Attending the Flagstick

Question 1: A players' ball lies off the putting green. a) Is he permitted to have the flagstick attended? b) What is the penalty in stroke play for a ball striking an attended flagstick? c) If a ball hits the flagstick, while the person attending it is looking in another direction, who is penalised? Answer 1: a) Yes (see below). b) Two strokes. c) The person who played the ball is penalised. Part of Rule 17-1 states; Before making a stroke from anywhere on the course, the player may have the flagstick attended, removed or held up to indicate the position of the hole. Note: With regard to c) above, if the person attending the flagstick failed to remove it for the purpose of causing the player to incur a penalty, they are disqualified in both match play and stroke play for a serious breach of Rule 1-2. In stroke play, in equity (Rule 1-4), the player must replay the stroke without penalty. Question 2: A person is standing close to the flagstick but not touching it. Is there a penalty if the ball is played from off the putting green and it hits the flagstick? Answer 2: Yes. Note 1 to Rule 17-1 states; If the flagstick is in the hole and anyone stands near it while a stroke is being made, he is deemed to be attending the flagstick. Note: This is a Rule many golfers would not be aware of. Before playing to the hole the player should ensure that, if they want the flagstick attended, the person attending it is paying attention, and if not, that there is no-one standing close to it.

Improving the Line of Play

Question 1: In front of a player's ball and on their line of play there is a divot, which is folded over but not completely detached. May the player replace or remove the divot before playing? Answer 1: Yes. Note: Whilst a divot that is not completely detached is not a loose impediment it may be removed or replaced, unless it improves the player's line of play to the extent that they will gain a potential advantage in doing so. Decision 13-2/0.5 (Rule amended 1st January, 2012). Question 2: In front of a player's ball and on their line of play there is a detached divot. a) May the player remove the loose divot before pitching to the putting green? b) May the player replace the loose divot before pitching to the putting green? c) May the player repair the divot hole or other similar surface damage before pitching to the putting green? Answer 2: a) Yes, a detached divot is a loose impediment and may be removed without penalty anywhere on the course, except when both it and the player's ball lie in or touch the same hazard*. b) and c) Yes, providing the replacement of the divot does not improve the player's line of play to the extent that they will gain a potential advantage in doing so. Note: Answers b) and c) would probably be different if the player was going to run their ball up to the putting green. * A detached divot that has been replaced (roots down) may not be moved if it interferes with the player's lie, area of intended stance or swing, or line of play (Rule 13-2). Part of the answer to Decision 13-2/0.5 states; In the context of Rule 13-2, "improve" means to change for the better so that the player gains a potential advantage with respect to the position or lie of his ball, the area of his intended stance or swing, his line of play or a reasonable extension of that line beyond the hole, or the area in which he is to drop or place a ball. Therefore, merely changing an area protected by Rule 13-2 will not be a breach of Rule 13-2 unless it creates such a potential advantage for the player in his play.

How Many Strokes?

Question 13: Before walking onto the Par-3 4th tee Marion asks Norah, her fellow competitor, what club she is going to use. Norah replies that she is going to use a 6-iron. Thinking that Norah can hit the ball further than she can Marion decides to use her 5-iron. She overshoots the green and her ball settles under a bush. There is no way she can get a club to her ball right-handed, so she stabs at it with a left-handed stance, using the back of the club-head to move her ball forward. Having cleared the bush she then pitches onto the putting green and takes two putts to finish the hole. What is Marion's score for the hole? (The answer is below) __________ 19th Hole Titbit - Do You Know? That you may ground your club on a bridge situated inside a water hazard. Decision 13-4/30. __________ Answer 13: Marion scores 7 for the hole. 1 & 2 - Two penalty strokes for asking her fellow competitor for advice on what club she was going to use on the hole (Rule 8-1b). 3 - Tee shot. 4 - Left-handed stroke from under bush. Note: A ball may be struck with any part of the club-head (Rule 14-1). 5 - Pitch onto green. 6 & 7 - Putts to hole out. Note: Norah is also penalised two strokes for giving advice on the club that she used. She should have refused to answer the question (Rule 8-1a).

How Many Strokes?

Chas hits his Par-3 tee shot into thick rough and then decelerates on the tricky chip shot, hitting his ball twice and leaving it in the rough. This time he practices his intended chip shot at the side of the ball hitting the top of a hidden ball lying in the rough. When he does strike his own ball it is a good one, coming to rest on the putting green twenty feet from the hole. He flattens a heel mark on his line of putt and holes out the long putt. What is Chas's score for the hole?
(The answer is below)
__________
19th Hole Titbit - Do You Know?
A player may ask anyone the distance from any point A to any point B. Definition of Advice.

Information on distance is not advice.
__________


Answer:
Chas scores 7 for the hole.
1 - Tee shot.
2 & 3 - First chip and one penalty stroke for the double hit (Rule 14-4).
4 - Second chip onto the putting green. Note: There is no penalty for accidentally hitting a concealed ball (Decision 7-2/7).
5 & 6 -Two penalty strokes for repairing damage to the putting green that was not an old hole plug or caused by the impact of a ball (Rule 16-1c).
7 - Long putt into the hole.

Question:

After two strokes on a Par-5 Gary's ball lies two inches outside of a yellow line defining a water hazard. In making his stroke, with part of his stance inside the hazard, he grounds his club inside the hazard. He also moves a loose palm frond in the hazard as he starts his backswing. The stroke is sliced and his ball comes to rest underneath branches of a bush. Because the ground is wet he takes his wet suit trousers from his bag folds them and kneels on them to make his stroke. He advances his ball down the fairway and takes another three strokes to hole out. What is Gary's score for the hole?
(The answer is below)
__________


__________

Answer:
Gary scores 9 for the hole.
1 & 2 - Two strokes to just outside the margin of the water hazard.
Note: There is no penalty for grounding his club or touching the loose impediment on his backswing as his ball did not lie within the margin of the water hazard.
3 - Sliced stroke to the bush.
4 & 5 - Two penalty strokes for building a stance (Decision 13-3/2).
6 - Ball advanced down the fairway.
7 to 9 - Two strokes to hole out.

STLGA Local Rules

Local Rules


1. The player may take relief from all ropes, posts and railroad ties. The player must lift the ball and drop it, without penalty, within one club length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief.
2. The player may take relief from fire ants, poison ivy, and poison oak. The player must lift the ball and drop it, without penalty, within one club length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief.
3. Winter rules are in place year round. The player is permitted to lift, clean, and place the ball in her own fairway, six (6) inches of the original position and not nearer the hole.
4. Waste areas are designated by the absence of rakes. The player may take relief if the ball lies in a footprint, rut, or tire track or if the ball is embedded in its own pitch mark. The player may place the ball, without penalty, within one club length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief. There is no penalty for grounding your club in a waste area.
5. The player may take relief if the ball lies in a crevice or gulley within a bunker. The player may place the ball, without penalty, within the bunker, within one club length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief.
6. Any drainage ditch (wet or dry) on the course will be played as a lateral hazard. Follow the appropriate procedure as it outlined in Rule 26. Water Hazards (Including Lateral Water Hazards)
7. Water Hazards: (Yellow Stakes) Where there is a designated drop area, try to get over the water once. If unsuccessful, carry to the drop area, add two (2) strokes to your score (one for the shot, one for the penalty). Drop the ball in the drop area. Where there is no designated drop area (Byrd #13 and Jones #8), try to get over the water once. If unsuccessful, carry to the drop area (right side of cart path on Byrd #13 and left side of cart path on Jones #8). Add two (2) strokes to your score (one for the shot, one for the penalty.) Remember, this rule applies to water hazards (yellow stakes) only and not lateral hazards (red stakes).
8. Hole #7 on the Maples course has both red and yellow stakes. The red stakes identify the lateral hazard and the yellow stakes identify the water hazard. The designated ball drop is used only when the player’s ball enters the yellow staked water hazard, including the tee shot for the long ball hitters. If the player’s ball enters this water hazard, she can proceed to the ball drop, adding two (2) strokes to her score (one for the shot and one for the penalty). Due to the condition of this drop area, a player is entitled to place her ball. A player who hits her tee shot into the red staked lateral hazard is not entitled to proceed to the ball drop area.
9. Hole #5 on the Jones course has a designated drop area that can be used only if the player’s tee shot enters the water hazard. Should the player’s tee shot clear the water but the next shot enters the water hazard, the player must follow the appropriate procedure as it outlined in Rule 26. Water Hazards (Including Lateral Water Hazards)
10. When the game of the week is "Least Putts," the procedure is as follows: A putt is counted only when the ball rests on the green before the stroke is taken.
11. If the player’s ball lies in a landscaped area or pine straw anywhere on the course, she must play the ball as it lies. She does not get any relief from a ditch that encircles the pine straw unless the Tournament Co Chairs deem it necessary to invoke the “seasonal rule” regarding deep ditches around the pine straw resulting from the seasonal edging.

Note: - On Byrd #13 if ball goes into water anywhere in front of green or to the right of the green it is played as a water hazard and player must proceed to drop area. (This area is all yellow staked.)

Cleaning the Ball

Question 1:
In which of these six situations may a player clean their ball when they have lifted it under the Rules?
a) When taking relief under penalty from a water hazard.
b) When taking relief from ground under repair.
c) When requested to lift their ball because it interferes with another player's stance.
d) When dropping a ball in a bunker after taking relief from a hole made by a burrowing animal.
e) When determining if it is unfit for play.
f) When taking relief for a ball embedded in a closely mown area.

Answer 1:
a), b), d) and f).

Part of Rule 21:

A ball on the putting green may be cleaned when lifted under Rule 16-1b. Elsewhere, a ball may be cleaned when lifted, except when it has been lifted:
a. To determine if it is unfit for play (Rule 5-3);
b. For identification (Rule 12-2), in which case it may be cleaned only to the extent necessary for identification; or
c. Because it is assisting or interfering with play (Rule 22).

Question 2:
May a player clean their ball by rubbing it on the putting green?

Question 3:
What is the penalty for cleaning a ball during play of a hole when the Rules do not permit?

Answer 2:
Yes. Decision 16-1d/5. However, this is a bad practice and should be avoided by all golfers.

Note: A player may not rub their ball on the putting green for the purpose of testing the surface of the putting green.

Answer 3:
One penalty stroke. Rule 21.

New Rules for 2012

Main Amendments to the Rules of Golf 2012-2015

R&A Rules and USGA have announced their four-yearly revisions to the Rules of Golf, which became effective worldwide from 1st January 2012. The good news is that there are very few changes that will cause us any difficulty in understanding or remembering. The majority of the changes are amendments aimed at improving the clarity of the Rules.

• Definition of Addressing the Ball:
At present, a player has addressed their ball when they have taken their stance and have also grounded their club. Under the revised Definition a player will have addressed their ball as soon as they ground their club, whether in front of the ball, or behind it. There is no requirement to take a stance. Consequently, a player will no longer address their ball in a bunker or a water hazard, as the Rules do not permit the grounding of a club in a hazard.

• Rule 6-3a. Time of Starting:
Previously, a player arriving on the 1st teeing ground even 15 seconds later than their official starting time incurred the penalty of disqualification from the competition, unless the Committee had introduced a condition of competition reducing the penalty. Now, the penalty for players arriving within five minutes of their official starting time is two strokes in stroke play, or loss of the first hole in match play. Anyone who arrives more than five minutes late still incurs the penalty of disqualification.

Rule 12-1 (Seeing Ball; Searching for Ball)
Until 1st January 2012, there was no penalty for moving a ball while searching for it in loose impediments (e.g. leaves) in a hazard, whilst there was a penalty for the same act through the green (e.g. in the rough). Many golfers considered this differentiation curious as the player whose ball was in a hazard was treated more favourably than the player whose ball was not in a hazard. With the change, a ball covered by loose impediments moved during search will be treated the same both in hazards and through the green - with a penalty stroke under Rule 18-2a and the ball must be replaced. Changes such as this one are steps towards the goal of simplifying the Rules.

• Rule 13-4. Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions:
This will be a welcome change for golfers and course maintenance staff alike. Players will be permitted to smooth sand or soil in a hazard at any time, including before playing from that hazard, providing it is done for the sole purpose of caring for the course and nothing is done to improve the position or lie of their ball, the area of their intended stance or swing, or their line of play. How often have we wanted to smooth irregularities made by previous groups at the back of a bunker when our ball lies waiting to be played at the front? Well, now we can.

• Rule 18-2b. Ball Moving After Address:
Most of us will have been sympathetic when Padraig Harrington penalised himself one stroke during The Masters in Augusta, in 2008, because his ball had moved after he had addressed it, even though the movement was obviously caused by the gusty wind blowing around the course. There have been several other similar, high-profile incidents since then. An Exception to Rule 18-2b now exonerates the player from any penalty if their ball moves after it has been addressed (remember the new definition of address) when it is known or virtually certain that they did not cause the ball to move.