Forum: Rules Of Golf

For those interested in the Rules of Golf certification programme, you can purchase the CD-ROM for Level 1 here - http://www.golfquebec.org/pdf/boutiqueanrevise.pdf The kit includes a test which you submit to the RCGA for evaluation. I recently contacted the RCGA for the Level 2 package and was...

This past season I had two “heated” discussions with two different members of two different golf clubs, about their local committee’s right to make local rules. They were under the impression that their local committee could change any rule of golf, to suit a condition they felt needed alteration....

Just received the following email from the GAO. I wouldn't be surprised to see other regional associations do the same.

I'm trying to organize an event between our forum and two other Ontrio based forums. I am looking to play the event straight up with caps ranging from 0-10. The preference of another team captain is to have varied caps (higher than ten) compete. My concern here is sandbagging. He is proposing using...

Is it permitted to have a Condition of Competition requiring players to mark their balls and show the mark(s) to the starter before teeing off?

Hi all I was just wondering how does a person go ahead a get involved in getting amature status and getting involved in tournaments. Is there qualifications to be met and stuff like that. I am from Canada and from where I am from we semm to have no involments around here to do with that kinda...

In match play my opponent hits a shot that lands and makes a ball mark 1" from the hole. Since my ball is farther from the hole than his, I am away. As he goes to repair his ball mark, I ask him not to, as I want to use the ball mark to deflect the ball into the hole, if I am off line. This is...

My opponent's OR fellow competitor's ball is on the putting green. I mark and lift my ball and in so doing I ACCIDENTLY drop it and it hits my O's or FC's ball. In match play, I am penalized 1 stroke and his ball is replaced, but in stroke play, there is no penalty and his ball is again...

(1) Made one mistake in passing my Level 2, RCGA Rules of Golf Certification exam. As I cannot find out which one it is, I am wondering if this is it. True or False: "If a player begins play with more than 14 clubs, he is not penalized provided he declares one to be out of play before teeing...

I tee off and hit a horrendous slice, it disappears into the rough on the right side of the fairway. I go an expedition looking for my ball, I find a ball half burried in mud in the area where I seen my ball travel. I can see the brand name is the same as the one I hit. I continue play and hole...

As some may know, the R&A and the USGA meet every four years to discuss and to make rule changes. The next updated version of the rules will be out next year and I gather something like 100 items are up for discussion. Of particular interest are these two possible rules changes. Currently,...

so i am just watching Tin Cup the movie with Kevin Costner, and you know that shot he hit off the pora-potty in the final round of the open... is that legal to use man made obstacles to your advantage? yes i know its a somewhat stupid question, but it got me thinking...

In stroke play if I am in doubt as to how to proceed, I may play a second ball, announcing my intent to do so to my FC’s, and with what ball I would like to score, if the rules permit. However, in match play, if I am in doubt, I may discuss options with my opponent(s) but I may NOT play a second...

Well, the USGA has formally announced it's intent to change the rules for groove. I'm sure the lawyers have started their engines already. http://www.usga.org/news/2007/february/2007_11.html

Posted this on Toronto, but seeings how their up to their tutu's in power failures and snow, decided I might get a quick answer here...... Was doing some research for a golf article and ran across some ambiguity regarding USGA & CGA as to the official height for a flag stick. I got this reply...

we all know that someone with a handicap under 18 has a double bogey max right? but is there a certain number of times per round that you can take that max. someone that i was playing with today told me that you can only take your max twice per round, and the rest you need to score your actual...

I was at the PODS tournament in Tampa today and saw a player tee off on #1 and pull it way left into the trees. This was about 5 yards from where I was standing and myself and the spotter there saw where it came down. The player ended up hitting two more balls off the tee as I assume he didn't...

The following takes place between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm. The story is true; only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. A, B, C & D are playing in the OVGA Intersectional matches. On a long par 5, with a water hazard crossing in front of the green, A and B hit good drives side by...

Not sure last weeks Rules Contest was right. It was: Norm breaks a club during a round while using it as a cane to climb a hill. Is he allowed to replace the club? No. A club broken in such circumstances is not considered to have become “damaged in the normal course of play” as its use as a...

I declare my ball unplayable on a finger of rough adjacent to a bunker. In dropping my ball it barely rolls into the bunker, just under two driver length from where it hit the ground. If I was to use my sand wedge to measure two club lengths the ball would have rolled more than the two wedge...

If taking relief from, say, an immovable obstruction, the rule says that I should use the club with which I would have played the shot had the condition from which I want relief, was not there. If I am 50 yards from the green the club I would normally use would be a 35" lob wedge. But, I decide...

Curious on your opinions: I played a match several years ago in the club match play final. The guy I played was a higher handicap than I was and I was forced to give him 18 shots which was the difference between our caps. I played with him regularly at the Canadian and he hit his driver almost...

Is it legal to put your bag or your caddy in such a position that you are blocking the shade: STORY

You hit your drive, and because it is unknown as to whether it is OB, and/or lost, you hit a provisional ball. At what point does your provisional ball become the ball in play, i.e. can you hit the provisional ball several times, and then when you find your original ball go back to playing it?

If a player throws a club, is there a penalty? If yes, in match play what would the penalty be?

I was playing a match play competition with the Slammer Tour this weekend and noticed that one of my opponents had 15 clubs in the bag. This is a guy that is supposed to be a rules guru and he was breaching rules all day and had the nerve to call me on a rule. I did not call him on it...

Me again. As stated in previous thread, I was playing match play this weekend and got called on a breach of rule. I hit a four iron on hole #8 at Mountain Creek and the ball plugged in the middle of the fairway. One of my partners told me I was allowed to pull it out of there and drop it. ...

I can't find my rule book and don't feel like searching online. :-) I listen to an ipod when I'm playing solo rounds. The silence of a round by yourself can be flat out boring. So I know I'm not allowed to listen to instructional sound bytes, my question is this: I'm thinking of buying a...

OK guys here is the question. If there is no sand in the bunker; or if it is packed like cement---what do you do? a) play as it lies? b) lift it out and play from opposite side away from the green? The reason I am asking is because I have spent the...

ok, you know how people use the flagstick sitting on the green to practise their stroke a bit while waiting on the green? Assuming the pin is just sitting there, am i allowed to use it as a "putting aid", putting along it to keep my stroke straight? I know your not allowed using ACTUAL...

hi ok question here is this, sand bunlker is filled with water, you go in it, what are your options now? and what are the penalties if any? thanks

I am sorry to announce that Gary Hill will no longer be our official RCGA rules "go to" guy. Gary has been a great help over the last several years to all of us here, but infortunately he does not have the time to spend on the forum in an official capacity any more. I just want to express my...

A player signs his scorecard indicating that his hole by hole score is correct. His correct score is 76. The committee adds the hole by hole up incorrectly and his score is 73. The 73 is posted on large score sheets from which the prize list is determined. The prizes are presented, and he...

Did a quick search but couldn't find anything.... If a ball goes off the back of the green on this hole, can a player drop within 2 clublengths, not nearer to the hole? Can you drop on the green? Or does he have to re-hit form the tee box or go to the drop area? A player today hit one off...

Sergio wanted relief from a sprinkler head on 18 on Sunday, marked his nearest point of relief, the one club length and dropped the ball. It rolled forward of the line connecting the two tees so he redropped. The ball again rolled forward of the two tees, but this time he played the ball. A...

Player A hits 2nd shot and his ball bounces into a long patch of grass in the rough. He advances and cannot find his ball (playing partners helped out and could not find it) and he then elects to hit another ball from where he though his ball had disappeared into the rough. He proceeds further up...

Evening Gurus, I was wondering the other day during a round if you were to place a club parallel to your chest, waist and upper thighs when aligning before a drive, is that considered to be an artificial aid? Or would there be any difference between that and watching a target on the ground...

This weekend I was playing the 5th hole on the North course at Manderley, when the following rules question arose. A friend found his ball lying on the cart path that runs up the right side of the hole. Just to the right of the road is a line of trees and bushes that runs parallel to the road. ...

Rule 33-1 states that "The committee has no power to waive rule of golf." There are clubs around who have established local rules that seem to contravene the above. Outaouais has lateral water hazard stakes (red) lining some of the holes on their east nine, but there is NO hazard, by definition. ...

I checked the handicap manual and couldn't find a good answer. We're playing best-ball (or four-ball in Rules speak) and alternate shot (foursome in Rules speak) this weekend. The procedure for posting the best-ball scores is pretty easy since I'll have a nine hole score for my own ball. What...

Yesterday, Berhard Langer drives his ball right of the fairway and into mud caused by the gallery walking through. He is awarded a drop to the nearest point of relief of course using a club length. He pulls out his very long putter to do this an ddrops his ball. I was under the impression...

You're in a french drain. The depression is about 3 feet wide and runs along a 30 foot distance. The gravel in the drain is about 20" wide, centred along the bottom of the drain. When taking relief and establishing nearest point of relief, are you taking relief from the gravel in the drain or...

This situation occured yesterday morning and we weren't sure what to do. We were playing the 9 hole course at Metcalfe and my ball came to rest against the stone wall behind the 7th green. I thought this was an unplayable lie, my partner thought I should get free relief from the immovable...

On Sunday at Anderson links, on the 10th hole, I had a lenghty putt for birdie. My playing partner tended the flag at my request, and as the ball approached the hole he pulled the flag, but in the process the cup lifted from the hole, blocking the ball from falling in. As this was a casual round,...

I was in a match play event on the weekend, and on the 13th green, my competitor asked me if we agreed his ball was on the green or not. The ball was literally on the edge of the collar and putting surface. Furthermore, it wasn't 100% distinguishable between the collar and putting surface. To...

Is it legal to sand a wedge face to get extra spin? The USGA wants to regulate on the grooves but not sure if they want to regulate on abrasive faces.

question, what is the penalty for teeing up the ball ( and playing it) outside the marked tee box? match play vs stroke play please thanks

in match play... my ball comes to rest on a rather large rock. if my playing partner allows it, am i allowed to move my ball to the nearest point of relief? no closer to the hole?

Hello I was playing Pakenham with friends when on the 17th hole (par 4) I hit my 2nd shot deep into the woods...knowing it was a lost cause to even look for it I took my drop and played my 4th shot from where the ball entered the woods and hit it into the hole for a par (yah!) :party ...then...

Here is the situation.. On the second hole at my home course (which is a par3) there is a protective fence to protect people on the green from airant tee shots of both the first and third tees. The ruling that is enforced here is you get swing relief only while playing any hole other than #2. While...