Golf Rules Q & A - 101 to 110

GOLF RULE QUESTION 101:

I played today in a foursome.
On the second green player 1 was just off the green.
She was addressing her ball and about to putt onto the green when player 2 yelled out "wait on a minute" and went over to player 1 and cleared away grass cuttings which were in front of player 1's ball.

Is this admissible?

GOLF RULE ANSWER 101:

Assuming that player 1 and player 2 were on the same side I can see nothing wrong with the situation that you describe.

Grass (unless adhering to the ball) is a loose impediment and can therefore be removed anywhere, except when both the ball and the loose impediment lie in a bunker (Rule 23).

The grass cuttings were obviously not growing, so the player has done nothing against the Rules in improving the line of play (putt) for her partner.

Either person on the side, or their caddies, are permitted to remove the loose impediment.

GOLF RULE QUESTION 102:

This happened to me and I was surprised by what I read in the rule book.

In stroke play, I chipped on to the green and while I was approaching, walking up to the green with my putter, the player furthest from the hole, Tom, had already addressed his ball to chip on to the green.

I stopped walking so as not to disturb him, my ball happened to be between Tom's and the hole. I wasn't sure if my ball was in the line of Tom's shot, but, without a word, he quickly dropped his address, walked to my ball, marked it, picked it up and tossed it to the side.

He then proceeded to make his shot.

Was there a penalty incurred by Tom?


GOLF RULE ANSWER 102:

No penalty was incurred.

Rule 18-4, Ball at Rest Moved by Fellow-Competitor, Caddie or Equipment in Stroke Play, states; "If a fellow-competitor, his caddie or his equipment moves the player's ball, touches it or causes it to move, there is no penalty."

This is a common occurrence in stroke play where a fellow competitor marks someone else's ball in order to speed up play. Either the player whose ball it is, his partner, or the person who lifted the ball may replace it.

GOLF RULE QUESTION 103:

When on the putting green, and having replaced your ball after marking, are you obliged to remove your marker when you putt?

I can see nothing in the Rules preventing this.

If the marker remains behind the ball, when is the ball then in play?

If you are permitted to putt with your marker still behind the ball and the ball moves after addressing it, is the ball yet in play?
And thus no penalty.

Have I found a loophole in the Rules? I don't suppose so, but it would be interesting to see what you say.

GOLF RULE ANSWER 103:

This is a question that has exercised the minds of many Rules aficionados. There is nothing in the Rules that requires the player to remove his marker before playing his shot.

However, a Rules Official would be entitled to ask the player why he had left it there. If he had forgotten to remove it, no problem. However, if he left it there to assist him in making his putt then he would be penalised under Rule 8-2b.

If I saw a player doing this once I would not say anything, but I would certainly advise him of the possible breach if he did it more than once.
You certainly cannot avoid the penalty under Rule 18-2b by leaving your marker in place on a windy day in case the ball moves after you have addressed it. Decision 20-4/1 is relevant;
"Q. A player replaces his ball on the putting green but does not remove his ball-marker. Subsequently the wind moves his ball to a new position. What is the ruling?

A. Under Rule 20-4, a ball is in play when it is replaced, whether or not the object used to mark its position has been removed.
Consequently the ball must be played from the new position
-- see Decision 18-1/12."

GOLF RULE QUESTION 104:

Q.104. Marty's ball lies in a large bunker. He picks up a rake lying outside the bunker, walks up to his ball and drops the rake down in the bunker beside where he will be making his next stroke from.

Ted, a fellow competitor, said that he thought that this action incurred a penalty. Marty replied that he had only done it to save time. What is the ruling?

GOLF RULE ANSWER 104:

There is nothing in the Rules of Golf to stop you taking a rake into a bunker, providing you are not doing so to test the condition of the hazard.

In fact, Decision 13-4/0.5 contains the following words;

"Examples of actions that would not constitute testing the condition of the hazard include the following:

- digging in with the feet for a stance, including for a practice swing, anywhere in the hazard or in a similar hazard;

- PLACING AN OBJECT, SUCH AS CLUBS OR A RAKE, IN THE HAZARD;

- leaning on an object (other than a club) such as a rake while it is touching the ground in the hazard or water in a water hazard;

- touching the hazard with an object (other than a club) such as a towel (touching with a club would be a breach of Rule 13-4b); or

- marking the position of the ball with a tee or otherwise when proceeding under a Rule."

GOLF RULE QUESTION 105:

Joan misses her putt on the 8th hole of Primrose Heath, a 9-hole course. After she holes out she places her ball back on the putting green at the place where she had previously missed the putt and took a practice putt to the hole.

Her fellow competitor, Maria, says that she thinks that Joan has incurred a penalty of two strokes, as they will be playing the same putting green again on their 17th hole.

What is the ruling?


GOLF RULE ANSWER 105:

Joan has not incurred any penalty. This situation is specifically dealt with in Decision 7-2/9;

"Q. An 18-hole stroke-play competition is played on a 9-hole course.

A competitor, having holed out at the 3rd hole, plays a practice putt on the 3rd green. Since the stipulated round requires that the competitor play the 3rd hole as the 12th hole later in the round, is the competitor penalized for practicing?

A. No. Rule 7-2 permits a player between the play of two holes to practice putting or chipping on or near the putting green of the hole last played."

GOLF RULE QUESTION 106:

Karen has taken relief, without penalty, from an area marked as GUR (ground under repair). Her next stroke towards the putting green is back over the same area of GUR and she tops her ball so that it bounces across the ground within the GUR area and out onto the fairway.

Her fellow competitors say that she has incurred a penalty of two strokes because her ball touched the same GUR area that she had taken relief from. Are they right?

GOLF RULE ANSWER 106:

Providing Karen took proper relief from GUR, so that neither her ball nor her stance or area of intended swing were interfered with by the GUR condition, then it does not matter that she subsequently hit the ball so that it touched the ground in the GUR area, or indeed anything growing in that area.

Karen must play her next stroke from where the ball comes to rest and there is no penalty for it touching the GUR.

However, if she took relief from the GUR but played her next stroke with one foot inside the condition, or if she hit a tree growing in GUR with her club during her stroke, then she would incur a penalty of two strokes for not taking full relief under the Rules.

GOLF RULE QUESTION 107:

Bob was teeing off on the 7th hole. While his ball was in flight it struck a bird and fell straight down. What are Bob's options?

GOLF RULE ANSWER 107:

Bob only has one option; the ball has to be played as it lies in either match play or stroke play.
Part of Rule 19-1 says, "If a player's ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency, it is a rub of the green, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies." A bird is an outside agency.

GOLF RULE QUESTION 108:

There are several blades of grass growing inside a badly maintained bunker and Jemma's club touches one of them during her stroke. Has she incurred a penalty?

GOLF RULE ANSWER 108:

There is no penalty for touching grass that is growing inside a bunker or water hazard.

A note to Rule 13-4 says, "At any time, including at address or in the backward movement for the stroke, the player may touch, with a club or otherwise, any obstruction, any construction declared by the Committee to be an integral part of the course or any grass, bush, tree or other growing thing."

However, if the player touches any natural thing that is NOT growing it is a loose impediment and a two stroke penalty is incurred in stroke play.

GOLF RULE QUESTION 109:

In a stroke play competition Jim's caddie absent-mindedly marks and picks up his player's ball from the apron of the green, and proceeds to clean it.

Does Jim incur a penalty, and if so, is it 1 or 2 strokes?

GOLF RULE ANSWER 109:

If a player, or his caddie, purposely touches a ball that is in play (except with a club in the act of addressing it) the player incurs a one stroke penalty.

There is no additional penalty for cleaning it, Decision 18-2a/13.

GOLF RULE QUESTION 110:

A player's ball putted from the putting green strikes a flagstick that is being attended by her opponent.

Who incurs the penalty, the player making the stroke or the player attending the flagstick?

Also, what is the situation if the flagstick has been removed and is lying on the ground when the ball strikes it?


GOLF RULE ANSWER 110:

In match play the player who makes the stroke loses the hole if her ball hits the attended flagstick, Rule 17-3a.

Of course, if the person attending the flag purposely allows the ball to hit the flagstick for the purpose of causing the player to incur a penalty, she is disqualified for a serious breach of Rule 1-2 in both match play and stroke play.

If the ball hits the removed flagstick lying on the ground the player making the stroke still incurs a penalty of loss of hole in match play and two strokes in stroke play under Rule 17-3a.

Bro NG, from Question 103, it there a rule that states you must mark your ball when the ball in on the putting green?

Bro S2s, there is no rule that say you must mark your ball on the green, but there is a rule saying that you can mark and lift your ball for cleaning while on the green(rule 16-1b). You will have an advantage if your ball is clean and have better chance of putting in.

On the other hand, other players may request you to mark your ball if it is blocking their line of putt.

Neutralgolfer wrote:

Bro S2s, there is no rule that say you must mark your ball on the green, but there is a rule saying that you can mark and lift your ball for cleaning while on the green(rule 16-1b). You will have an advantage if your ball is clean and have better chance of putting in.

On the other hand, other players may request you to mark your ball if it is blocking their line of putt.

Swee...the cleaner the ball, the highest chance for the ball to roll into the hole....I like I like...