Forum: Rules Of Golf

I was playing alone the other evening and on an adjacent tee box I watched a player taking practice swings with his driver with the head cover still on. In light on Julie Inkster's DQ earlier this year I started wondering if this is a similar infraction...is a head cover considered a training...

The Royal & Ancient (R&A) is taking a fresh look at its golfing rulebook after recent high-profile incidents involving Padraig Harrington, Camilo Villegas and Ian Poulter, a leading official said on Monday. More...

On a par 3...do you have to pass the drop area distance in order to use the drop area? Or can you use it anytime your ball isn't playable? 17th hole at Soricer. It is about 180 yards from the blues to the centre of the green. The drop area is about 120 yards over water. Say I had a playing...

I watched Camillo on a par 5 chip up a hill and have the ball roll back. The next time he chipped it rolled back again. While it was still rolling he was brushing some grass or part of a divot away with is club. It looked relatively close to his line. But even if it wasn't is this legal?

I meant to ask this before as it was brought up in discussion during my Men's closing event. What constitutes fixing a ball mark on the green. Do you have to use a tool and fix the mark before tapping down, or can you just tap it down. People felt that just tapping down constituted touching...

There are some players at my club who absolutely swear that it is a violation of the Rules to take your ball out of the hole while the ball is still in motion. I have NEVER EVER heard of this. So, must you wait until the ball comes to rest to retrieve it from the hole? Thanks...

In the Belleville Ryder cup tournament, I hit my tee shot into the bushes. I don't believe there were any stakes. I found the ball but did not mark it before lifting it to identify it. (I had never heard of such a rule). My fellow OG playing partner told me I just lost the hole for failing to mark...

The October 4, 2010 issue of GolfWorld contains the following letter from Bryan W. Jones of the PGA of America Rules Committee that may be of interest to some of you: "It has been a tough stretch for us in the rules business, but the reality is we appreciate the opportunity to educate golfers. ...

when two puts fall in simiar locations, is the player not playing first able to stand directly behind the other player in order to read their line? If they can not stand there when are the able to move in to view the line of put? What penaltys would apply? as I have only found this under...

I played today, and my playing partner was just about to tee off. After addressing the ball, and starting his backswing, a gust of wind moved the ball off the tee, it fell off just as my partner was 1/2 way through his downswing. He could not stop his swing, and continued to swing at the ball,...

When playing a Handicapped match play format, how are the handicap strokes applied? For instance, Player A is a 7 hcp. Player B is a 10. Do you: 1) Take the differential of B - A = 10 -7 = 3 Then, Player B get's strokes on handicap holes 1, 2, and 3 or:

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...

Temporary Green Scoring, how does this work. Two greens were Temps due to maintenance on the course, all they did was stick a flag in the ground 35 yards in front of the green. How do you score these two holes for the purpose of handicap, you sure can't putt them??

We know from scientific studies that pot is a dangerous illegal drug that ruins lives. But a friend of mine is thinking of smoking pot to relieve pain while playing golf, can he be DQ'd in a tournament or matchplay for playing golf stoned? Thanks.

If you're playing a stroke play game, if you putt out, and other fellow competitors have yet to putt out, are you permitted to repair a damaged hole, or tap down spike marks (even spike marks that are in your FC's line of putt)?

Kudos to this young man for doing the right thing. :thumbsup http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/What-would-you-do-teen-golfer-disqualifies-self?urn=golf-267228

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...

There has naturally been an increased focus on the severity of the Rules of Golf following a number of high profile situations over the past few weeks. These include; S.Korean LPGA players Shi Hyun Ahn and Ilmi Chun (both disqualified for playing each other’s balls on the 18th fairway, putting out...

Although we sometimes have differing views on the rules, I do have to give a big thanks to Gerry for helping me with what could have been a difficult scenario today. Thanks so much Gerry, I really appreciate it.

If I'm between clubs on a par 3, can i go back (i usually play the whites) and play a different tee box.

The following appeared in my latest copy of Golf World: "6. Lloyd Mangrum, 1950 U.S. Open Trailing Ben Hogan by one stroke in a three-way playoff for the U.S. Open at Merion GC, Mangrum made things easier on Hogan when he was penalized two strokes for blowing a bug off his ball on the 16th...

What is the ruling if a player lifts there ball from the green without marking it, places it back where they thought it to be and then putts the ball.

Played the front nine that took probably 3 hours - rediculous pace of play. After nine, noticed the front nine was empty and had we carried on through the back nine, we would have been lucky to finish 4-5 holes more before dark. As it turned out, we got 18 in, but it was the front nine twice. ...

Another player caught with a rules violation. In yesterdays Safeway Classic Juli had a long wait to tee off on the 10th (I think) and put a club weight on to take some practice swings and at the end of the round was asked about it and under rule 14-3 she was disqualified. I guess this is another...

An interesting situation came up in a 2 man best ball. Our opponents; one right handed and one left handed. On their drive the left handed guy's ball is gone and the right handed guy's ball is on a cart path. Now , I want to say I think they did the right thing. I just found it interesting how...

Recently I've been using a technique to align my body before any stroke (except in sand traps). This is how I do it: I stand behind my ball and decide where i want to aim my shot, then i place my club behind the ball (about 1 foot) so that i can visualize a line going through the target,...

If he gets knocked out of the playoff this falls on the rules commitee as BS. If that is anything other than a waste bunker or rough, the USGA should never have let the fans stand in it. Bunkers in play should have been marked and had fans kept out of it.

For those who don't know yet, the R&A and USGA announced a couple of weeks ago, new groove rules and specifications for clubs with lofts greater than 25º (5-iron range). Without getting into too much detail (you can read the full text here,...

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...

What is the ruling for a ball stuck in the green. Today My ball got stuck approx 1/2 the ball was stuck in the green. What is the rule for this? I lifted my ball tried fixing the divot and placed the ball over the divot but the divot caused my ball to bounce and ended up being a horrible...

Hi All, What are my options? Where do i drop? I don't have a diagram so picture this if you will. I pull my tee shot on a par three. In front of the green is a yellow staked WH. To the right of the green is a red staked LWH - same body of water but i think that's irrelevant. The tee shot...

played a round over the weekend with my brother in law and a situation came up that i had no answer to and it's been on my mind since simply out of curiosity. playing a par 4, my approach ends up in a greenside bunker.. i make a really nice out, one of my better shots of the day and was feeling...

How is the flower bed ruled as GUR? Should it not have been an unplayable?

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

We've got our club championship on right now. Our second hole, up the left hand side is red staked, and on the "foul" side of the hazard is a pretty wide open area that has two domed, metal maintenance sheds. My FC duck hooked one left and we all saw the flight as it carried over trees, heading...

I know that you get to take two club lengths for relief from objects and hazards and so forth. The question I had was that what is the length you can take for "two club lengths"? I use my driver mainly, but I was playing with a group the other day and the guy pulls out his 5 foot long belly...

played yesterday and 2 out of the 3 players were great to play with the other player not so drove way a ahead- never helped looking for opponents ball anyway.. playing one hole the player was in a red staked area he proceded to basically kill a small tree when taking his stance then hit 2...

If you hit your ball into an Ecological area and there is a sign telling golfers to keep out...and no hazard or OB stakes. Do you get a free drop cause you can not search for you ball? I notice this on a couple of holes at Stonebridge.

My playing partner has been doing the following. He hit's a ball into a hazard (same scenario for both red and yellow staked areas). What he does following is immediately drops a ball at the point of entry, hit's it calling it a provisional. Then he goes searching for his first ball in the...

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 ??

On Sunday in our Intersectionals at Cedar Glen the rules for the day included one that seemed inappropriate IMHO. The committee deemed all hazard stakes to be immovable obstructions from which 1 club length relief no closer to the hole was granted. Is this allowed? To me it makes no sense...

For those who know Hautes Plaines (the old Dome) here's one for ya... Last men's night we are waiting on #10 tee (the par 3). We hear a drive off #18 land in a backyard (on interlock) bounce over the house, hit the road twice and then lands behind the #10 tee box. Now there are OB stakes left...

Hello, I am somewhat new to the game of golf so I still don't know all the rules. What do you get relief from? the reason I ask is that my buddy hit a tee shot on a par 3 into a mound of large rocks that was beside the green. Does he get a clubs length from that without a penalty? if he...

Unfortunately a scenario came up on the 18th at Mt Cascades on Sunday which cost the Metcalfe player a potential split of our match. For those that know the course, down the right side the hole is staked with white OB markers. The Metcalfe player hit his ball right along the boundary marker. Now...

I play in a men's league once a week. It's always a team game, so your foursome is playing against the other foursomes that week. The format of the game is always changing. Examples of games are 1-2-3 (take only 1 score on the first hole, 2 scores on the second, 3 on the third, and repeat). ...

Can another player in the foursome give advice to his friend who is competing in a match play ?

Ok, here we go, two players chip from off of the green to the green at the same time, the balls collide on the green. I suggest the balls are played from where they come to a rest. My opponent thinks otherwise. Any ruling on this?