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).