Know the Rules

The ABCs of ball unplayable

By Melanie Furuta
SCGA Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions

This article was first published in FORE Magazine's November/December issue.
____________________

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.

Rules of Golf changes announced for 2008

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.

Woody Austin: Stroke or not?

During the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake CC, the question of whether Woody Austin made a stroke at his ball on the 15th putting green came up.

Check out this link off youtube to make your own determination whether Woody Austin made a stroke at his ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gifW57c6X34

Under the Rules of Golf the definition of a stroke is: the forward movement of the club made with the intention of striking at and moving the ball, but if the player checks his downswing voluntarily before the club head reaches the ball he has not made a stroke. Tour officials asked Austin if he had intended to make a stroke and he replied that he had not. After reviewing the footage I agree that Austin did not intend to make a stroke. I've seen Austin do a similar procedure when tapping in other putts where he grounds the club swiftly behind the ball and then taps it in.

 

What are your thoughts? Only Austin knows for sure....

When the score doesn't add up

This was one of the better Rules of Golf questions I've ever received. The names and clubs will remain anonymous, but the story is priceless.

The club president was on the phone. "My tournament committee is ready to quit," he said. "We have about 80 people who play in our monthly tournaments, most of them are 70 to 80 years old, and about 30% of them can't add. Our committee spends a lot of time correcting addition. Can we make a local rule allowing us to DQ them for bad addition?"

The answer (unfortunately for this Committee) is "no." Rule 6-6d states: "The competitor is responsible for the correctness of the score recorded for each hole." Note 1 to this rule adds: "The Committee is responsible for the addition of scores and application of the handicap recorded on the scorecard."

The reason for not making the player responsible for addition is that The Rules of Golf nearly always apply to situations on the golf course. For example, a player may have more than 14 clubs in his or her golf bag. It's doesn't become a penalty situation until the player begins a competitive round. From the rulesmakers point of view, penalizing a player for a nongolf-related reason is unfair.

So, why can't The Committee make its own rule? Rule 33-1 states: "The Committee has no power to waive a Rule of Golf."

I suggested a calculator, but that's already been tried. Keep those pencils sharpened, boys.

Interesting rulings from the U.S. Junior Amateur

Wendy Uzelac reports from the U.S. Junior Amateur. MORE

Adventures from the U.S. Amateur Public Links, Pt. 2

SCGA Director of Rules and Competitions, Mike Sweeney, is working as a Rules Official at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Cantigny Golf Club, July 9-14, 2007. Here is the second installment of some incidents that have occurred as Mike is walking with a different group each day.

July 11, 2007

Resumption of Play: We awoke to beautiful sunny skies, which meant that the thunderstorms were behind us and we were in store for lots of golf. We resumed play at 7:30 a.m. and all three players’ ball marks were still in their position on the putting green. The maintenance staff had added tees behind the player’s coins to ensure that they were not moved during the morning course preparation. The players knew they needed birdies to make the cut and were firing at the flagsticks. Watabu birdied holes 5, 6, and 7…with a 50-foot chip in on 5, a 30-foot birdie putt on 6, and a 10 footer on 7. He got hot and lucky at the same time to finish with a 68 to securely make the cut.

Morning Round: The groups originally scheduled to play Tuesday afternoon were now teeing off Wednesday morning. I walked with the group of Brian Kim (Univ. of Duke student from Yorba Linda, CA), Casey Sutherland (Univ. of Nevada student from Reno, NV) and Matt Corrigan (a firefighter from New York City).

Rule 6-5 states that it is the responsibility of the player to play the proper ball and that each player should put an identification mark on his ball. It was especially important for this event as the rough was grown to about 3.5 – 4 inches and you could not see the ball unless you were standing on top of it. When I saw how Corrigan marked his golf balls I knew he would not have any problem playing a wrong ball. He had one golf ball marked with the NY Mets Flag (which took up a quarter of a ball) and another golf ball marked with the NY Yankees logo. I asked him who his allegiance was too and he said he was a Yankees fan but his two sons each loved a different NY team so he had to mark a ball for both of them. For this day the Mets ball was in play and the Yankee ball was to be used as the provisional.

Hole #7, the same hole that I had the Watabu ruling on, came up again, this time getting Brian Kim. Kim hit his tee shot into the brush left of the fairway. We were able to find it and he was able to knock it back into play. Unfortunately his third shot went into the same area of thick brush that Watabu’s ball had gone the morning before. Like Watabu, we found the ball and Kim decided to try to play it to the green. Big mistake….as he could only advance it two feet into more dense brush. He decided to take an unplayable (Rule 28) and drop within two club lengths of where his ball lay, no closer to the hole. He was able to punch onto the green and two putt for a 7. Unfortunately that hole cost Kim the chance to make the cut to match play as he missed the cut by one stroke.

For the remainder of the week I was a referee for match play and saw some amazing golf. The only rulings that really came up during the match play was a few more unplayable lies and lost ball searches in the thick rough. I worked 5 matches and every one was decided on the 18th hole with two going 20 holes. Congratulations to Aaron Goldberg (San Diego State student from Encinitas, CA) who was the SCGA member to advance the farthest in the tournament. Goldberg advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before being defeated on the 18th hole of his match versus Derek Fathauer.

"The Toughest Hole This Year"

By JEFF NINNEMANN
SCGA Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions

Empire Lakes Golf Course • California Amateur Qualifying • May 7, 2007

On a day where at least two or three tornados must have touched down in Rancho Cucamonga, the 12th hole at Empire Lakes took the cake (thus far) for being the toughest hole in relation to par on the SCGA Tournament Calendar. One individual’s tribulations contributed to that stat significantly…

Player A lay three next to the forward tees (keep in mind this is a scratch event); no one knows how it took him three to get there, but in the words of Col. Al Davis, “It will remain a military secret.”

Player A’s fourth shot found the hay (brutally thick rough) to the right of the 12th fairway. Fearing that it may be lost, he properly announced and played a provisional ball which found the hay to the left of the 12th fairway.

After searching for his ball in the right hay for a few minutes, Player A found “a ball” and managed to advance it up the fairway. In the meantime, Player A instructed his fellow competitor to pick up his provisional ball “since he had found his original”.

Upon reaching the putting green and marking this ball, it became apparent to Player A that he had played a wrong ball from back in the hay. The definition of Lost Ball states that “time spent in playing a wrong ball is not counted in the five-minute period allowed for search.” Therefore, the rules allowed Player A to return to the hay and continue searching for his original ball. Player A’s five minutes eventually expired and thus his original ball was officially “lost”.

Let’s take a moment to recap…

• Player A lay four in the right hay;
• He then played a wrong ball, which is a two-stroke penalty under Rule 15-3b;
• As he was unable to find his original ball, his provisional ball became the ball in play under penalty of one stroke (Rule 27-1);
• Since he previously lifted this ball, which was to become his ball in play, he incurred an additional one stroke penalty under Rule 18-2a and was required to replace his provisional ball (which is actually now the ball in play).

By my calculations, Player A has made five strokes and incurred four penalty strokes — he would have been hitting his 10th stroke from the spot at which the provisional ball was lifted.

Decision 27-2b/9 summarizes this exact scenario. Player A went on to make a 13 on this hole, and thus contributed to the hardest hole on the SCGA Tournament Calendar this year.

Rulings from a stormy U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship

SCGA Director of Rules and Competitions, Mike Sweeney, is working as a Rules Official at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Cantigny Golf Club, July 9-14, 2007. Here are some incidents that have occurred as Mike is walking with a different group each day.

JULY 9, 2007
Morning Round: I was the walking Rules Official with Mark Harrell from Hazlehurst, Ga, Clayton Rask from Otsego, Minn and Tim Madigan from Rio Rancho, NM. It was probably the best group to walk with in the tournament. Harrell (a senior at the Univ. of Alabama) and Rask (5th year senior at Minnesota) both shot 69’s to tie as leaders after the morning round. Harrell had six birdies and Rask had five. Harrell was actually the low amateur at the U.S. Open this year with rounds of 75-76 and was one of the players bumped out of the cut-line (along with Phil Mickelson) when Angel Cabrera made that birdie at the end of the second round. Two great players! Madigan, a freshman to be at New Mexico State, wasn’t too shabby either posting a 72. No rulings with this group — just amazing golf!

Afternoon Round: I was the official assigned to the defending champion’s group. This group was comprised of the defending champ, Casey Watabu from Kapaa, Hawaii, Pat Flynn from Westport, Conn, and Nathan Colson from Milwaukee, Wis. Unfortunately we only played two holes before thunder storms rolled in. The USGA blew the air horn at 2:28 p.m. and suspended play under Rule 6-8 (Discontinuance of Play) for a dangerous situation (lightning). To discontinue play immediately the Committee should blow one prolonged air horn note, repeated. Players could not practice because play was suspended for a dangerous situation.

Flynn’s ball was on the putting green 12 feet above the hole; he marked with a coin and lifted his ball. Watabu’s ball lay in the greenside bunker; he marked with a divot repair tool and lifted his ball. Colson’s ball was 75 yards out in the middle of the fairway; he marked with a tee and left his ball there. All are acceptable forms of marking the ball for a discontinuance of play. We went to an evacuation station in hopes of returning to play after the storm passed through. After an hour of waiting, they shuttled us back to the clubhouse where we learned that play would be suspended for the day. I haven’t seen a lightning storm like that in a long time, quite impressive! We are lucky that we don’t have to worry about too many lightning scares in Southern California.

JULY 10, 2007
Morning Round: Play resumed at 7:30 a.m. (two short air horn notes, repeated) and I am back with the Watabu group. Colson’s ball and tee are still in the place we left them. Under Rule 6-8d (ii) (Procedure when play resumed) Colson was allowed to lift, clean and replace his ball. He could also have substituted a ball, as well.

Watabu’s divot repair tool was still in the proper place in the bunker however the bunker had been raked. Decision 6-8d/2 (Lie in bunker altered prior to resumption of play) covers this exact scenario. We had to re-create the original lie as nearly as possible. Here is the exact Decision:

"Q. After play is suspended by the Committee, a player marks the position of and lifts his ball from a bunker as permitted by Rule 6-8c. When play is resumed and the ball is to be replaced, what is the correct procedure given that the lie of the ball may have been altered by the greenkeeping staff?

A. If the bunker has been prepared by the greenkeeping staff, regardless of whether the ball-marker has been moved, the original lie must be recreated as nearly as possible and a ball must be placed in that lie (Rule 20-3b). The obligation to re-create the original lie is limited to what is practical in the circumstances. For example, a buried lie or footprints around the ball must be re-created whereas the player is not required to replace loose impediments or restore conditions such as washed out areas or casual water that have been eliminated by the greenkeeping staff or have changed naturally.
However, if the bunker has not been prepared by the greenkeeping staff, the player is not necessarily entitled to the lie he had prior to the discontinuance of play (see Decision 6-8d/1). The player must place a ball on the spot from which the original ball was lifted (Rule 6-8d). If the ball-marker is missing when play is resumed (e.g., moved by wind or water), and the spot where the ball is to be placed is impossible to determine, it must be estimated and the ball placed on the estimated spot — see Note to Rule 6-8d(iii) and Exception to Rule 20-3c. (Revised)"

Flynn’s ball marker still was in its original position. He replaced his ball and proceeded to drain the 12-foot birdie putt! “I was thinking about that putt the entire night,” he told me with a huge smile on his face.

The round got interesting for me during play of the seventh hole (which is a par 5 that plays 545 yards). Watabu, playing a rescue club, hooked his approach to the green badly into the forest left of the fairway. He proceeded to play a provisional ball (Rule 27-2) and hit his provisional into the exact same “bad country” his first ball went. He then played a second provisional short of the green but in the rough where we could find it.

Watabu luckily found his original about 15 feet into the forest in some dense brush. He decided to try to hack out ... bad decision, as it turned out. He advanced his ball about six feet into dense brush and bushes. After searching for a few seconds he found what he thought was his ball in play. He tried to hack out again and advanced it a few more feet. After finding the ball again in dense brush he looked up at me in disgust, “I just played my provisional ball.” We searched for a few seconds and found his original a few feet to the left of where he played the provisional. Once the original ball was found the provisional ball is abandoned (Rule 27-2c). I informed him that he was in breach of Rule 15-3 for playing a wrong ball and must proceed with the original. The penalty in stroke play is two strokes. He then decided to declare his ball unplayable. He chose to drop within two club lengths and was able to finally drop out of the dense brush. He then knocked the ball on the green and three putted. All in all that’s 10 strokes, 7 on talent and 3 from penalties. Watabu was definitely rattled as he ended the round with an 80.

If I were him, I would have declared my original ball unplayable (rather then trying to hack out), taking a one stroke penalty and gone back and played from where I last hit from.

Afternoon round:
I went back out with the same group and you could tell Watabu was a man on a mission; he knew he needed some red numbers to get back into the championship. He shot a stellar 31 on his first nine (hols 10-18) to shoot himself back into it. Unfortunately the afternoon brought another thunderstorm and we had to suspend play at 4:00 p.m. Once again the air horns blew for a dangerous situation. Watabu, Flynn and Colson had all played to the 4th green and thus marked the positions of their golf balls with their coins. It looks like they will have the night to think about those putts as this is another impressive Midwestern lightning show! It looks like the second round will not finish until Wednesday and the match play portion of the event may not begin until Wednesday afternoon.

More rulings and stories to come….

Rulings from a windy California Amateur

By MICHAEL SWEENEY
SCGA Director of Rules and Competitions

What do you get when you cross a challenging golf course with 30-mph+ winds?  Trouble ... plenty of it!

Consider the following from the 96th California Amateur Championship, played last week at Monterey Peninsula CC (for complete tournament, click HERE )

A lot of interesting situations happened on the 14th hole of MPCC’s Dunes course, which is a beautiful 177-yard par 3 situated between 17 Mile drive and the Pacific Ocean. It played extremely difficult with winds directly into the players’ faces that led to some interesting rules situations. Below are three incidents that all occurred there:

• John McClure incurred a two-stroke penalty on the 14th green when he pressed his ball down on the putting green. McClure’s ball was oscillating in the strong winds coming off the ocean. Prior to addressing the ball, McClure reached down to stop his ball from oscillating. He readjusted and pressed his ball down on to the putting green to stop it from oscillating in the wind. McClure incurred a two-stroke penalty under Rule 18.

Decision 18-2a/6 covers this exact ruling:
Q. A ball lying on the putting green was oscillating due to wind. The player firmly pressed the ball into the surface of the green and the ball stopped oscillating. The player then holed out. Was the player in breach of the Rules?
A. Yes. The player incurred a penalty stroke under Rule 18-2a when he moved his ball by pressing on it. Since the original lie of the ball was altered when the ball was firmly pressed down, the player was obliged to proceed under Rule 20-3b. Since he did not do so, he lost the hole in match play and incurred a total penalty of two strokes in stroke play — see penalty statement under Rule 18.

McClure would not have incurred a penalty had he marked the position of the ball prior to touching it. With the addition of the penalty strokes McClure fell into a playoff for the final qualifying spots into match play. He chipped in for par on the third playoff hole (hole No. 3) to survive the playoff and qualify for the last spot into match play. He eventually made it all the way to the semifinals.

• Prior to addressing his ball on the 14th hole, John Adams watched as the wind blew his ball off the green. Adams was lying 2, four feet from the hole. The wind blew his ball off the green to about 20 feet from the hole. Adams proceeded to nail the par putt from the fringe.

• Steve Duffy’s ball came to rest in a playable position in the water hazard next to the 14th green. Prior to entering the hazard, Rules Official and NCGA Board Member, Dan Hansford reminded Duffy that he could not ground his club in the hazard. Duffy went brain-dead and as soon as he went in the hazard proceeded to ground his club. He incurred a two-stroke penalty under Rule 13-4 (Ball in hazard; prohibited actions).

• Casey Boyns (former two-time California Amateur champion and a professional caddie at Pebble Beach) incurred a two stroke penalty when his son, who was caddying for him, raked a portion of a bunker prior to Casey playing his ball from the same bunker. Rule 13-4 (Ball in hazard; prohibited actions) prohibits testing the condition of the hazard or similar hazard while your ball lies in the hazard. Even with the two-stroke penalty, Boyns qualified for match play before losing in the quarterfinals.

• Roberto Galletti, Jr. incurred a two stroke penalty for removing sand around his golf ball which came to rest in a sand dune. Galletti, Jr. mistakenly thought that sand was a loose impediment anywhere on the course. Sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green only (Definition of Loose Impediments). Galletti Jr. breached Rule 13-2 (Improving lie, area of intended stance or swing, or line of play).

Disqualification Penalties:
• Scot Lance was disqualified in Round 1 when he played his ball from an area that was out of bounds. Lance hit a shot over the green on hole No. 1 of the Shore Course. His ball ended up across a residential street and on a part of the course close to the second hole. This area was out of bounds for the play of the first hole. The <em>Conditions of Competition</em> (that were handed out to each player at the tee) stated that a ball crossing a public road and ending up on another part of the golf course was considered out of bounds. Lance’s caddie mistakenly thought that this area was in bounds since MPCC members play it that way. By playing a ball that was out of bounds, Lance played a wrong ball. He incurred a two stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball and should have corrected his mistake by playing correctly under the Rules. He was disqualified under Rule 15-3 (Wrong Ball) for failing to correct this mistake before teeing off from the next teeing ground.

• Tim Nelson was disqualified in Round 2 for a breach of Rule 15-3 (Wrong Ball). Nelson hit his second shot into the creek that runs across on hole No. 12 (Shore Course) fairway. The creek is marked as a water hazard. Nelson did not bother searching for his ball and immediately dropped a ball behind the water hazard in accordance with Rule 26-1b (Relief for Ball in Water Hazard). Once he dropped the ball correctly under Rule 26-1b that ball became the ball in play. Nelson’s caddie then noticed that his original ball was playable from the hazard. Nelson then picked up his ball in play and played the original. By playing the original ball he had played a wrong ball and should have corrected his mistake by playing the ball he had picked up. He was disqualified under Rule 15-3 (Wrong Ball) for failing to correct this mistake before teeing off from the next teeing ground.

It should be noted that both of these Disqualification penalties could have been avoided had both players invoked Rule 3-3 (Doubt as to Procedure) and played two golf balls in.

One other note unrelated to CGA:
During U.S. Open Sectional qualifying at Bear Creek: I observed Kevin Sutherland at the first tee prior to his starting time. Of all the players that I observed tee off that day, Sutherland was the only one to take a few minutes to read the local rules sheet that was handed out to all the players. Every other player immediately folded the sheet and put it in his back pocket without bothering to read it. Sutherland obviously knows how important it is to know the rules he is playing under and that reading the rules sheet could potentially help him save a penalty stroke or a disqualification penalty.

Question: what is the dotted line on Oakmont's ninth green?

Q: I've noticed that at that the back of Oakmont's gigantic ninth green there's a white dotted line? Why?
A: USGA Vice-President Jim Vernon responds: The stakes and the dotted line on the green were to delineate that portion of the green (part of the competition course) on which practice was permitted. The back portion was still considered part of the ninth green, so that a competitor could mark, lift and clean his ball, could remove sand and dirt from the green, and could take relief from interference by one of the practice holes on the player’s line of putt (or, as I saw, relief under 25-1b(iii) from his ball coming to rest in one of the practice holes).