the ball
• otherwise assist the player in making a stroke

That's it.  I don't think a round blue ball of fuzz can indicate line of play, so I think this setup is completely within the rules.

The rules on balls and clubs are more complicated, but not as onerous as I expected.  If you want to read more about the equipment rules, you can start here:

https://www.usga.org/equipment-standards/equipment-rules-for-2019.html

On a separate note, tees are the only cheap part of the game of golf.  Many course give them away for free!

4/22/2023 - Fairbanks Ranch

 I haven't gotten to play Fairbanks Ranch yet, but I did participate in a rules discussion regarding their "President's Cup."

With all of the rain we've had this year, some penalty areas (aka lakes) are overfull.  If a ball is in the water, but still on the fairway side of the line or stakes, then it is not in the penalty area.  It is in casual water.  Congratulations, you get free relief!

The other issue was a little more complicated.  I think I wrote about this regarding #2 at Vineyard, because it involves a drop zone.  A drop zone is always a local rule.  And it doesn't seem like the courses bother to explicitly state the exact rule.  If you go by the model local rule (E-1.1), then the drop zone is associated with a specific penalty area.  It doesn't matter if it's your approach shot, it doesn't matter where your ball is within in the penalty area, you can take relief in the drop zone with a one stroke penalty.

This comes up on #2 at Vineyard.  If you hit your drive into the penalty area, you can take relief in the same green-side DZ that you would use if it had been your approach shot went into the water.  I don't believe that this is their intention, but until they post their local rule somewhere, this is the only reasonable interpretation.

4/1/2023 - Steele Canyon

The first hole on the Canyon 9 is adjacent to the driving range, and there were a bunch of range balls in the fairway.  As a public service, I wanted to send them back to the driving range.  Rule #5 says that you can't practice on the course, other than between two holes.  So I was taking one-handed swings and sending balls back towards the driving range.

Violation of the practice rule is a two-stroke penalty, but I claim immunity because my intention was to take care of the course (Rule #1.2)

I find it very odd that the USGA.org web site spells it as "practise" in the rules.  Clearly the influence from the R&A.

3/25/2023 - Bonita

I know that you can pick up your ball to identify it.  I know that you can't clean it in this scenario.  But can you remove loose impediments while you have the ball in your hand?

I assumed that the answer was no, but I wanted to look it up.

Rule #7.3 explicitly states that you lift the ball to identify it.  It also says that you have to mark your ball in this scenario.  Oops.  It also says that you can't clean it.

For removing loose impediments, you have you to refer to Rule #15.1.  This rule explicitly states that you can't remove loose impediments before you place your ball.

So there you go.....

3/11/2023 - Oceanside

What are the chances?  Two players, both playing from just off the green hit their balls at roughly the same time, and while both balls are in motion, the balls collide.  It happened at Oceanside Muni.

I've just read Rule #11 three times, and I'm clear on the ruling in this scenario.  No penalty to either player, both players play their ball as it lies.  I can imagine a lot of other scenarios that are less clear.  We'll start with the ones that are clear.

The violation we regularly encounter of Rule #11 is when you're putting, and your ball hits another ball at rest on the green.  This is a two stroke penalty on the person who putted.  A lot of people think the penalty should be on the person who didn't mark their ball.  It's not.  You need to ask the other player to mark his ball.  This is a loss of the hole in match play.

Another situation frequently encountered is a ball played from off the green hits a ball on the green.  There is no penalty in this situation, and the ball that was played must be played as it lies (Rule #11).  The ball that was struck must be replaced as close as possible to the previous position (Rule #9.6).  Actually this applies in any scenario except when both balls were on the green.

So what would happen if we were both putting?  My interpretation is that there would be no penalty, based on the phrasing of the exception to Rule #11.1a, which states in part "If a player's ball in motion hits another ball at rest..."  So this would be the same as if the ball hit another players equipment (unintentionally).

Does it matter which player was away?  Not as far as I can tell.  There is no penalty for playing out of turn in stroke play.

But this could also get weird in match play.  If both players play at the same time, and the collision occurs, then the player who was away could decide to cancel both strokes if he doesn't like the result.  There is no penalty for playing out of play in stroke play, but in match play, the person who did not play out of turn can cancel the stroke.

Another common related misconception is that a player is away if their ball is off the green, and another player is on the green.  Play order is determined strictly by distance.  It doesn't matter what surface the ball is in / on.  So if a player is in a bunker, and another player is further from the hole, but on the green, then the player on the green should putt.  I will often violate this rule for pace of play.  Let the guy in the bunker play first, and then he can rake while I putt.

Related - If your ball is at the bottom of a lake, but closer to the hole than your opponent, then your opponent is away until you drop.

2/19/2022 - Balboa

As I was hitting my putt on the second green, my ball moved.  I was in the middle of my stroke, so I played it.  Is this a penalty?

Rule #9.1b specifically covers "What to do when ball moves during backswing or stroke."  This section says "if the player caused the ball to move, see Rule #9.4b to find out if there is a penalty."  I don't think I cause it to move.  Certainly not intentionally.  But it looks like I get a two stroke penalty for playing the ball from the wrong place.  That's pretty harsh.

2/11/2023 - St. Mark

There was a lot of Ground Under Repair (GUR) at St. Mark's this week.  Are you allowed to clean your ball when taking relief from GUR?  I wasn't sure, so I didn't.

GUR is considered an "abnormal course condition," and that is covered by Rule #16.  Embedded ball is also covered by Rule #16.  The "Embedded Ball" portion of the rule (16.2) explicitly says that you can clean the ball, but the "General Area" portion of the rule (16.1) does not.  This implies that you can't clean the ball when taking relief from GUR.  But carefully reading 16.1b says that "the player may take free relief by dropping the original ball or another ball..."  If you can drop a different ball, then you could choose a clean one, so my interpretation is that you can clean your ball in this scenario.

2/4/2023 - Admiral Baker North

I heard an interpretation that I had never heard today.  We were discussing cleaning your ball, and one player indicated that cleaning your ball by wiping away the mud using the putting surface considered testing the surface, and thus is a violation of Rule #13.1e.  I was stunned, and I had to look it up.

Turns out that wiping the mud off of your ball on the putting green is an explicit exception for Rule #13.1e, along with whacking another player's ball back to him in conceding a putt.  You conceivably could learn something about the break when doing that, but that is (presumably) not the intention.

1/2/2023 - Mission Bay

First round of the year, so I thought I would note the rule changes for 2023.

The most notable change is the "Rickie Fowler" rule.  In Phoenix in 2019, Rickie had dropped after hitting into a penalty area, and while he was reading the green for his chip, the ball rolled back into the penalty area.  And he received an additional penalty stroke due to that.  They have revised that rule so that there is no additional penalty.  Rickie Fowler went on to win the 2019 Waste Management in spite of that.  And as of this writing, that was his last win on tour.

The other rule changes are:

• You're allowed to replace a damaged club mid-round (unless you damaged it in anger)
• You are not penalized for not putting your handicap on your scorecard.  That is not the responsibility of the committee
• Back-on-the-line relief has been simplified
• Modified rules for players with disabilities have been codified
  

Side note - I hadn't played Mission Bay in a while, and they have made great improvements to the practice area!