Rule of the Month

December 2022

List of Rules of the Month from January 2020 – December 2022

January 2020   ​​Introduction to new Rules Effective from 1st January 2019 and Areas of Course
February 2020   ​Bunkers full of Temporary Water
March 2020​   Unplayable Ball Options in General Area
April 2020​   Unplayable Ball Options in Bunkers
May 2020​   Dropping Procedure from knee height
June 2020​   Relief Options from Yellow and Red Penalty Areas
July 2020​​   Identifying the Ball
August 2020​   Ball at Rest Lifted or Moved
September 2020​   Loose Impediments and Movable Obstructions
October 2020​   Relief from Abnormal Course Conditions including Immovable Obstructions
November 2020   ​Putting Green
December 2020​   Prohibited and Allowed Actions in Bunkers
January 2021​   Prohibited and Allowed Actions in Penalty Areas
February 2021   ​Embedded Ball
March 2021​   Wrong Putting Green
April 2021​   Provisional Ball
May 2021   ​Flagstick
June 2021   ​Ball in Motion Accidentally Hits Person or Outside Influence and is Deflected or Stopped
July 2021   ​Relief from Fixed Sprinkler Heads near Putting Green
August 2021​   Foursomes
September 2021​   Teeing Area
October 2021​   Wrong Ball
November 2021​   Differences between Match Play and Stroke Play
December 2021   Stroke & Distance
January 2022   Some Equipment Rules
February 2022   ​Ball overhanging hole
March 2022​   Relief from Dangerous Animal Conditions for Player Protection
April 2022​   Unreasonable Delay; Prompt Pace of play
May 2022​   Advice
June 2022​   Measuring Club Lengths and Club to be used in Measuring
July 2022​   Four Ball Stroke Play – Wrong Score for Hole
August 2022   ​You Cannot Declare Your Ball Lost
September 2022   ​Asking for a Ruling from a Referee or Committee if in dispute on the Course
October 2022    Greensome Foursomes
November 2022​   Starting Play and Time of Starting
December 2022   List of Rules of Month January 2020 – December 2022

November 2022

STARTING PLAY AND TIME OF STARTING

RULE 5.3a When to Start Round

A player’s round starts when the player makes a stroke to start his or her first hole.

THIS RULE APPLIES IN BOTH MATCH PLAY AND STROKE PLAY

The Player must start at (and not before) his or her starting time.

This means that the player must be ready to play at the starting time and starting point set by the Committee.
A starting time set by the Committee is treated as an exact time (for example, 9 a.m. means 9:00:00 a.m. not any time until 9.01 a.m.)

Penalty for Breach of Rule 5.3a: Disqualification, except in the 3 Exceptions below.

1. Player arrives at starting point, ready to play, no more than 5 minutes late – the player gets the General Penalty applied to his or her first hole (Loss of Hole in Match Play and 2 strokes penalty in Stroke Play)
2. Player starts no more than five minutes early – the player gets the General Penalty applied to his or her first hole
3. Committee Decides that Exceptional Circumstances prevented the player from starting on time – there is no breach of the rule and no penalty. Circumstances that would not generally be accepted as exceptional are: - getting lost, breaking down, heavy traffic or held up by an accident. Players are expected to make allowances for possible delays.

October 2022

GREENSOME FOURSOMES

Question: My partner and I had a problem in the Autumn Mixed Greensome Competition, please can you help? He hit his tee shot into the woods and so did I. After searching for the permitted time {3 minutes} for each ball because they were not in the same area, no ball was found. We both went back to the tee hit our tee shots again and were disqualified. What should we have done next? Everyone had different suggestions, please help? We then wondered what should be done if both balls were out of bounds or unplayable.

Mixed Greensome Foursomes is when both the man and lady play from their own tees and then one ball is chosen to play alternately for the rest of the hole until it is holed out.

As both balls were lost you have to choose 1 ball and take 3 off the tee i.e., stroke and distance for a penalty of one. It would be sensible for the man to play off the ladies’ tee rather than the lady go back to the men’s tee thereby losing more distance.

This would also be the case if both balls were out of bounds.

However, if both balls were unplayable, you chose one person’s ball and the other player takes an appropriate drop for a penalty of one and plays the next shot.
You have 3 options:
Option 1. Drop within two club lengths no nearer the hole,
Option 2. Go back as far as you like on a line with the ball and the pin, or
Option 3. Go back to where you played the previous shot.

September 2022

Ruling from a Referee OR Committee

Players must not unreasonably delay play when seeking help with the Rules during a round. If a referee or the Committee is not available in a reasonable time to help, the players must decide what to do and play on. The player may protect his or her rights by asking for a ruling in match play or by playing two balls in stroke play.

MATCH PLAY – The opponents may agree how to decide a rules issue so long as they do not deliberately agree or ignore any Rule or Penalty. In the absence of a Referee, if players cannot agree, either player may request a Ruling. If a player makes a request for a ruling before the result of the match is final, a Ruling will only be given if:-

• The player becomes aware of the facts before either player makes a stroke to begin another hole, or,
• If the player becomes aware of the facts during or after completion of the final hole of the match before the result of the match is final.

If a player does not make a request in this time, a ruling will not be given, and if the player requests a ruling about an earlier hole a ruling will only be given if:-

• The Opponent gave wrong number of strokes taken, or failed to tell the player about a penalty
• The request is based on facts the player was not aware of before either player made a stroke to begin the hole being played, or, if between holes, the hole just completed
• After becoming aware of these facts the player makes a request for a ruling in time.

Players cannot play 2 balls in Match Play.

STROKE PLAY - Players have no right to decide Rules by Agreement, they should help each other with the rules and should raise any Rules queries with the Committee before returning the score card.

Players should protect other players in the Competition and tell other players if they consider they have breached a rule.

When uncertain what to do in Stroke Play a player may play two balls before another stroke is made. The player should choose which ball they wish to count if the rules permit. The player must report the facts to the Committee when they get in and the Committee will decide which ball counts. A second ball played under the rules is not the same as a Provisional Ball.

A player has no right to appeal a referee’s ruling but the referee may seek the Committee’s help before making the ruling.

August 2022

LOST BALL

Question: I wanted to declare my ball lost but my fellow-competitor said you cannot do that. Is that a fact?

Contrary to what some golfers believe, the Rules of Golf never allow you to simply declare your ball to be lost if you hit your ball into a bad spot, even if you decide you don’t want to look for it, your opponent or playing companions may still do so, and if they find it, or think they have found it, you can’t just ignore it and must take steps to identify it.

In most cases, certainly in stroke play, most golfers wouldn’t look for a ball against your wishes. However, there may be some tactical reason for an opponent to search for it in match play. If your ball is found within the permitted three minutes, you will have to deal with it from where it is found, however bad that might be, either by playing it as it lies, or proceeding under a Rule, typically by taking an unplayable option.

The three-minute search starts when you and your caddie, or your partner or their caddies in foursomes or fourball, reach the area where you believe the ball is likely to be. If anyone else gets there first and starts searching that doesn’t count towards the time allowed, although you can’t intentionally delay getting to the area to delay your permitted time.

As soon as the three minutes is up, if the ball still hasn’t been found then the ball is lost under the Rules. The ball is also considered lost if it is found beyond the boundaries of the course.

If the ball is lost, your only option is to play another ball from where the original stroke was made under a penalty of stroke and distance. This is why the provisional ball Rule exists, so that if your original ball is lost, you may continue with the provisional ball rather than having to walk back to the tee or wherever you last played from, thus saving valuable time.

For similar reasons, if you don’t hit your provisional ball very well, you may continue to play it until you reach the area where you believe your original ball to be. If the original ball is found within the 3 minutes and you have played a provisional ball the provisional ball must be abandoned.

If you really don’t want to risk finding your original ball you do have the option to simply play another ball under stroke and distance without declaring it a provisional ball. It will then automatically become the ball in play, although it is worth remembering you wouldn’t then be allowed to play the original ball even if it was sitting in the fairway after an unseen ricochet.

July 2022

FOUR BALL STROKE PLAY

Question: I have been administering a Four Ball Stroke Play Competition – Medal – and have a problem because on one hole the lower score was attributed to the wrong player. It was on a short hole. The higher handicapped player had a 2 and the player with the lower handicap had a 4, but they were wrongly attributed. What is the Ruling?

Answer: If they are transposed Rule 23.2b applies.

(1) Side's Scorecard in Stroke Play

• Each score on the scorecard must be clearly identified as the score of that individual partner who made it; if this is not done the side is disqualified.

(2) Committee's Responsibility

>> If those scores are different the lowest (gross or net) score for that hole counts for the side

>> If both scores are the same, the Committee may count either score. If the score used is found to be wrong for any reason, the Committee will count the other score. (Only when both have the same score 2 2s or 2 4s in this case)

If the score that counts for the side is not clearly identified as the score of the individual partner who made it, or, if the partner is disqualified relating to the play of the hole, the side is disqualified.

It is disqualification as you cannot take the other score as it was not the same score.

This Ruling would be the same in Stableford or Par/Bogey.

See also for confirmation Rule 23.8b Disqualification Penalties

(1) When Breach by One Partner Means Side Is Disqualified?

Rule 3.3b(3) Wrong Score for Hole

June 2022

TAKING RELIEF

DEFINITION OF CLUB LENGTH

Club Length is defined as: - “The length of the longest club of the 14 (or fewer) clubs the player has during the round other than a putter.” It will probably be a driver length but it depends on what each player has in their golf bag, so will vary from player to player.
Club-lengths are used in defining the player’s teeing area on each hole and determining the size of the player’s relief area when taking relief under a rule.

FREE RELIEF

With a free drop it is recommended that you use the club with which you would have expected to play the next shot, to find the Nearest Point of Complete Relief, if the Abnormal Course Condition / Immovable Obstruction had not been there, and then use your longest club, excluding your putter, to measure the club length.
Here a free drop is being taken from an Abnormal Course Condition. The reference point is the Nearest Point of Complete Relief not nearer the hole and then you can measure your club length either way and behind, not nearer the hole, resulting in a semi-circle in which you can drop the ball.

PENALTY RELIEF – UNPLAYABLE BALL

When taking lateral penalty relief for an unplayable ball measure your 2 club lengths from the position of the ball not nearer the hole (if the ball is off the ground mark a point vertically below the ball on the ground not nearer the hole for the reference point). Drop under penalty of one in the relief area. The relief area will be a semi-circle two-club lengths in radius.
When taking penalty relief for an unplayable ball, back on a line with the ball and the pin, mark your reference point and measure out one club length in any direction not nearer the hole. Drop under penalty of one In the relief area.

PENALTY RELIEF – PENALTY AREA

When taking penalty relief back on line from a penalty area mark your reference point on a line with the point where the ball crossed the edge of the penalty area and the pin and measure your club lengths from there not nearer the hole. Drop under penalty of one.
If the penalty area has yellow lines or posts there is no lateral relief, but if it has red lines or posts you do get lateral relief 2 club lengths from where the ball crossed the edge of the penalty area no nearer the hole. Drop the ball in the relief area under penalty of one.

IF YOU ARE TAKING RELIEF IN A BUNKER YOUR DROPPING AREA WILL BE CONSTRAINED/RESTRICTED BY THE BUNKER BANKS.

May 2022

Rule 10.2a Advice

During the Round you must not:
• Give advice to anyone in the Competition who is playing on the course, or
• Ask anyone for advice other than your Caddie or partner in foursomes or fourball.
• Touch another player’s equipment to learn information that would be advice if given by or asked of the other player.

Advice is: Any verbal comment or action (such as showing what club was just used to make a stroke) that is intended to influence you or another player in choosing a club, making a stroke, or deciding how to play during a hole or round. BUT Advice does NOT include public information, such as the location of things on the course, the distance from one point to another, or the Rules.