Forum: Rules Of Golf

Gary: Perhaps you can clarify exactly what happened on Saturday with Rich Beem using his hat to remove sand from the green? The commentators suggested that since his ball was not on the green that using the hat was allowed. That is fine and good, however I was always under the impression...

ok. Here's my big beef. Ground Under Repair. The average course in Ottawa, the "committee" never seems to ever mark GUR unless there is some major construction going on and even then it is hit and miss. The pro's have every single blemish on the entire course circled with white paint. Talk...

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.

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...

Just wondering if the Taylormade R9 Driver legal in Tournaments ?

Which Rule or Rules do you have the most trouble understanding/applying?

I was thinking on using my iphone for tournament play and I was told it was illegal because it had a compass?

It was reported in another post that the young man who was leading the Tunis after Day 1 was disqualified for taking a swipe at his ball and taking a chunk out of the Hunt's 15th green. If he had have only taking a swipe at the ball and hit it, without taking the divot, would he have just been...

I was watching the Golf Channel last night and they showed a brief snippet of the LPGA that had a weird one. The player's ball was on the green and she had marked and lifted it. She then replaced the ball and before she had a chance to address it a strong gust of wind blew the ball off the green...

I was watching a little of the US Senior Open from Sahalee, just outside Seattle, Washington. Now, I am not a huge fan of the Champions Tour. They operate like a good-old boys club, where if you're an "outsider" - meaning, if you weren't a regular on the PGA Tour - then it's next to impossible...

Dave and Joe are opponents. On the 5th hole they are preparing to play 2nd shots to the par-4 green. Dave is away by a couple of yards, and plays first. The ball bounces twice and disappears in to the hole for an eagle 2. Dave turns to Joe, holding his club out sole first and shouts, "7-iron...

Player A hits his tee ball into a red staked area but finds it and is able to make a stroke at his ball. Stroke is made and the ball is left in the hazard but is now unplayable. What are the next options?

I'm wondering if the new rule about solo play rounds not being eligible for HC purposes will affect many golfers. Before I got injured two years ago I played at least twice a week alone.

My ball lands in a water hazard and I decide that I want to play it out. I do not ground the club, however, the club touches some long grass that is growing in the hazard, as I take my backswing. As I start down I decide that I want to stop my swing and do so before contacting the ball,...

My friend (peanut butter steve) was playing a match against another friend and it was discovered that he was wearing a rick smith golf glove... obviously he loses the match but even with the glove he didn't play to his cap so his cap is going to go up. My questions, because he was cheating... he...

Saw this on another site - during a four ball event , player A borrowed a club from his partner, player B, and made a hole in one with the borrowed club. Player A had 13 clubs in his bag, player B had 12. Is player A penalized? Did player A score a hole in one? (It was not indicated whether this...

On our road trip last weekend, I got penalized twice for playing the wrong ball. First time, it was a friendly game that my playing partner had played my ball first and after I made my shot to the green, I found out that in fact it wasn't my ball, When I asked him if he has my ball, the answer...

http://forum.ottawagolf.com/showthread.php?t=9341 Gary, isn't that ilegally altering the playing characteristics of the ball?

I'm a little confused by something. I hit a ball into some red stakes and it was playable but because it was behind the red stakes. Are red stakes marking the out of bounds or are they marking a water hazard? Can someone tell me what each color stake means?

I found I was in error previously so I want to make sure I am doing this right. At the link: http://forum.golfresource.net/showthread.php?t=9104 The chart shows 1 through 18, then 19 through 32. I am now below 19, as in 18.6, so I would now only take a maximum of 2 strokes over par for the...

We have one of these threads every once in a while, and in the spirit of tournament season, probably time for another one. So, yes or no?

Dog leg left par 5. Tried to cut the corner but hooked it a little. I assumed there were red stakes as there was a creek all along the left side of hole (as well as trees). I got there and realized there were no stakes. How can this be? How can there be water where my ball went in but no...

I was asked this question last night, by the player it happened to in a recent tournament. Player thought his drive might be in a hazard, so he hit a provisional, not realizing this was not allowed. He then hit another provisional since his first provisional was definitely in the hazard. ...

Three competitors were scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. Two competitors were present at that time. The third competitor, who was scheduled to play last in the group, was practicing on the range at 10:00 a.m. but arrives just in time to play after the second competitor plays. His actions did not...

A little bit hard situation? Anyone know whats ruling? Happened in real life. Right handed player hits the ball under heavy, thick and low situated branch. Only way he can hit the ball is left handed. Now his shot is not so lucky and it goes out of bounds. Okay, back to the last place and drop the...

A player plays a ball from the teeing ground which may be lost or out of bounds. (Ball #1) He properly announces and plays a provisional ball which also may be lost or out of bounds. (Ball #2) He properly announces and plays another provisional ball which may be lost or out of bounds. (Ball...

friend played a shot today and put it into the trees. He dropped a ball (at my urging) and put his provisional onto the green. He didn't really attempt to look for his ball but neither did I so he pulled out his putter and as he was taking his first step towards the green the cart girl on the next...

Garry I was told this long and I was woundering if the rule still applies because it happened today anyway my competitor was waiting to hit his second shoot since the wait was rather long he put a weight on his club and starting practice swinging he took the weight off of his club and...

Speculation, please! The play-by-play for Fred Couples on the PGA Scoreboard site shows this: What would cause a "Drop in tee box"? Or do they simply mean re-tee, as in a ball OB?

I played the Marshes this week and hit my drive left (as was suggested to me but I cut it too much) on the second hole 615 yd par 5 over a knoll and saw it bounce very high (cart path) and disappear behind the small hill. I was going to hit a provisional but the member I was playing with told me I...

In the thread on the worst match play defeat possible, there were a couple of suggestions that (a) rules can be interpreted, and that (b) the rules do not make sense. Are there any members willing to describe situations or rulings that they feel fall into either one of these categories? ...

One of the main reasons I ask, a lot of my friends (including myself) take another shot if they badly miss a green on a par three if there is no one behind us. They call it a provisional so its not 3 off the tee but they know where there ball is, there is no chance of it being lost. The reason...

In the same OCAA tournament a player hits his 225 second shot over the green on the par 5 14th at Upper Canada GC. After searching for a couple of minutes he finds a ball, pitches it on to the green and when he marks the ball he discovers that it is not his. He searches for a couple of more...

I was golfing with a friend and his son, who's played in many competitive junior events (which is why this question came up). My ball was on the fringe, not on the putting surface. The pin was quite a long ways away, but I wanted him to tend the pin (obviously to pull the pin after I had struck...

can somebody tell me what the rule is when you are only practicing your put,while on the green,and you inadvertantly hit your ball.Is there a penalty stroke?

Since there are those that enjoy the "hypotheticals," have a go at this. One of the exercises that our OVGA rules group enjoy doing are "Ricky's." Ricky is a blundering idiot of a golfer who obviously knows nothing about the rules. (Any resemblance to anyone here is purely coincidental.:) ) The...

Below is a link to a summary of the changes to the Rules of Golf for 2012 to 2015. http://www.randa.org/en/Rules-and-Amateur-Status/~/media/RandA/Related%20Documents/2011/72580ROGCLUBHOUSEforewardprincipal.ashx

So, I had a slightly unusual situation happen to me at Canadian GC yesterday on their 9 hole East course. They have cut two holes on each green, one regular hole and one larger hole with a yellow flag to help youngsters and beginners (an excellent idea I believe btw). However, on the par 3 6th...

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...

Can someone explain to Birdieman why all golfers must use Equitable Stroke Control (ESC) when entering their scores for handicap purposes? http://forum.golfresource.net/showthread.php?t=9104

Happened today at Loch March #15 (par 5), fence (OB) down the left side the complete length of the hole, a thick stand of trees parallel to the fairway on the right side about 150 - 200 yds from the tee with the cartpath running behind the trees and in front of a staked hazard (marsh/water). FC...

It's a very hot and windy day (obviously not this summer) and Indio decides to hit the halfway house for a large lemonade with lots of ice before heading out for the back 9. He gets his beverage to go, and makes his way to the 10th hole. After hitting his tee shot, Indio drives out to his ball,...

If the hole you are on is adjacent to a range and you hit a stray ball back to the range will you incur a penilty?

ok going to be playing with a few friends over the next few weeks very often and I just wanted to clarify a few things before we start playing WRONG again this year. 1) When does a player ever drop a ball in the drop zone? 2) lets see the ball goes into the forrest and we can see the...

A player finds his ball on a cart path. He puts a tee down to mark the ball's position, then picks it up before determining his nearest point of relief. Once he discovers that his NPR is in the bush, he elects to play from the cart path. Does he incur a penalty for moving his ball by picking...

http://www.usga.org/news/2007/october/2007_79.html

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...