Forum: Rules Of Golf

Last year I played in the Citizen Amatuer Tourney. The first day I was paired with a guy who hit his ball in the deep rough/trees all day. Every time he hit his shot into the trees, he would jump in his golf cart, race 280 yards up to his ball and start a frenzied walk around the ball in a tight...

Jim bombs a huge drive , just off the right side of the fairway , slamming it into a tree ...Bob is standing under the tree , and sees it hit , deflect sideways and drop halfway to the ground ....stopping when it wedges between 3 small branches Jim walks up and is informed by Bob that the ball...

I am currently working on a setup routine where my club head is not grounded, just as I am about to start the backswing. The Rule Book defines address as having grounded the club AND taken your stance. This is what I do on a full swing : 1. Place the club on the ground behind the ball...

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...

My drive went into the water; of that there is no doubt. We all saw it splash down near the centre of the pond, and it then disappeared in the depths. However, part of the pond is a hazard and part is out of bounds. It hit near the line, but I'd guess there was about a 75% chance that it was in...

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/10554953/usga-denies-request-amateur-golfers-using-anchored-putters-grandfathered-in

Playing with a hot head when in a medal play round he doesnt finish the hole Ii know that per to 3-2 If a competitor fails to hole out at any hole and does not correct his mistake before he makes a stroke on the next teeing ground or, in the case of the last hole of the round, before he leaves...

Yesterday, my FC and I were on the green. He putted - badly - and hit my ball. There was no penalty because we were playing a match. I like to think that rules have some rational basis, and are not arbitrary or capricious. Can anyone provide a rational reason for there being no penalty in...

Hi Gary, I have a funny one for you today. On the 18th hole at Predator, I hit my 2nd shot with a 3-wood to reach the green in two on this par 5. My ball landed on the left of the green, in the rough, bounced a couple of times and finished in the ball pocket of a golf bag which was...

I was discussing rules with a self-professed golf pig at work this morning (70+), And I was wondering if the Gary the golf guru guy could put to bed some urban legends (you know the ones-if everyone in your group agrees, a mulligan in a tourney is perfectly legal etc. etc. ) Tour pros are only...

Gary, Here's one for you. I was playing a round with my buddies and on the 4th tee, Daryl hits a ball and it kinda b-lines toward a tee box area nead a cart path and then the four of us saw what looked like two balls going in different directions.:confused At first thought was that he hit...

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...

Just curious as this situation happened to me a few years back. Tee'd off on a downhill par 4 with a blind landing area, hit my shot nice and down the middle so had no reason to play a provisional. I could not locate my ball and had to declare it lost and rehit. Once we reached the green my ball...

Question: Due to soft greens, or the time of year (now), what happens if you hit your shot to the green with a high trejectory, and the ball ends up three quarters of the way burried? I guess if you really wanted to, and you were playing with a real stickler, you would have to chip out of...

I drive my ball into a lateral water hazaed and choose to drop the ball within two club lengths of the point where it last crossed the margin. With the 1 stroke penalty, I am now lying TWO and my ball is IN PLAY. However, I dropped on an immoveable obstruction. Choosing to take relief I mark my...

In a match play, if a player using a motorized golf cart goes ahead of his golf ball to see the layout of the green, my question is : Is it legal or does he lose the hole?

Somewhat embarrassing... So I’m in the bunker with a steep uphill lie. I swing at the ball and miss it completely. I did take some sand though. The ball did not move. So I figure a 2 stroke penalty for grounding your club in a hazard. Am I correct? thanks

My fellow competitor hit his second on a par 4 on the left side of the green on the edge of a wooded area. He finds his ball and it's playable. He hits it and .... surprise... there was another golf ball buried in the mud underneath his. His ball makes it half-way to the green from where he was...

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...

Thanks for all the responses to my ankle deep water question. It seems that one rules question has started me asking more. 1. Back on Falconridge hole #16 a par 3 short of the green left there is a stand of trees. One has broken and the top is on the ground but it is still attached to the...

can a committee make a local rule requiring a player to drop a ball in the rough after cleaning mud as opposed to replacing

Gary.... At one point, you were posting rules issues, and letting us take a stab at the rulings.... Is that over, or are we just waiting for you to get a bunch of new, tougher questions for us? spidey

Are the players allowed to communicate via cell phones while playing a PGA/Major event? Do they, for example, tweet or text during their rounds? Just curious??

The new rulebook is here! The new rulebook is here! Some interesting changes. Here's the synopsis, http://www.rcga.org/english/Rules/CHANGES_TO_RULES.pdf Among the highlights for you extremists out there. Appendix II Club Length Clause 1c amended to include a new 48 inch limit....

We all know what happens when a player taking a practice stroke prior to hitting his ball accidentally makes contact with his ball - his fellow players snicker quietly to themselves, the player mutters a few curses under his breath, he replaces his ball, and takes a penalty stroke to add insult to...

This may sound like a stupid question but when does a cartpath stop and the fairway begin On Sunday golfing with my buddies one of them poped his drive about 150 yards out just where the cart path enters the fairway the ground was packed down hard just like a cartpath but it was sort of on the...

This came to mind while watching the video piece about Oak Hill's "Hill of Fame". Many of the oak trees on the hillside along the 13th hole have commemorative brass plaques attached to them. If a player were to hit his ball in close proximity to one of those trees, and his swing path was...

When you observe an action that you think may have breached the Rules of Golf, what is the correct procedure for making a claim in: 1. Match play 2. Stroke play.