Forum: Rules Of Golf

During play this week, I encountered a couple of situations wherein my ball was located in an unplayable position under low-hanging, dense branches of an evergreen. In reading of the rules, I came across section 24-2. Immovable Obstruction. The rule states that a player may take relief without...

I normally hit short of the green or pin, but in my first round this year I flew the green twice and landed in the water hazard. I have misplaced my rule book so cannot look this up in time for my next round (yes I know that I should keep it in my bag...). As I recall if the water was between me...

you stop keeping score after the 12 hole because you aren't feeling well. What do you do in terms of the round counting towards the cap? Count only the front? Give yourself the max on the rest of the holes?

there was a putter at golftown that you could line up, walk away, check your line with the putter sitting square to the line of your putt, walk back adjust it and keep doing this. Is this illegal? The putter, when you have it at adress (grounded), if you let go it doesn't move... legal?

I think I know the answer, but.... are you allowed to repair aeration holes on a green? I think you're only allowed to repair pitch marks, and not even spike marks.

Are you allowed to remove accumulated grass clippings from your ball as long as the ball does not move? I'm not talking about removing mud but simply wet grass clippings from the fairway. Thanks.

Hi, I thought the only rule around order of play is that the farthest from the hole plays first. Anyways, my brother, who golfs often, claims that there is some sort of "continuation" rule with putting. Basically, whoever starts putting first has the option to finish putting out the hole once...

Gerry fades a ball to the right towards an area of bush. Thinking his ball may be lost he announces, "I will play a provisional." His provisional again fades towards the same area and he says, "I'll play another." In searching, he finds the 2nd and 3rd balls, but he does NOT find the original. ...

It seems that there may be a school of thought that some of the The Rules of Golf are open to interpretation. Are there any rules that you might say are interpretative, ones where it seems that you must do "this" but could also be interpreted to mean that you could do "that?"

O Rules Gods, who's pronunciations are law........... Rule 16 (1) a (ii) states that a player may place his putter ahead of the ball along the line of putt during address, except that it can't "press down anything". Does this mean that I can sole the club, providing that there is no obstruction...

like a smith glove or a swing guide??? I was pretty sure you weren't allowed but someoone told me I was wrong... now I'm not so sure

To those golfers who compete in Golf Quebec or OVGA tournaments, your use of distance measuring devices was approved by Golf Quebec a few weeks ago and more recently by the Ottawa Valley Golf Association, OVGA. The device must measure distance only and if a player uses or has in his bag, one that...

Would this be legal? http://www.layerco.com/?i=video

1) At mountain creek one of the holes has fencing along the right side but the right side is marked by red stakes as well Why is this?? 2) a friend hit his ball and it landed very close that fence. He couldn't get a club on it. The fence was very flimsy and could be moved a little bit.....

Well finally BC and myself managed to pass our level 3 rules test in Montreal today. After spending many many hours of reading, studying and quizzes on line it's over for a while. Now we'll be working some tournaments throughout the summer to put our required hours in. After doing so many of the...

Gerry is on the putting green in two, 25' from the hole and Dan's ball is 30' away but on the same line as Gerry's. Dan asks Gerry to move his marker and Gerry moves the marker 1 putter head to the right. Dan sinks his putt for birdie. Gerry puts his ball down in front of his marker and putts to...

Dan's ball is on the putting green, 40' from the hole, while Gerry's ball is 20' from the hole. Gerry has marked and lifted his ball. Dan putts and Gerry, absentmindedly, replaces his ball. Dan's ball hits Gerry's. What is the ruling?

My ball is resting in the middle of a bridge going over a red staked water hazard. Local rules state that there is a free drop from roadways/pathways. What is the ruling? This has come up several times in the course of play over the last several years. It is my understanding that the bridge...

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...

I hope that this is not off topic, but I supsect that I speak for many on this site when I say "Thank you" to Lyle, and Gerry for prodding us with questions on the rules. Their initiative will make us all much more aware of the rules of the game. For this we are all the beneficiaries. Now, if...

John pulls his tee shot left and just short of the 13th green at Mississippi and it comes to rest at the base of the oak tree that lies between his ball and the green. Because he is right handed his feet rest on the crushed stoned cart path. He determines that his nearest point of relief is just 1...

This question is regarding using the proper "form" of a procedure. A competitor is involved in a discussion with a rules official regarding the lie of his ball, and the resulting ruling requires the player to take a drop under the prescribed rule. The player takes his relief and measures...

It is a common practice to move our ball marker on the putting green when the marker rests on the line of play of a fellow competitor. Golfers with good etiquette remind the FC to move the marker back, but what happens if he does NOT. Your FC does not put the marker back and putts from a spot a...

In what will likely be called the "Cink decision" for a while, the R&A and USGA have made a decision to clarify the intent of 13-4 which will no longer result in a penalty for what Cink did. http://www.usga.org/news/2008/april/JRCAnnouncement.html

A player briefly searches for his ball, declares it lost and tees another ball. His original ball is then found in a water hazard less than five minutes after search began. What is the ruling? :book

Playing #18 at Mountain Creek, I push my tee shot over the hill to the right. Following the line of my ball, I walk over the hill directly towards the water hazard and when I come to the edge I don’t see my ball in it, as the water is quite murky. As my fellow competitors have yet to play, I walk...

Can you have a valid cap if you play from different tees all the time? Sometime white, blue and this? What if you wanted to play from the womens tees. Can you legally play from there and still count the round for your cap? The slope and rating I'm sure is lower so I thinking that might ballance...

A player is on the putting green, has addressed the ball and it starts to move. He panics and makes a quick stroke, striking the moving ball. What is the ruling.

This is a par 3. Lyle's tee shot comes up short. The ball lands at "X" and dissapears at "Y". List the options available to Lyle under the rules. Rehit the tee shot with penalty of stroke and distance.

The greens staff is digging a trench to drain an area habitually filled with water when it rains. The trench runs from the low area to a water hazard adjacent to the green. While the greens staff break for lunch, Dan plays a shot that lands IN the trench that is IN the water hazard. What is the...

We now have 5 certified rules officials here who are all active posters. They are BC Mist, gbower, Lob Wedge, AAA and myself. This really is an awesome opportunity to bring the rules of the game discussions to a new level here. It seems that we should lay out a few proceedures to follow... No...

Sometimes I play when my course is almost empty. To improve my short game, I'll play multiple balls when I'm close to the green. If I always count the first ball that I hit, can I still claim the game for handicapping purposes?

Lets say I'm unsure how to proceed and I say "I'm going to play two balls and we'll figure it out later" like I would in stroke play then adjust my score later... my FC objects because he shot depends on what shot I'm on, and where I am. If there is a penalty stroke then he will lay up. If there...

List the occasions where a player may hit a MOVING ball, without being penalized.

On the 4th hole the Out of Bounds (OOB) is marked with white stakes and also has a white line the length of the right side of the hole. Lyle hits his ball and it comes to rest near the line but not OOB. One of the stakes is about 2" in front of his ball. Can Lyle remove this stake???? :book

Gbower slices his tee shot into the centre of a bush. He deems it unplayable and measures two club-lengths from the outside of the bush. He drops a ball not nearer the hole, at the maximum distance within the two club-lengths he measured. The ball rolls only two feet and not nearer the hole,...

A question for the certified Rules guys out there. Has the RCGA talked about using laptops with the Rules/Decisions on them at tournaments? Given the speed at which you can search with a laptop it would seem to me that it would be much, much quicker and less error prone than having to carry...

(A) A player hits his tee shot towards an area of trees and thinking that it may be lost, plays a provisional. The ball flies in the same direction as the first. Upon arriving at the area where the balls flew he finds two balls, one in a lateral water hazard and one is nearby in the rough. They...

Is the use of lasers during a round in the PGA actually illegal? When the caddies walk the course before the round, they'd be using a laser for sure to fill in they're yardage book, right? Anyone else think laser should be allowed on tour? Seems to me like it would speed things up a...

I am going to be keeping a proper cap this year. A few years ago I attempted to keep a cap but did a few things wrong. I'd go into the morning rounds with the intention of playing the morning 9 holes as practice/warm up and then cap the back 9. Later found out that I wasn't allowed to do this. ...

For anyone who may be interested in getting certified in the RCGA Handicap System, there will be a seminar on May 26, 7:00 to 10:00 PM, held at the Carleton Golf & Yacht Club. The cost is only $22.58. Registration Form is here:...

Does anyone know what the problem with Ian's putter was??? I saw a rules official talking to him and pointing to a weight or something on the putter but don't remember hearing anything else about it. He finished the round putting with an iron and was putting all right with it.

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 :-)

Dan, Mike and Lyle walk down the fairway of a par 4 in search of their golf balls. Dan and Lyle find theirs but Mike cannot find his. After a 5 minute search, Mike walks back to the tee and hits a ball. When he walks up to the ball, he finds that it is his ORIGINAL ball. What is the ruling?:)

Golf Quebec will be holding four, Level 3 Rules of Golf seminars, in the spring. Locally, one seminar will be held at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club on May 3 and 4, and three others will be held in other Golf Quebec regions and in both English and French. Registration is done through the Golf Quebec...

STROKE PLAY Mike is on the putting green 50' from the hole. 1. Dave is on the putting green 25' from the hole and plays while Mike's ball is still moving. 2. Dave is on the fringe 40' from the hole and chips while Mike's ball is still moving. 3. Dave is in a bunker 40' from the hole,...

In a singles match Dan hits his ball on to the green in two strokes and the ball finishes 20' from the hole. As my third shot is on a cart path, I take relief under the obstruction rule (Rule 24) and drop my ball into 6" rough two club lengths from the nearest point of relief. Dan sees my error,...

This actually happened to me at a Seniors Tournament in September. Playing in a 3 to 5 club wind off of Lake Ontario, one of my FC's had addressed a putt on the 15th green when a gust of wind moved his ball and hit his putter face. He stepped away and said, "My ball moved and hit my putter,"...

This is the question: "In stroke play, a player's ball strikes a tree and comes to rest within the teeing ground of the hole being played. He presses down some heavy grass that is growing behind his ball before he plays. What is the ruling?" I thought there would be a 2 stroke penalty for...