The post Rules Guy: Does an OB boundary extend past the last stake? appeared first on Golf.

The post Rules Guy: Does an OB boundary extend past the last stake? appeared first on Golf.

Our course has an in-course OB to protect players on an adjacent fairway. About 240 yards out, in said fairway, is the last OB stake. Our pro says the OB extends on a line parallel to the last two OB stakes “indefinitely.” I say OB ends at the last stake. Who’s correct? —Tim Slauter, West Lafayette, Ind.

The answer should be specified by the local rule that creates the boundary; if not, the pro, as the de facto committee, is the decider.

Important to note: Boundaries and markings don’t just “stop,” and when a marking “ends,” typically it is by either tying into another marking or is extended to infinity. Your pro appears to be alluding to the latter, which is generally indicated by a “double-stake” marking, with two stakes placed within a yard of each other.

As to what the marking should be, that depends upon the nature of this internal OB and the geography — and is above our pay grade.

Rules

For more OB guidance from our guru, read on …

I’ve got a question that has caused a heated debate at my club. If a tee shot on hole No. 1 crosses the out-of-bounds mark, crosses the adjacent street, then enters through the out-of-bounds mark on hole #10 and comes to rest in its fairway, is the ball OB or no? —Mario Polit, via email

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Rules Guy isn’t being philosophical or mealy-mouthed; there’s a Model Local Rule (A-5) that would treat a ball that crosses a boundary as out of bounds even if it comes to rest on another part of the course.

Without the Model Local Rule, then if the ball comes to rest somewhere that’s on the course (i.e., in-bounds) it doesn’t matter whether it crossed completely over a boundary or not — the ball is on the course. Which means Rules Guy gets to ask you a question: Does your course have said Model Local Rule in effect?

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The post Rules Guy: Can an embedded ball be denied free relief? appeared first on Golf.

The post Rules Guy: Can an embedded ball be denied free relief? appeared first on Golf.

Teeing off, I drove my ball completely underground, eight inches forward. I said the ball was embedded, entitling relief. My opponent said it was unplayable, necessitating a one-stroke penalty. Rules Guy says… —Aaron Lowe, via email

…to consider a driver with more loft.

Rule 16.3a(2) says that a ball driven straight into the ground without becoming airborne is not embedded, and thus free relief for an embedded ball isn’t allowed.

That said, should the ball remain within the teeing area — on the off chance you teed up more than eight inches behind the markers so your ball is in the ground still behind the markers — you can lift the ball and tee it up again anywhere inside the teeing area without penalty, hitting 2, under Rule 6.2b.

For more guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules

We have the world’s most unfair bunker fronting our 17th green. It’s seven feet deep, but that’s the easy part. Shaped like a funnel, there’s only .001 inches of sand sitting at the base. When I find myself in this abyss, can I lift my ball as unplayable, rake sand into the base from the walls and then drop my ball for play, one penalty stroke poorer? Thanks for listening. — Bill Herrick, East Moriches, N.Y.

Rules Guy always tries to be a sympathetic ear, and we were with you for a moment there — when you wanted to treat the ball as unplayable and take penalty relief. That’s kosher.

But like the sand in your cruel bunker — “world’s most unfair” surely is stretching things a bit — your request eroded once you contemplated raking the sand where you plan to drop the ball, which, by improving your relief area, is verboten.

You need to simply drop the ball under one of the four options in Rule 19.3, three of which (stroke and distance, back on the line inside the bunker, lateral relief inside the bunker) cost one penalty stroke and the other (back on the line of relief outside the bunker) two penalty strokes.

Other options: Try a sand wedge with less bounce or find a new home course.

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The post Rules Guy: Is it legal to add a club to your bag mid-round? appeared first on Golf.

The post Rules Guy: Is it legal to add a club to your bag mid-round? appeared first on Golf.

My buddy is 2 up on me after six holes when he realizes he’s missing his sand wedge. His house is next to the 7th tee, and he runs inside the garage to get the club. I penalized him a hole and rallied to win the match, and he hasn’t stopped complaining since. What’s the actual ruling? —Michael Washburne, Alpharetta, Ga.

We’re going to assume your buddy — assuming he’s still your buddy — remained at or under the 14-club limit post-wedge. If so, he was allowed to grab the wedge so long as he didn’t unreasonably delay play.

You were 1 down on the Rules of Golf, tainted victory notwithstanding.

For more club-related guidance guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules

In a stroke-play competition, Player A inadvertently pulls Player B’s driver out of B’s bag and makes a stroke from the teeing area. Realizing the mistake, A hands the club to B and declares it out of play, then replays the stroke with his own driver. He abandons the first ball and winds up making a 5 with the second ball. What is his score for the hole? —Johnny Williams, Tampa Bay, Fla.

Something similar once happened to Rules Guy with a pair of identical-twin sisters on a tournament committee, but this is not the forum for such matters ….

Even if you had less than 14 clubs, you’re not allowed to use a club selected for play by another player on the course. In essence, you get two penalty strokes for the breach of Rule 4.1b.

Then, when you played again from the teeing area, you were actually playing under stroke and distance. Before the 4.1b penalty, that stroke with your own driver was actually your third shot, plus whatever else it took to get the ball into the hole, plus two more for the 4.1b penalty.

To review: 1 (stroke with wrong club); 2 (penalty stroke under stroke and distance); 3 (stroke with correct club from teeing area); 4, 5, 6, 7 (four more strokes to complete the hole); 8, 9 (penalty strokes under 4.1b). And with that, Rules Guy is off to take a nap. We are exhausted.

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The post Rules Guy: If you choose to play the ball off a cart path and hit it OB, can you take relief on your next shot? appeared first on Golf.

The post Rules Guy: If you choose to play the ball off a cart path and hit it OB, can you take relief on your next shot? appeared first on Golf.

A friend’s drive comes to rest on a paved cart path. He plays the ball as it lies… and hits it OB. Does he have to hit again from the cart path or can he take relief from it? —Matt Lonegan, via email

Interesting question, albeit not quite as hard as the cart path itself.

Playing by the book, you do need to put the ball in play again based on the spot on the cart path.

However, playing from the previous spot (such as under stroke and distance) gives you a one club- length relief area to drop into, per Rule 14.6. If, post-drop, you still have interference from the path, you would be allowed to take free relief under Rule 16.1.

For more cart-path related guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules

Due to rain, our club decided to use preferred lies during the club championship. On the 4th hole, a competitor took the one-club length relief allowed under the Local Rule for preferred lies, then claimed relief from a cart path that now interfered with his stance. His original lie was behind a tree, and the relief provided him a clearer path to the green. Was he clever or all wet? — Paul Hinz, Sartell, Minn.

Paul, this is precisely why the Rules recommend that preferred lies not be used in the entire general area and instead be limited just to parts of the general area cut to fairway height or less — otherwise, there is definite potential for a player to sashay out of golf jail.

If the Committee indeed enacted the Local Rule in the entire general area, once the player uses his free club-length and then has interference from an abnormal course condition such as a cart path, he would be allowed to take relief under Rule 16.1b.

Once finished doing so, he could then prefer his lie under the Local Rule again if so desired. We thus prefer that the Local Rule be done in the recommended fashion.

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The post Rules Guy: Is it legal to tap down grass around the hole before putting? appeared first on Golf.

The post Rules Guy: Is it legal to tap down grass around the hole before putting? appeared first on Golf.

This morning, a gentleman in our foursome made a habit of tamping down rather forcefully around the hole with his putter (always in his line of putt, naturally). When I question this “gardening,” he claimed the greenskeepers weren’t doing their job properly when they changed holes. I happen to know better, since I am one of those greenskeepers. What rule should I quote? —Bob Keifling, Seibring, Fla.

Clearly, you are the gentleman since you chose to take the high route rather than tamp forcefully around this clod’s noggin!

Next time, let the rules do that for you. Players may repair “damage” to the putting green, which includes the hole and the area around it, even if doing so improves the line of play. But (!) normal maintenance practices, natural wear and natural surface imperfections are not damage as defined by Rule 13.1c(2) and may not be repaired.

If his tamping alters the ground and improves a condition affecting the stroke, such as line of play, then Rule 8.1a applies, and he gets the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play. Now who’s not doing his job properly?

For more green-related guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules

I was called out for aligning my ball for a putt after placing my ball and then lifting my ball marker — that I cannot adjust the ball unless the marker is still in place, and if I were caught doing it again I’d be penalized. Yet in the R&A’s rule clarification 14.2c/1, the ball can be aligned in any way so long as its vertical distance to the ground remains the same, I don’t see any reference to a ball marker being required when lining up a putt. Can you clarify? —Mark O’Neill, via email

We can, and we will, forthwith. Sad to say, you were called out correctly. Rotating the ball is considered “lifting” under Rule 14.1, and you only get the right to lift the ball on the putting green after you mark it first.

So, if you rotate the ball when it isn’t marked you get one penalty stroke — since it didn’t change position you need not worry about replacing it. Please see Rule 14.1a.

The clarification you cited refers to how the ball actually gets replaced — you can replace the ball in almost any orientation; the aligning of the ball isn’t your issue here — but it doesn’t address whether or not the ball was marked when originally lifted, as that’s a separate issue.

In sum: mark it, Mark!

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The post Rules Guy: How much of the ball needs to be in the cup to be considered holed? appeared first on Golf.

The post Rules Guy: How much of the ball needs to be in the cup to be considered holed? appeared first on Golf.

Par-3, very wet day, my ball flew into the hole — but upon reaching the green, I saw it was, in fact, entirely buried on the back edge of the cup. The ball must have flown into the hole above the cup liner, which was set two inches below the hole’s rim. I claimed an ace, certain that the ball had entered the hole and was below the putting surface. My friend disagreed, saying it wasn’t resting in the bottom of the cup. Who’s right? —Brad Middleton, Issaquah, Wash.

Let’s clarify one thing: Starting in January 2023, what was called “Interpretations” are now, yes, “Clarifications.” So please see “Clarifications: Holed/1.”

Your buddy’s argument, unlike the ground, doesn’t hold water: There are several instances covered by the Rules where the ball isn’t completely at the bottom of the cup or totally at rest and is still considered holed. You can claim an ace if (and only if) all the ball is below the surface and embedded in the side of the hole.

Now go buy him a drink.

For more hole-in-one-or-not guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules

A member at our club made an ace, then called a penalty on himself, claiming he teed the ball ahead of the marker. All this to avoid paying for drinks after the round, when tabs have reached $2,000. Was this legal? —John Karam, St. Petersburg, Fla.

The thrill of victory and the agony of… the bar tab.

Let’s say this occurred in match play. Under Rule 6.1b, which covers playing from inside the teeing area, the opponent gets to choose whether to cancel Mr. Cheap Ace’s stroke, so if that opponent prefers a free drink and losing the hole, so be it — don’t cancel the stroke and the hole-in-one stands.

In stroke play, once the player has called the penalty on himself, he gets two penalty strokes — but remember, the stroke into the hole now doesn’t count and the player has to correct the mistake by playing from within the teeing area (as opposed to “That’s a 1 with a 2-stroke penalty for a 3”).

If he doesn’t correct the mistake, he’s disqualified. Some might argue that a player calling a penalty to gain an advantage is antithetical to golf’s spirit, and the Committee could go the DQ route via serious misconduct under Rule 1.2a.

But the game of golf assumes honorable golfers and takes them at their word, unless there’s hard evidence to the contrary. Suspicions aren’t facts, and the “advantage” here is purely financial, not competitive — quite the contrary, since he has cost himself strokes. Maybe it seems a bit naive, but Rules Guy, for one, prefers it that way, even if it means paying for his own single-malt Scotch at the 19th hole.

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I’ve got a question that has caused a heated debate at my club. If a tee shot on hole No. 1 crosses the out-of-bounds mark, crosses the adjacent street, then enters through the out-of-bounds mark on hole #10 and comes to rest in its fairway, is the ball OB or no? —Mario Polit, via email

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Rules Guy isn’t being philosophical or mealy-mouthed; there’s a Model Local Rule (A-5) that would treat a ball that crosses a boundary as out of bounds even if it comes to rest on another part of the course.

Without the Model Local Rule, then if the ball comes to rest somewhere that’s on the course (i.e., in-bounds) it doesn’t matter whether it crossed completely over a boundary or not — the ball is on the course. Which means Rules Guy gets to ask you a question: Does your course have said Model Local Rule in effect?

Rules

For more OB-related guidance from our guru, read on …

You hit a ball, and it breaks into two parts. One part lands on the green, the other part out of bounds. What is the rule as to how to proceed? — J. Herring, via email

Did you hit the ball with a golf club or a lawnmower, J? Was this a gutta percha ball or a feathery?

This kind of thing doesn’t happen much anymore, thanks to modern technology, but on the rare occasion it does, Rule 4.2b covers matters — the stroke doesn’t count, and you go back and play again from where you made that last, scything, ill-fated stroke.

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The post Rules Guy: Can you use a tee to test bunker depth before hitting? appeared first on Golf.

The post Rules Guy: Can you use a tee to test bunker depth before hitting? appeared first on Golf.

Our course has a few refurbished bunkers built with an Astroturf base and revetted faces of stacked Astro­turf. Some of the bunkers only have a thin coating of sand, which can produce bladed shots when the wedge’s bounce hits that Astro­turf base. I know the new rules don’t allow you to test the surface with your hand or club, but what about checking the sand’s depth with a long tee? —Jim Cumberbatch, via e-mail

Stacked Astroturf … it sounds like the club hired Old Tom Morris as the architect and Sanford & Son as the contractor! In point of fact, the Rule number — 12.2b(1) — may have changed but this Rule hasn’t, namely, players are prohibited from touching the sand in a bunker to glean information about it for the next stroke. No hand, no club, no tee, no rake, no garden shovel.

The penalty also remains the same — the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play. More commonly, should you come across a bunker with little to no sand not staked as ground under repair, you can: Play two balls, one as it lies and one taking relief, and get a ruling later from the commit­tee (stroke play only); play under stroke and distance, replaying from the prior spot with a one-stroke pen­alty; or, under the new ball-unplay­able rule, drop outside the bunker, using back-on-the-line relief, for two penalty strokes. Also, if they replace the greens with shag car­peting, find a new course.

For more bunker-related guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules

A local course designer here on Vancouver Island wanted to be the next Pete Dye — he built a large bunker with steep railroad ties in the face, and two separate staircases to get in and out built into the ties. Naturally, my ball came to rest on one of the stairs’ steps, which were so steep that no shot could possibly be played. As it was a tournament, there was a rules guy present, who said I got free relief outside the bunker, treating the ties and stairs as if I had embedded in a grass face. Was this correct? —Mike Marshall, Nanoose Bay, BC, Canada

Was this rules guy calling himself “Rules Guy”? If so, our lawyers would like to have a word with him…

Regardless, he didn’t adjudicate the matter as if the ball were embedded; he treated the railroad ties and stairs as what they are, namely, immovable obstructions.

The Committee must determine whether such obstructions are inside the bunker or out, and in this case it sounds as if they were considered the ladder, er, latter. (A ball on top of an IO where sand normally would be, would be treated as in the bunker, but this is not really the case for stairs or railroad ties on the wall.)

Ergo, you got free relief under Rule 16.1b for being in the general area since the ball was not technically in the bunker, the ins and outs of which one can learn more by reading Rule 12.1.

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Western Birch Signature Bamboo 3.25″ “Camaro” Golf Tees

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The post Rules Guy: When playing winter rules, can you tee up your ball on loose impediments? appeared first on Golf.

The post Rules Guy: When playing winter rules, can you tee up your ball on loose impediments? appeared first on Golf.

When playing under winter rules, is it permissible to place your ball on a worm cast to elevate your ball prior to your shot? – Mike Dearden, via email

Mike, Rules Guy is going to be honest with you: we had to look up “worm cast.” You’re always learning in this business.

As to legality, when put into effect by the committee “winter rules,” a.k.a. the preferred lies local rule, lets you place the ball within a specified distance.

Beyond that, however, it’s still undergirded by the notion of playing the course as you find it. If there is worm cast (a loose impediment) within the specified radius of where your shot came to rest, you are by all means free to place your ball atop it — you just can’t pull some from beyond that area, or from your pants pocket or your golf bag, et cetera.

That said, if before you make your stroke the ball were to move due to natural forces, you’d have to play it as it lies — no replacing the ball atop the worm cast. And, with that, Rules Guy hopes and expects never to type “worm cast” again.

For more tee-related guidance from our guru, read on …

The other day, I picked up a tee someone had left on the tee box and proceeded to use it. My friend told me this was a penalty, for using someone else’s equipment. He said that if I wanted to use it, I needed to put it in my pocket first to claim that it was mine. What’s the ruling? – Wade Lindren, via email

This sounds like a demented magician’s trick: “I put someone else’s tee in my pocket … say the magic words — ‘It’s mine!’ — take the tee out of my pocket … and — presto! It’s legal!”

Suffice to say, your friend is a severely misguided stickler. The only restriction on sharing equipment relates to clubs. There is absolutely no issue with using someone else’s tee, towel, rangefinder or ball.

Rules

(If the one-ball Local Rule, Model Local Rule G-4, is in effect, you can still borrow a ball, so long as it’s the same make and model as the one you were using.)

Accidentally using someone else’s clubs is a general penalty of two strokes in stroke play or, in match play, adjusting the match with a one-hole deduction, with a maximum of two such penalties in either instance. The club must immediately be declared out of play once the player becomes aware of his or her error — otherwise, he or she is disqualified upon again using the club.

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Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.

Western Birch Signature Bamboo 3.25″ “Camaro” Golf Tees

$8.99

– Box of 50 Tees with 3.25″ length – Premium Bamboo material with a thicker shank golf tee creating more durability – Red & blue stripes – FREE SHIPPING

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The post Rules Guy: After marking a ball, can you have your caddie replace it? appeared first on Golf.

The post Rules Guy: After marking a ball, can you have your caddie replace it? appeared first on Golf.

Can a pro golfer have his caddie place the ball on the green for him? —Dale Tateyama, Blaine, Wash.

Only if he gives the caddie half his winnings for the week. We kid!

Under Rule 14.2b, only the player, the player’s partner (if there is one) or the person who originally lifted the ball or caused it to move is allowed to replace it, so, unless that final situation is the case, the player would get one penalty stroke if his looper did the honors.

Rules

For more caddie-related guidance from our guru, read on …

Can my caddie help repair ball marks or spike marks on my line on the green? —Fred D. Anderson, via email

First off, you should tip him or her generously at the completion of play for doing so.

And, yes, Rule 10.3b(1) specifies actions a caddie is always allowed to take, and such repair is indeed one such action.

Conversely, blaming your caddie for misreads is an action players are always allowed to take under golf’s unwritten rules, yet Rules Guy finds this beneath contempt.

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