From Mike Sweeney, SCGA Director of Rules and Competitions
I've been getting a lot of questions from SCGA members on the DQ of Stewart Cink last week (see the post below this one). As a few of you have pointed out, this exact scenario was on our 2006 SCGA Rules of Golf Quiz for SCGA Rules Committee members (Question 45):
On the fourth hole of the Staff Championship at the SCGA Golf Course, Mike’s drive came to rest just outside of the fairway bunker. His ball was positioned such that he had to stand in the bunker in order to play his ball which lay outside the bunker. He hit a 3-wood advancing his ball all the way up and into a greenside bunker. After the stroke, Mike raked his footprints in the bunker and moved on to the greenside bunker.
A. Mike has proceeded correctly.
B. Mike incurs a two-stroke penalty.
C. Mike incurs no penalty unless this raking assists his in his subsequent play of the hole.
D. You may never rake a bunker if your ball lies in that bunker or a similar bunker.
As you all probably have heard now it is a two-stroke penalty, which Cink did not add to his scorecard, causing him to be disqualified.
The Cink ruling is a situation NCGA Director of Education Gail Rogers encountered two years ago. She had this exact scenario happen to her in a casual round of golf at Pasatiempo GC and posed the question to the USGA. Two of the USGA's top rules officials, Jeff Hall and John Morrissett, disagreed on an answer (which is why we're guessing it didn’t make the Decisions on the Rules of Golf this year). One of them went by the letter of the law (a penalty) and the other thought they had to resort to equity and maintaining the golf course (no penalty). We omitted it from our test because they couldn’t provide us a decisive answer but it was on the test originally because it can happen…as Cink just showed us!
Usually this far into the PGA Tour season, we’ve had several interesting situations involving The Rules of Golf, but this year has been remarkably quiet … until Stuart Cink’s snafu in last weekend’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans. What happened to Cink is why so many people hate The Rules of Golf (and/or the people who write them).
Cink, as you have read or seen, was disqualified during the final round for signing an incorrect scorecard (kudos to NBC Commentator Roger Maltbie for explaining the reason correctly). Why he signed the incorrect story was quite a story.
During the third round, Cink’s drive came to rest on a mound next to, but not in, a bunker. Cink had to stand in the bunker to play the shot, which subsequently landed in a greenside bunker about 180 yards away. As Cink went up to play his third shot, his caddie raked the bunker where Cink had stood. Cink went on to make bogey on the hole and signed for a scorecard with that number on it.
The next day, Cink related the story to Zach Johnson, who suggested he consult a Rules official. According to Johnny Miller on the telecast, it took quite a while to figure out that Cink’s caddie had violated Rule 13-4a, which prohibits a player from “testing the condition of the hazard, or any similar hazard.” (The same prohibition applies to the player’s caddie).
The words “or any similar hazard” raised a big series of questions on the NBC telecast and on The Golf Channel afterwards. As TGC’s Brandel Chamblee pointed out, the ruling puts the player between a rock and a hard place. The PGA Tour fines players when a caddie doesn’t rake a bunker but it also fines them for slow play; the latter certainly could have come into play if the caddie had gone forward with Cink and then had to come back to rake the bunker. Moreover, as Chamblee pointed out, what happens if another player hits a ball into the unraked bunker? How fair is that? (Of course, to quote a famous adage, whoever said golf was fair?)
Then there’s the whole issue of how does a player gain an advantage if it’s the caddie that does the raking? In this case, the player had already, in effect, tested the surface of the first bunker when he took a stance in it, so what else could he have learned?
Finally, suppose Cink had hit his ball into a bunker on the next or a subsequent hole. Shouldn’t the rule apply to that situation, as well? What’s the difference?
Oh, yes, the incorrect scorecard. Once it was determined that Cink should have assessed himself a two-shot penalty, that means he signed for a scorer lower than what his actual score should have been. That, as we often say, is trunk-slamming time. In this case, it may have been the correct ruling but there's a big difference between "correct" and "right."
— Robert D. Thomas
Normally post-round television interviews range from midly interesting to banal (tending toward the latter). However, yesterday's interview with Angela Park proved to be illuminating although probably not in the way that Park wanted.
Park, who was born in Brazil but grew up in Torrance, was assessed a two-stroke penalty for slow play following the 10th hole in the final round of the LPGA Tour's SBS Open in Hawaii. By the time her round had finished, she was still angry with the decision and what she said to Mike Riks demonstrated that she — like many of her colleagues — doesn't understand the rule or why it's there.
Although the LPGA doesn't post its slow-play rules on its Web site, from the actions of tournament officials and later reports, it appears that players have to maintain their position on the course (which is usually defined as playing in a certain amount of time for each hole and being within a certain number of minutes of the group in front of them). When a group gets out of position, an official uses a stopwatch to measure the amount of time it takes a player to make a shot. According to published reports, Park exceeded the allotted time limit on her second, third and fourth shots on the hole and, thus, received the two-shot penalty.
Park's first comment was she didn't think the penalty was fair because "we weren't holding anyone up." That's probably the single thing that players simply don't understand when it comes to this issue. What's behind you is of no relevance when it comes to enforcing slow-play rules; what's happening with your group and the group in front are the only things that matters.
Second, Park said she didn't think the penalty was fair because she was in contention (she was a shot off the lead at the time). Sorry, Angela, that's not the way the rules work. To the LPGA's credit, a player's position in the field has no bearing on assessing a penalty in this situation.
Finally, Park noted that she was so mad that they "flew" through the back nine, making three birdies to finish a shot off of the lead. One would think that might be a self-evident statement to Park about her own play, but apparently not.
Whatever a tournament's policy (and there are many ways to handle the slow-play issue), there's a simple two-word answer to the problem: play faster.
By the way, the turtles were in evidence at the PGA Tour's Northern Trust Open at Riviera CC yesterday. Playing in groups of three and teeing off at 10:20 a.m., the final group (Phil Mickelson, Jeff Quinney and Robert Allenby) still had the 18th hole to play when the telecast ended yesterday at 3 p.m. That means their third round took nearly five hours to play. Mickelson's group didn't appear to have a big gap in front of it but somewhere up front were some exceedingly slow players. Two-shot penalties have a way of getting players' attentions but when's the last time a PGA Tour player got that kind of penalty?
Q: I was playing "Beat The Pro" with my club professional. The first hole is a par 3 over a lake. One of the players teed off and hit the ball very close to going in the lake except no one saw a splash. We went to the area where the ball either went into the water or would be on the fairway beyond the water. We searched but could not find the ball until the pro found it, embedded in the lip of the lake where the fairway was edged around the lake. The water hazard was marked with yellow stakes with no connecting yellow boundary lines. Drawing a sight line between the two stakes on each side of the embedded ball, as you would do for an OB test, it was determined that the ball was outside that line. The pro ruled that the ball was not in the hazard and was embedded in its own divot (mark) and, thus, the player could lift, clean and drop the ball no closer to the hole without a penalty. What is the ruling?
A: The player proceeded correctly. Since the ball was outside the hazard, the player could take relief under the embedded ball rule, dropping it as near as possible to wear it lay but not nearer the hole. (This ruling applies when the local rule providing relief for an embedded ball through the green has been adopted. If this local rule is not adopted players are only entitled to embedded ball relief in any closely mown area through the green (Rule 25-2).
— Mike Sweeney, SCGA Director of Rules and Competitions
Nick Faldo has joined the long list of announcers (and others) who have misused the term Rub of the Green. In today’s second-round Buick Invitational telecast, Faldo described a ball rolling on a putting green knocked offline by a tuft of grass or the condition of the grass as a “rub of the green.”
Bogey, Nick!
Rub of the green is not a synonym for bad luck. In The Rules of Golf, it has a specific definition: “A rub of the green occurs when a ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency (see Rule 19-1).”
And, as so often happens, one Rule or Definition leads to another. An outside agency in stroke play “is any agency other than the competitor's side, any caddie of the Side, any ball played by the Side at the hole being played or any equipment of the Side. An outside agency includes a referee, a marker, an observer and a forecaddie. Neither wind nor water is an outside agency.”
Nor, it should be added, is the ground.
— Robert D. Thomas
SCGA Senior Director of Communications
Question: Please clear up a ruling. A ball lodges in a tall palm tree. With binoculars I can clearly see my ball with its markings, but I cant lay my hands on it. May I take an unplayable lie, or must I consider it lost and return to the place of previous hitting...stroke and distance?--Gary Naylor, SCGA Member
Answer: According to SCGA Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions' Melanie Furuta, If the player can identify his ball, he is entitled to proceed under any option of Rule 28 (Ball Unplayable). The reference point for proceeding under this Rule would be the spot on the ground directly below where the ball has come to rest in the tree (Decision 28/11).
By Randy Braze
SCGA Rules and Competition Committee member
The SCGA Senior Four-Ball Net Championship was held on the Legends Course at the PGA of Southern California in Beaumont on November 27 and 28. The first round passed without incident, but the second round fell victim to the deadly Santa Ana winds. A mild breeze of 20-40 MPH blew all day, with gusts of up to 60 MPH. With the greens being very undulating and fast, this presented players with an additional problem. Besides having to worry about their tee and approach shots, players had to be cognizant of their ball being moved by the wind when on the green.
As players began to ask questions concerning the status of the ball on the green and what the wind may do to it, it became evident to the starter (that would be me) and Rules chairman (Al Davis) that a mini-clinic on the Rules of Golf, specifically RULE 18 and its relevant decisions might be necessary prior to the groups teeing off. A number of scenarios were discussed with the players to insure that they had a fair understanding of what is and is not permitted. Here were the scenarios:
1. A player’s ball is at rest on the putting green. The player is looking at his putt when the wind gusts and blows his ball 15 feet further from the hole. Does the player replace his ball or play it from the new location where the wind just blew it? Most of the players thought that they should replace the ball. The correct answer is that because the wind is not an outside agency, the player must play it from its new location. So, what happens if they replace it? The player would incur a penalty of one stroke and must replace his ball. If he fails to do so, he incurs the general penalty under Rule 18 of two strokes, without any further penalty. (See Decision 18-2a/7)
2. A player’s ball is at rest on the putting green. The player marks his ball, lifts and cleans it, then replaces it on the green where it is now at rest. Prior to removing his mark, the player steps away and goes to his bag to get his putter. When he returns, he finds that the wind has moved his ball and it has blown 20 feet closer to the hole. Does the player replace his ball or play it from its new location. Most players, again, thought that they were to replace the ball, as they still had their marker down. Under Decisions 18-1/12 and Decision 20-4/1, the player must play the ball from its new location. What if they replace it at the position of the marker and play from there? Then they will incur the penalty for a general breach of Rule 18, which is two strokes. No additional penalty will apply.
3. The player’s ball is at rest on the putting green. The player marks his ball, lifts it, replaces it and removes his marker. After viewing his putt, the player takes his stance and grounds his club behind the ball. Prior to the player making his stroke, the wind blows the ball sideways about two feet. Does the player now play from the new location, as that’s what we‚Äôve been telling them in the above situations. Most players thought they would then play from the new location. Unfortunately, Rule 18-2b stipulates that the player is deemed to have moved the ball and therefore, incurs a penalty of one stroke and must replace the ball. Decision 18-2b/7 adds an additional twist to this. Suppose the player has just replaced his ball, takes his stance and grounds his putter. The wind starts to blow, so the player backs off to wait for the wind to subside. Then the wind moves his ball. Do you play it from the new location? Nope. The player is deemed to have moved the ball under this decision and incurs the penalty of one stroke and must replace the ball. If he plays from the new location, he incurs the penalty of two strokes for a general breach of Rule 18, with no further penalty imposed. Decision 18-2b/8 absolves the player of any wrongdoing if he remarks and replaces the ball prior to any other movement.
4. The players are now armed with this information on the above scenarios. Wisely, the player now replaces his ball on the green after marking it, it’s at rest and the player does not ground his putter this time. The wind blows the ball into the hole. Must the player replace the ball now? Finally, most players got the answer right. Because the player has not addressed the ball, they are not deemed to have moved it under Rule 18. As wind is not an outside agency, the ball is deemed to have been holed out on the previous stroke! Finally, the Rules of Golf work in the player’s favor!!
Armed with these warnings, the players hit the course.
Having finished with my starter duties, I hit the course to help with the rules. Upon reaching the 11th green, I noticed a group of golfers preparing to putt, so I parked my cart about 20 yards from the green and waited while they played out. While the first player was preparing to putt his ball, the wind blew and a second player’s ball moved about two feet to the right. Immediately the second player put his club down at the old location, reached down and picked up his ball and replaced it in front of his club. Because the first player was about to hit the ball, the rules official on scene didn’t say anything until the stroke was completed. Besides, the breach had already been committed. Now, the second player was about to play his putt when the rules official instructed him not to play yet.
Hoping to avoid any further penalty, the rules official asked the second player what just happened. The second player responded, “Well, I was just standing here when the wind blew my ball over there. I put my putter down where it was, picked up the ball and put it back where it started.” The rules official informed the player that he had just violated Rule 18/2a and must replace the ball and add a one stroke penalty to his score. After play was completed on the hole, a review of all of the above scenarios was repeated with the group. Of course, the second player wasn’t too happy with the penalty, but that’s only natural.
Two holes later, his playing partner had a similar situation. He had replaced his ball on the green, taken his stance, but did not ground the putter behind the ball. The wind blew and the ball fell in the hole! As we had previously discussed this same scenario with the players, they knew what to do and the player was deemed to have holed out with his previous shot.
Sometimes the Rules of Golf work against you and sometimes they work for you.
By Melanie Furuta
SCGA Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions
This article was first published in FORE Magazine's November/December issue.
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You're searching for your ball in the woods and you find it, only to realize it's lodged in a tree root and there's no way you'll be able to play a shot. Now what should you do?
Rule 28 (Ball Unplayable) allows you to get out of jail for the bargain price of one stroke. Many people in this position panic, failing to realize that there are three options for taking an unplayable, all under penalty of one stroke. Before you pick up your golf ball, consider your options as follows:
A. Play a ball as nearly as possible from the last place you played (also known as "stroke and distance"). You may tee your ball up if your last stroke was made from the teeing ground (Rule 20-5a).
For the following two options, you must identify your ball before proceeding:
B. Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped. (This is not the same as the line of flight the ball traveled to get to where it became unplayable.) There is no limit as to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped.
C. Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, no nearer the hole. Note that the club lengths are measured from where your ball came to rest. For example, if your ball is lying in a bush, you measure where the ball came to rest in the bush not from the outer edge of the bush that your ball lies in or the nearest playable lie.
In some situations, you may find it necessary to proceed under this Rule multiple times, so before you lift your ball, consider carefully as to whether other options might be more advantageous.
Note that the word "a" is used to reference the ball in all three options. This allows you to substitute a new ball when proceeding under any option of Rule 28.
I had the privilege of competing in the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur in September at Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree, Arizona. The fairways at Desert Forest are lined by desert and all the things that go along with that, including some pretty vicious desert vegetation. It was reported that 78 balls were declared unplayable in just the first round of stroke play alone. Unfortunately, I added multiple contributions to this tally.
On Hole No. 12, a par 3, I pulled my tee shot left into the desert. I found my ball nestled under a large bush and there was no way for me to get a club on the ball. I certainly did not want to hit that tee shot again and two club lengths would leave me in the bush. So, my only option was to drop behind the bush (Rule 28b).
I was attempting to find the most playable area of desert on this line when my caddie reminded me that I could go even farther back, to the 16th fairway. I ended up taking his advice, dropping the ball some 60 yards from the hole.
A few holes later, I hit my tee shot on No. 18 right into the desert. My ball came to rest against a yucca plant and I decided I would pitch out into the fairway. The shaft of my club got caught in the plant on my downswing and I whiffed. Had I decided to take an unplayable at this point under Rule 28a, I could no longer go back to the tee. When I made a stroke at my ball in the yucca, the spot I previously played from became against the yucca (Decision 28/7). Fortunately I had taken enough of the plant down with my last swing that I had a relatively easy pitch out the second time.
Here are some helpful hints on Rule 28:
• You are the only person who can decide your ball is unplayable. You do not need to consult a Rules Official, your fellow competitor in stroke play or your opponent in match play.
• You can declare your ball unplayable anywhere on the course, except in a water hazard or lateral water hazard.
• If your ball lies in a bunker, you must drop the ball in the bunker except when proceeding under option A.
And finally, remember the ABC's of Rule 28:
A is for hitting your last shot again.
B is for behind the ball, where you can drop.
C is for club-lengths; you get two.
Beginning in 2008, a golfer will be allowed to lift a ball for identification in a bunker or water hazard. However, there now will be a two-stroke penalty for playing a wrong ball from a hazard. In match play, the penalty will be loss of hole.
These notable changes to Rules 12-2 and 15-3, which have been under consideration for several years, are among the amendments to the Rules of Golf agreed upon by the United States Golf Association and R&A Rules Limited that will be in effect starting Jan. 1, 2008. MORE
In addition, the 2008 Rules of Golf are now available in .pdf format HERE.
