Thoughts on the Rules of Golf

Casual water relief

At the Road Hole at St Andrews last week I was asked for relief for a ball in casual water on the path behind the green. That path is an integral part of the course - ie no relief should normally be granted. However, if a ball is in casual water anywhere on the course (including the rough or, in this case, the path), there is relief under Rule 25. Therefore the player was entitled to free relief by dropping the ball within one club length of the nearest point of relief. In this case, he was able to get his ball off the path, quite legitimately.

Sprinkler heads near the green.
Have you noticed the local rule that gives relief from obstructions such as sprinkler heads near the green? These are immovable obstructions, from which you get relief if your ball lies in or on the obstruction, or it interferes with your stance or the area of your intended swing - but NOT your line of play.
However, if the sprinkler head is within 2 club lengths of the green (in any direction) AND your ball is within 2 club lengths of the sprinkler head (but not in a hazard) AND on the line of play to the hole, you can take relief, dropping your ball on the nearest spot which is not nearer the hole and avoids intervention by the sprinkler head (and is not in a hazard).

Worth remembering.

RELIEF (and don't we need it!). One or two club lengths and from where?

When you are taking a drop and want to use this option, is it one or two club lengths? Broadly speaking, the rule of thumb is for free relief, for instance from a road or GUR through the green, it's one club length from the nearest point of relief. When you have a penalty drop it's two club lengths - for an unplayable lie, from the ball, and in a water hazard, from the last point of entry. (NOTE there are exceptions to the "plus one club length" allowance - for the anoraks, see eg Rules 24-2b(iii) and 25-2 and also our local rule 6)

AND THEN

when the ball is dropped, it can roll another two club lengths without a re-drop being required (Rule 20-2c)

For example, if you are proceeding under the unplayable ball Rule and dropping within two club-lengths of where the ball lay not nearer to the hole (Rule 28c), the ball can roll an additional two club-lengths when dropped, so you may, in fact, be able to get your ball almost four club-lengths from the spot where it originally lay.

QUESTIONS FROM THE BAR:

1. Can I have the flagstick attended even if my ball is not on the green? Yes (Rule 17-1)

2. Can I repair pitch marks on the green even when my ball is not on the green? Yes (Rule 16-1c)

3. How do I find my nearest point of relief? That requires a demo - volunteers, express an interest and we will adjourn to the practice field!! NOTE, however, it is the nearest, not the nicest, point of relief!

And finally - what's wrong with our Local Rule 3? (Charles Kelly need not answer this one!).

Provisional Ball

A. When you play a provisional ball, you MUST

(i) do so before you go forward to search for the original ball

(ii) declare that you are playing a provisional ("I'm going to hit another one" isn't good enough).

If you get these wrong, the second ball becomes the ball in play.

B. It's not always a wise move to look for your original ball in the bushes after you have hit your provisional ball into the middle of the fairway or on the green (Rule 27-2c)

If you have played a good shot with your provisional ball, think about whether you actually want to find your original ball, because if you do find your original in bounds then you have to continue play with it (i.e. the provisional ball has to be abandoned). If your original ball is in the middle of bushes you may find yourself having to deem your ball unplayable and struggling to achieve as good a result as you managed with your provisional ball.

Little known fact:
You cannot play a provisional ball if it is known or virtually certain that your original ball has gone into a water hazard (Rule 27-2b). Not much use at the Park but worth knowing anyway.

Tip for Future

On Saturday, we have a 4 ball better ball competition.

As a matter of general practice, we all tend to have our playing partner mark and lift his/her ball on the putting green when our ball may hit it. However, there is a difference between stroke and match play. In stroke play, if you are putting from on the green and your ball hits another ball on the green, you incur a penalty of two strokes. But in match play, there is no penalty (R19-5a) even if the other ball is your partner's.

That means that in a four ball match, if your partner's ball lies behind the hole, you can use it as a backstop if you wish. Of course, if you hit your partner's ball, it may help you, but your partner's ball would have to be replaced. However, your opponents do have the power to stop you trying to gain such a benefit by requiring that your partner to lift his/her ball under Rule 22-1.

The Parkinson Tankards is a stroke play competition, so this does not apply. Our friendly matches, though, are match play...

16th - Road/Trotting Track

Years ago, there used to be a running debate about the relief procedure if a ball came to rest on the left side of the sandy trotting track (for a right handed golfer, was the nearest point of relief on the road?) Local Rule 3 now makes it clear - you take both the road and trotting track are taken together as one immovable obstruction.

It reads:

"Immediately to the right of ...the 16th fairway and between the blue stakes, the racecourse railings, the road and grassed/sandy areas between are to be treated as single immovable obstructions. The areas in each case extend from the outs edge of the uprights of the railings at ground level or where there is sand to the junction of the sand and the racecourse track."
You then get a free drop under R 24-2. This means finding the nearest point of relief, which may be on the racecourse or the fairway depending on the location of the ball and whether you are right or left handed. You must take full relief (including your feet) and use the club that you intend to use for the next shot to find the NPOR, and then you can drop the ball within one club length (using any club) of that spot, of course not nearer the hole.
REMEMBER, IT IS THE NEAREST POINT OF RELIEF, NOT THE NICEST POINT OF RELIEF!!

If anyone isn't clear, please don't hesitate to ask me.