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?
