Forum: Rules Of Golf

Gary, Playing a match, A's ball carries into the hole and severely damages the hole, so that it cannot be easily repaired. There is no official in the group. B has a putt for a half, and the hole is significantly larger than regulation on his line. What are the options? spidey

Kendra Graham will appear on The Golf Channel on Sept 9 at 8PM. The Sorenstam dropping issue will likely be a topic.

I have noticed there are a few members on here that have completed the different levels in the RCGA Rules Education. I am interested in obtaining these levels, and I have a couple of questions: 1- Is it logical to say that you can obtain a level a year? I am not sure what the opportunity is...

I was golfing at Chateau Cartier yesterday with two buddies of mine. One of my friends was teeing off of the par 3 number 6 from the white markers and his tee shot, a worm burner, hit the red tee marker and went back right into the water. He said he could hit again with no penalty because the...

No rules officials please, at least until we have a couple of answers. Thanks. :) A course has a number of "drop zones" set up on specific holes, for relief from shots that are known or virtually certain to have entered the water hazards on those holes. The scorecard mentions these drop zones...

Been having issues with the driver (what else is new...) and was playing the other day using the pump drill as part of my actual swing. I.e. make a backswing, pump down and back up a couple times and then actually hit the ball say on the third "pump" down. Is this legal in actual play? Apart...

I thought that use of range finders had at some point in recent years become allowed by the rules... in some but not all circumstances. The conversation came up this afternoon and it seems that it is now pretty much allowed everywhere and just about any time? I played in my club championship...

In the latest issue of Flagstick, there is an ad for a contest to win an Adams complete golf package as follows: Irons: 3 - PW Wedges: 52, 56 & 60 degrees Woods: 1, 3 and 5 Putter and a bag to put it all in. Count them up and you get 15 clubs, and as we all know, the maximum number of...

Is there a penalty for teeing it up on the wrong set of tees? While playing the whites yesterday,my friend without noticing moved back to the blue tees about 5 yards behind the whites and hit his ball.I announced to him in a match that he would get a penalty for playing the wrong tees.Thats when...

I caught the tail-end of a story on the Golf Channel last night about some sort of contraversy last week involving Stewart Cink, anybody catch that story? Something with him in a waste bunker???

Late in yesterday's golf telecast, there was a great example of KVC, "known or virtually certain." Robert Allenby was significantly PO'd on the ruling he got late in the 4th round. His ball headed toward a lateral water hazard, but no one saw it go in. The commentators indicated that it was heard...

This is pretty basic and you would think that I would know the ruling but help me out.I,m in the middle of a fairway and yank a ball out in the woods.No O.B. or red stakes.Do I reload and play a provisional from that point or walk to the woods and see if i can find my ball.If i cant find it,do i...

Hoolio and I had this discussion driving up to play Renfrew on the weekend: Lets' say that there is a metal stake marking an out of bounds line next to a body of water. The metal stake is bent halfway up, facing back towards the fairway. You hit your drive, and it hits the section of the...

OK I know you can't hit a provisional if you hit into a hazzard, but a slight twist occurred yesterday, while playing a course I did not know. I saw my drive clearly go into an area of heavy bush. Fearing it was lost I hit a provisional. When I got to where my first ball went, I discovered...

My son has started a rules questioning on instagram with pictures. His user name is @golfrules4u , pretty cool idea.

Mississippi Golf Club, number 4, is a par 3 with a bunker at the back of the green. Mike hits his tee shot and the ball buries under the lip of the very back part of the circular bunker. Thinking he can play a shot sideways, he makes a stroke at the ball, but instead, drives the ball even further...

This came up recently, I have read the rules and I find it difficult what constitutes "testing" the conditions of a hazard. Would rocking your club back and forth in a hazard be considered "testing" where the club is brushing the growth of the hazard since one could determine how easily the club...

Having already removed my ball marker when on the green and placed the ball in it's place, when puting my putter behind the ball I accidentally knock the ball. What's the ruling? Replace ball plus one stroke or replace with out a penatly or ??

Intermediate/Advanced difficulty. Many know that if a golfer is unsure of a ruling in STROKE play, that he may - (1) play two balls, (2) declare with which ball he wants to score, if the rules allow, and (3) that he wants a ruling. In MATCH play, though, playing two balls is not permitted. In...

Just wondering...;) Also. Are there any rules you would like to see changed and why?

Can it be assumed that where there is a sustantial amt. of water, in an area that would be normally be "high and dry" (ie: early spring or after major downpour)that a free lift is allowable. Or does this decision have to be made for the entire course as with the example of a lift and clean ruling...

From Matt MacKay - RCGA pg 26 "Golf Canada" July 2008 Q - Can player determine beforehand that his round is merely a "practice" round and not post the score to his handicap scoring record? A - NO. the handicap system does not contemplate the notion of a practice round. All acceptable...

In today's Intersectional Matches a golfer's ball was played into a water hazard and lay against a curled up hose that had been placed there by the greens staff. Can the hose be removed from the hazard? If yes, and if the ball is moved in so doing, is the golfer penalized? I know that...

I'm surprised there haven't been any comments here about junior Connor Klein being assesed a one stroke penalty for slow play after holing out in one at the US Junior Amateur. If there's ever a PSA for slow play, this would be it.

Paul and David play their tee shots to the fairway on #12 at Mississippi, where the landing area cannot be seen from the tee. Approach shots are played to the green and David makes a long putt for a birdie. As David picks his ball, a Titleist 2, out of the hole, he realizes that the ball he holed...

My playing competitor is teeing it up on the ninth hole when this happens ....... He takes his club back and starts his downswing, just as his club is about to touch the ball, the ball starts to move off tee to the right and he kinda tops the ball so it rolls about 18 inches in front of the tee...

You are caddying for a friend in a tournament, say the club championship, and you see him move his ball in the rough or step on the grass immediately behind the ball. What would you do?

Jack's ball flies into a hazard marked with yellow stakes. There is a culvert in the hazard which extends through the hazard into the ground beyond the stakes. We all see the ball go into the culvert. When we approach the culvert, we cannot retrieve the ball, it has rolled down into the culvert...

dbleber: Can you take a provisional ball from the fairway if you think you will not be able to play your original ball? I played with a guy this weekend who shanked his approach shot into the woods. He then pulled out a ball and said he was playing a provisional. I thought he would have to take...

While reading someof the threads in this section it has occurred to me that it sounds as if many people are taking this far too seriously, and do not have the " fun " they are suppose to when playing this game. For instance, i read the thread about the father taking his 11 year old boy golfing and...

I was playing in an event at my home course. It was a tournament called the May Monthly. Long story short, I eventually X'ed myself on a hole taking myself out of the tournament. I presume I still put in a tournament score in the handicap? And just count a double for that X'ed hole?

The following situation is TRUE, however, I hope that it is acceptable to put it in the Hypothetical Rulings folder. Local Rule in place - mark, lift, clean and place on cut portion of your own fairway. Par 3, 18th hole - A player pulls his tee shot on to a cart path left of a pond, where the...

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

I am about to make my initial attempt at matching a set of clubs by total weight, first and second moments of inertia. A specified amount of weight is to be added to the clubs, some under the grip and some at a point between the bottom of the grip and the clubhead. Rather than put a plug down...

Start entering those inflated scores for the Ryder Cup in Belleville!!! :-) Conditions really are horrible in Ottawa for the next two weeks.

It was interesting watching the happenings on #3 with Dustin. No one including the video people could tell where the ball was and as it hit the trees it wasn't known or virtually certain that it was in the hazard so after looking for 5 minutes back to the tee he went. The ball was found within...

If both players are on the green and player A putts and his ball hits player B's ball does player B recieve a penalty for not marking his ball? This came up in our round today at Mountain Creek......good day guys thanks again.

Gary which stakes can be moved if they interfer with your swing or are you allowed to move any at all ( i know that white stakes cannot be moved) playing today and ball was not in side the red stake however i could not swing my club without hitting the red stake can i move the stake and then...

Michael:) hits his tee shot towards an area of trees and thinking the ball might be lost, plays a provisional ball. He finds a ball in the trees and plays it, and walks over and picks up his provisional. When he gets to the ball he hit, he discovers that the ball is NOT his. 1. From where does...

At my home course, we have a Ryder Cup style tourney this weekend (which I proudly made the team). Unfortunately, this past weekend, some idiots decided a great way to watch the moon light was in their 4-wheeler doing donuts on our 12th green; so bad it's unplayable. This weekend past, they...

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...

From Matt MacKay Senior Coordinator of Golf Programs & Services at the RCGA Hi Dan, I’m going to have some handicap manuals that expire at year’s end. Would you like to offer them at no cost to members of your forum?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"...

Rules Question; how long must the ball stay in the whole before the Golfing Gods are permitted to intervene?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p> Today at Metcalfe, 16<SUP>th hole,</SUP> 435 yds. second shot, 193 to flag. Pull out...

Hey gbower and BCMIST, lets put this one to everyone else. ;) The following question was posed to us by Level 4 official, Gayle Faulkner, as part of a warm-up quiz to our discussion of Rule 27. Have a go. :-) A competitor plays a provisional ball believing his original ball may be lost in...

I've seen many times golfers mark their one or two club lengths with a club and just leave the club as the marker. What is the penalty if you drop your ball and it hits the club that is lying there??? AAA this is not for you to answer :-)

In a scramble, players generally get to place their ball within one club length (no nearer the hole) from where it comes to rest. The situation I'm wondering about: Cart path down the the left side of a hole with woods immediately to the right of the cart path. The ball comes to rest on the...