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!

12/4/2022 - Desert Falls Country Club

I was in the desert to play in the SCGA TOCC, and a member of our club recommended Desert Falls Country Club.  It was a great suggestion.  I really enjoyed the course.  Except that the greens were much slower than Indian Wells Resort, where I played a practice round the day before, and the TOCC the following day.  I blame that for my poor showing (not really).

On a long par 3 (#7) I had a terribly awkward stance in a bunker, and I was trying to figure out how I was going to play the shot.  In the course of doing so, I grounded my club in the bunker.  I knew it was a penalty, but I didn't know what the penalty was.  Per Rule 12.2-b, it's the general penalty (2 strokes), but it's not as cut and dried as I expected.

You can't deliberately touch the sand with your hand, club, or any other object in order to test the condition of the sand.  It was certainly not deliberate.  You can't touch the sand at all with your club "in the area right in front of or right behind your ball"  That's a bit of a gray area.  It was near the ball, but without knowing this exact rule, I wasn't really paying attention to how close to the ball it was, or whether it was in front of, or behind the ball.  Or beside, which would be legal, as long as it wasn't my backswing, or a practice swing.

Interesting....

11/25/2022 - Encinitas Ranch

Can you use a club or an alignment stick on the course, as long as you remove it before you play your shot?

Nope. Rule 10.2-b explicitly states "No Setting Down Object to help in Taking Stance."

I think this used to be okay under the old rules, provided that you remove it before you play your shot.

Two stroke penalty.

11/13/2022 - Admiral Baker North

One member of our foursome was using a new putter, and we were sent out early, so he didn't have a chance to go to the putting green.  We all acknowledged on the first green that this was against the rules, but what is the penalty?

It's the general penalty the first time you do it (two strokes in stroke play).  If you do it a second time, it's a DQ.

 

10/15/2022 - Admiral Baker North

If I'm playing out of a bunker, and my ball doesn't get out, can I rake the bunker in between shots?

Not if doing so improves your lie, or your stance.  If the ball rolls back into your footprints, that's just tough luck.  If you have to stand awkwardly due to your previous footprints, that is also tough luck.

I wish all of these covid golfers would learn to use a freaking rake?!?!

10/8/2022 - Carlton Oaks (UCSD Casual Golf Club)

We've all seen the footage of Patrick Reed improving his lie in a bunker, which is obviously a violation.  But what if you touch the sand during your backswing?  I thought this would be okay.  I was wrong.

I was actually in a waste area, not a bunker, so the rule didn't apply to my instance.  But Rule #12.2b says that you may not touch the sand with your club during a practice swing, or on your backswing.

Wow!

10/2/2022 - Balboa 9

My ball ran through the green and came to rest in tractor tire tracks just beyond the green.  I was pretty sure that I would be entitled to relief, but I had a decent lie, so I played it from where it came to rest.

Turns out that you are not entitled to relief from tire tracks. This would be covered by Rule #16.1, and the definition of ground under repair.  It was not marked as GUR, The definition of GUR includes a hole made to lay pipe, a hole from removing a tree stump, but not tire ruts.  Nor does it include aeration holes.  Of course the committee could declare it GUR, but they did not.

I conceivably could have taken relief due to casual water, but it was really just mud.  There was no standing water.

A bogey is a bogey is a bogey...

8/11/2022 - Miramar Memorial Golf Course

It was slow this afternoon, as I was playing solo behind a foursome.  To kill time, and because my short game really needs the work, I decided to practice chipping on and around the green after I finished a hole.  In the back of my mind, I knew there was some rule about practicing during the round.

This is covered by Rule #5.

Rule #5.2 says that you can practice on the course before or between rounds in match play.  In stroke play, you cannot practice on the course before the round.  That's an interesting difference.  Obviously you can practice on the range, and on any practice green or chipping area.

Rule #5.5 says that you can practice on and near the green of the hole you just completed, but you can't practice from any bunker.  Oops.  Looks like I get a couple of bonus strokes for that violation.  I played solo, so I can't post my round anyway.  The penalty would apply to your next hole.

8/2/2022 - Pebble Beach Golf Links

I got to cross this one off of my bucket list.  It was the first time I've ever used a caddie, and it really seems like there should be some sort of dispensation for that when posting your score.  With the caddie's help (primarily reading putts), I shot 94.  I would have had a hard time breaking 100 without the caddie.

I guess people who play with a caddie do so often?  So it evens out?  I guess it's along the same lines of playing with a foursome, you're more likely to get a read on a few putts over the course of the round, versus playing solo.

7/31/2022 - Sea 'n Air

My first hole started off really badly, and I hit my second shot into a tree along the boundary fence on the left hand side.  I'm pretty sure that I found my ball in the tree, but I wasn't able to get in there to identify it or retrieve it.  I was going to play it as unplayable, but since I couldn't identify it, I had to play it as lost.

I shot 43 on the front with a 9 on #1, so that was really good.  Not quite as good on the back (45), but I was on the good side of 90.

7/1/2022 - Admiral Baker South

A playing partner plucked a weed from the fairway next to his ball and then asked "Was I allowed to do that?"  Nope.

This is a violation of Rule #8 which is "Course Played as It Is Found."  Rule 8.1a explicitly indicates that you cannot move, bend, or break any growing or attached natural object.  The penalty is the General Penalty (2 strokes).

So what do you do if you need to play your ball under a tree, with a bendable tree branch impeding your stance?  This is covered by Rule 8.1b part 6, which explicitly allows you to take a stance, but requires you to use the "least intrusive course of action to deal with the particular situation."

 

5/30/2022 - Balboa

I thought my second shot on #16 was going to go right into oblivion, but when I got there, a bush had saved me.  My ball wasn't playable, but it wasn't lost.  Unplayable is only a one stoke penalty.  A lost ball is stroke and distance (and time).  The bush was right next to the cart path, but two club lengths would get me into the grass (but not into the fairway).  I pondered the term "complete relief" for about ten seconds before just dropping my ball, and whacking it towards the green.  I pondered dropping the ball on the cart path, and then taking free relief from that to get into the fairway.

So what does "complete relief" mean?  Click on the link to find out, but the key in this scenario is that it only applies to free relief under Rules #13, #16, and #17 (Unplayable is Rule #19).

So if I am taking the penalty stroke for unplayable, I'm pretty sure that I could drop on the cart path, and then take free relief to get to the fairway.  Pro golfers use the rules to their advantage all of the time.  They even have rules officials right there to explain it to them.  So why shouldn't you?

Related - Note that if you are right-handed, and your ball stops in the middle of the cart path, then your nearest point of complete relief is always going to be to the left of the cart path.  You don't get to pick which side.  Even if your ball is one foot right-of-center of the cart path, your nearest point of relief is still going to be on the left side of the cart path (because your stance takes up more than a foot).

5/1/2022 - Bonita

A couple of things came up at Bonita:

Can you take relief from a gravel cart path?  Rule 16 covers abnormal course conditions, and a cart path is considered an immovable obstruction if it is "artificially surfaced."  Is gravel an artificial surface?  I wouldn't consider gravel artificial, but in researching this, I concluded that if the gravel was put there to be a cart path, then the path is "artificially surfaced."  So free relief.  Our club plays a local rule that gives relief from even dirt cart paths.

It is pretty well known that you can't use the slope function of a range-finder during tournament play.  But what is the penalty?  The first violation of Rule 4.3 (Equipment) is the general penalty (2 strokes).  Any further violations result in disqualification.

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.