The Ruling Range
January, 2023
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
December, 2022
THE DILEMMA
You and your arch-rival are both playing for the club championship this coming weekend. The format changes from year to year, but this year the club champion will be determined by match play. Since you lost to him last year, you decide that Sunday morning would be a good time to practice a bit on your nemesis-hole, the 17th, in order to have a fighting chance in the match. As your opponent drives up to the club entrance he sees you playing, and complains to the pro shop that you are illegally practicing on the day of the championship.
THE RULING
Per Rule 5.2, you are allowed to practice on the course before a round in a match-play event. You are not subject to any penalty. Good on you for your extra preparation!
November, 2022
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
October, 2022
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
September, 2022
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
August, 2022
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
July, 2022
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
June, 2022
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
April, 2022
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
March, 2022
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
February, 2022
THE DILEMMA
THE RULING
January, 2022
THE DILEMMA
In the final round of a local stroke-play event, you’ve just lagged a 60-footer up close to the cup, with your ball lying about two feet beyond and to the right of it. Nice putt! Before you’ve had time to walk up and mark it, one of your fellow competitors, Ralph, putts from about 40 feet away, and his ball strikes yours on its way past the hole. You’ve heard about “backstopping” on the professional tours, where one player will leave his or her ball near the cup while another plays, but that’s usually from a bunker or off the green. But you’re not sure what the difference is – if there is one – when both players are on the green. Ralph claims he was just trying to speed up play and that there’s no penalty. Is he correct?
THE RULING
Unfortunately, Ralph has broken Rule 11.1, which seems contradictory when you read it at first. It covers what happens when one ball strikes another: in most cases, no penalty to either player. But Rule 11.1 has an exception: “If the player’s ball in motion hits another ball at rest on the putting green and both balls were on the putting green before the stroke, the player [Ralph, in this case] gets the general penalty (two penalty strokes).” Tough break, Ralph.
December, 2021
THE DILEMMA
Nothing beats playing a match with your bestie on a great course neither of you have played before. Such is the case on this morning round on vacation as you play one of your final matches of 2021. Things are going well until you arrive to the 11th hole. You’re feeling adrenaline after a birdie on the 10th, and you step up to the 11th tee and quickly send a drive down the right side that may have found a bunker, or worse, the weeds. But upon picking up your tee you realize you played from the green tees. You’d been playing the match from the blues until this point, and they were tucked away up a hill and you didn’t see them. It doesn’t help the paint on them is a little tired. Do you get to re-tee? What is the ruling?
THE RULING
Whether or not you get to re-tee in match play depends on your playing partner. They have the option to make you re-tee (without penalty) or accept your tee shot and let you play your second from where you find it. Because you’re uncertain of whether the ball is safe, your opponent may say play on (they must go back and hit from the blue tees). What they cannot do is hit their tee shot and then decide if they want you to re-tee. Per Rule 6 in the USGA rule book, all decisions regarding improper teeing ground in match play must be rectified before the next shot. In Stroke play conditions, playing from outside the proper teeing ground is a 2-stroke penalty and you must re-tee from the correct tee. Failure do so before playing your tee shot on the next hole would result in a disqualification. So match play rules are a little friendlier in this regard.
November, 2021
THE DILEMMA
It’s a wet and cool fall day, but you’re savoring every hole because a cold front is upon us next weekend that will shut down your golf courses for the season. You’ve also got one last chance to beat your golf buddy who’s had your number the entire fall. On the par-3 16th hole, you’re clinging to a one shot lead when your opponent hits a high tee shot that gets caught in the wind and – THUD! – lands short in a cavernous trap in front of the green. When you arrive at the bunker, it takes several minutes before you finally see what appears to be a sliver of a white ball completely buried in the lip. Your opponent can’t identify it and isn’t even sure if they can play it. What’s the ruling?
THE RULING
Because a bunker is defined as its own area on the golf course, your opponent does not get relief from an embedded lie – even if it’s this bad and could cause harm by attempting to hit. As for simply identifying the ball as their own, they are permitted to pull the ball out of its lie to confirm, but must put the ball back and recreate the lie as closely as possible. Otherwise, once they’ve identified the ball, they may take an unplayable lie one-shot penalty, which is either stroke-and-distance, or dropping back-on-the line between the ball and hole, or two club lengths laterally (the second and third options, you must still drop within the same bunker).
October, 2021
THE DILEMMA
Your Saturday match is coming down to the wire, back and forth, up and down. Left and right and left again! On the 17th hole, your opponent has a 20-footer to take a one-up lead. He strikes the left-to-right putt and it tumbles gently downhill, curves towards the hole and….hangs there! It’s on the lip. They drop to their knees in exasperation. They stretch out, look up and curse the heavens, curl up and shriek at the underworld. They mope around the edges of the green. It’s a whole big show. It’s been 30 seconds of this when…look! The ball finally tumbles over the edge and drops. All that performance paid off and your opponent has life once more. Or do they?
THE RULING
Not so fast. The rulebook has no soft spot for slow-play divas on the green. Rule 13.3a states: “The player is allowed a reasonable time to reach the hole and ten more seconds to wait to see whether the ball will fall into the hole.” The rules and the player must count the ball falling into the hole as an additional shot.
September, 2021
THE DILEMMA
It’s match play season and you’re up one in your singles match heading to the 14th hole. Both you and your opponent hit hooks into the left rough. It’s gnarly down there. You see a ball and waste no time hitting it out and onto the green (the player hitting their approach has the advantage in match play, right?). A few yards ahead your opponent finds and hits the ball into the bunker short.
But upon getting up to their ball, your opponent realizes the ball in the bunker is yours, and upon checking the ball on the green, it is theirs. What is the ruling?
THE RULING
While in stroke play both players would be subject to a wrong-ball “General Penalty” of two shots and would have to replace their balls and re-hit, because it’s match play, there is only one offender. Rule 6.3 cites that the player to hit a wrong ball first in a match play situation is at fault and loses the hole. So it looks like because you hit first from the rough, your opponent dodged a bullet and is now all square in the match heading to the 15th.
August, 2021
THE DILEMMA
You’re 1-up in your weekend match on the 18th tee when you hook your drive into the largest bunker on the entire course. When you walk up to the bunker you notice your ball is on the far side of the bunker. After lasering a yardage and picking out a club you grab a rake and enter the bunker. Not thinking, you drag the rake as you walk the 15 yards to your ball to make for an easier cleanup after your shot. You catch it perfectly and it settles 15-feet from the hole, but after you hit your competitor calls a penalty on you for testing the sand. Was it a penalty and what’s the severity if it is?
THE RULING
It is a penalty. While you can now remove loose impediments when you’re in a bunker, you still cannot ‘deliberately touch sand in the bunker with a hand, club, rake or other object to test the condition of the sand.’ To make matters even worse, the penalty for doing so in a match play event is an automatic loss of hole (you may remember the dramatic incident at the 2020 U.S. Amateur when a caddie touched the sand on the 18th hole causing his player to lose.) So, grab your bag and head to the 19th tee in hopes you can scratch out a win in extra holes!
Note: In a stroke play event it is a 2-stroke penalty
July, 2021
THE DILEMMA
You’ve finally done it! Your buddies golf group has decided to make the trip to Scotland to play true links golf on the same historic courses that host The Open. It’s a breezy day at the Old Course at St. Andrews and while on the 11th green, your opponent is eying a 40-foot birdie putt. They strike the putt to within five feet. As you’re lining up your own par putt, before you put the ball back down onto the green, a gust of wind picks up strong enough to move their ball. It slowly picks up speed and trickles off the green and down into the infamous ‘Strath’ bunker. Your opponent laughs it off and says the ball was settled for long enough that he gets to replace it. You, however, say that those are the breaks on the links and they must play their next shot from the bunker. Who is right?
THE RULING
It all comes down to whether your opponent marked their ball or not. In the above case, the player did not mark their ball and lift it before it was dislodged by the wind, so according to Rule 13.1d, they must play their third shot from the bunker. Had they marked their ball and lifted it, the would have been permitted to replace it in the original location without penalty.
June, 2021
THE DILEMMA
You’re feeling good on the 10th tee after a solid front nine and decided to put a little extra into this drive. It is, after all, a long par 4 where distance is a great advantage. But you overcook the swing and send the ball left, which is bordered by a road. You hit a provisional, of course, but when you arrive at your first ball you find that it’s right under the wooden fence. Does this count as an immovable obstruction? Is it out-of-bounds? Free relief or penalty?
THE RULING
While you would get free relief from an immovable object like a sprinkler head, or bridge, or ball washer, a fence that runs along a course’s perimeter is considered a “boundary object” by the rules of golf and thus, you are not entitled to free relief. As long as the ball is not past the boundary fence (which would render it out of bounds), your options are to play the ball as it lies – funny stance and all – or take a drop with a one stroke penalty from the nearest point of relief.
May, 2021
THE DILEMMA
We all know by now that one of the unfortunate but timeless rules of golf is that if you ball ends up in the fairway but rolls into a divot, you are not entitled to free relief. And despite much clamoring from the golfing public, the governing bodies have indicated it’d be too much of a slippery slope to ever grant relief. Golf just ain’t fair sometimes. But what happens if you stripe your tee shot down the middle, it bounds down the fairway 285 yards before rolling up against or onto the divot’s other half: namely the loose dirt and grass that goes flying (sometimes in a hundred pieces and sometimes in one beautiful, long sliver)?
THE RULING
This actually happened in a European Tour event earlier in 2021 at the Abu Dhabi Championship where Jorge Campillo’s drive on the first hole rolled straight into a loose piece of turf that hadn’t been picked up (where were you on that one, caddie??) While a ball in a divot must be played as it lies, if loose turf is on top of or in any way affecting your next shot, you must treat it as a loose impediment. So it’s up to you to decide if you can remove the piece of turf without causing your ball to move. If it moves when you do, it’s a one-shot penalty. Campillo ended up taking the risk and surgically removed the piece of turf without causing the ball to move and was free to swing away. Phew! just another reason to replace your divots, y’all!
April, 2021
THE DILEMMA
April is here and so is the Masters. You’ll probably never get to play Augusta National, but that doesn’t mean the tournament’s famous rulings can’t be recreated in your very own home matches! Among recent rulings you may encounter in your own game is in 2004. During the third round, Ernie Els hit his drive on 11 well left into a pile of fallen branches. Els was denied free relief at first, and trying to remove them as loose impediments would have caused the ball to move. But he called for a second opinion to state his case that this pile of branches were created and collected by the maintenance crew, and the branches had not naturally fallen, thus entitling the Big Easy to a free drop.
THE RULING
Just like your very own little muni, apparently even Augusta National can sometimes get behind on its maintenance. The rules official agreed with Els that the pile was not natural and instead created by the grounds crew, therefore granting Els free relief. In 2021 under the rewritten rules of golf, this example of ground under repair falls under Rule 16 in “Abnormal Course Conditions.” The player receives the nearest point of relief (for the ball and stance) no closer to the hole with no penalty. Rather than having to go back to the tee and re-tee, Els punched out and salvaged a bogey (and would end up losing to Phil Mickelson by one shot).
March, 2021
THE DILEMMA
You’ve got a high-stakes match against your arch nemesis coming down to the wire, and the 17th hole is a par 3 featuring an island green (know of any?). Your foe, holding a one-shot lead, hits his tee shot well – too well – and it sails straight over the flagstick, putting surface, and lands in the water beyond. Too much club! The player wants to drop where the ball last crossed land, which would be on the green. Sounds too good to be true. What’s the ruling on the proper drop?
THE RULING
It depends on how the water around the island green is marked as a penalty area. If the lines or stakes are yellow, the player’s options are to re-tee with a one-shot penalty, or use the “back-on-the-line” relief procedure (see: Rule 17.1d2) where you must drop with a one-shot penalty so that the point where your ball last crossed the penalty area is between you and the hole, or use a drop zone if the course has set one out. If the stakes are red, the player has an additional opportunity to take a drop with a one-stroke penalty from where you ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area no nearer to the hole, which, depending on the shape of the green, might give them an opportunity to lie three without having to cross the hazard again, and give them an outside chance of not losing the hole. We forgot to ask, by the way, did you clear the water with your tee shot?
February, 2021
THE DILEMMA
A February warm-snap has arrived, melting the snow on your course and giving you and your golf buddies the itch to go out and play. The course isn’t in top-nick considering it’s the off-season but it’s playing well enough. But on one hole, you hit a long iron towards the green that gets held up in the wind. You can’t really see it land, and after a few minutes looking for it by the green, one of your partners finds it sunk deep into the left rough. Do you get relief?
THE RULING
Embedded balls are protected in the rules of golf under “Abnormal course conditions.” Rule 16.3 states that if any part of your ball has sunken into the ground, you are entitled free relief within one club length behind the ball. You should notify your playing partners and offer for them to inspect the lie before you remove it from its place. If standing water is also present, you may go to the nearest dry spot for both the ball and stance to drop.
The one exception to this rule is when your ball is embedded in sand; you’ll have to play what you can see of the ball as it lies in there.
January, 2021
THE DILEMMA
It’s the coldest time of the year and for most of the country the occasional snow fall is hampering our ability to get out on the course. With the PGA Tour season back underway we all are antsy to play some golf and a sunny, 45-degree day is all the motivation we need to get the sticks out. But sometimes the snow from last week has not melted al the way yet. Your drive on the second hole misses left in a shadier area that still has about an inch of snow on the ground. If it’s just a casual round you probably pull the ball out to the nearest grass you can find, but is that the correct ruling?
THE RULING
Good news; as expected you do not have to hit from the snow, but you have the option to if you want to get the full winter golf experience. Snow and natural ice, other than frost, are considered casual water or loose impediments and you have the option to choose.
There also is a recommended local rule, Appendix 1, Part B, 4c, that suggests playing preferred lies when there is snow on the ground.
December, 2020
THE DILEMMA
Winter is here and if your golf course is open, it might be a little damp. If you’re in the desert, overseeding procedures require a heavy dose of water to get the new rye grass going. And the sun just isn’t out for as long as it used to be, and water tends to linger on turf longer than that nosy aunt around the holidays. So what happens if you’re on a par 3 and hit a soaring tee shot that settles just right of the green in rough. You go up there, and despite searching for the allocated three minutes, you can’t find it. You KNOW you’re just a few feet off the green, but where is it? Do you get a free drop?
THE RULING
Life isn’t fair sometimes and neither is golf. Because it was not found in the allotted time, and because the area isn’t marked as Ground Under Repair, you must return to the spot of your previous stroke and play another ball for one penalty stroke (see Rule 18.2b).
The next time you slice a tee shot OB and it hits a roof and bounces back into play, consider it an evening out by the Golf Gods.
November, 2020
THE DILEMMA
Imagine if you will that you’re teeing it up on one of the world’s most famous golf holes, on one of the most prestigious courses, in one of the world’s most iconic sporting events…and you accidentally hit your ball during a practice swing. Well, that’s just what Zach Johnson did during the 2019 Masters on the 13th hole of Augusta National. Sure, the 2019 Masters may ultimately be more well known for Tiger Woods getting back in the winner’s circle for the first time in a major since 2008. But as far as bloopers are concerned, Johnson’s toe-shot off the tee marker was the GOAT.
So, let’s say the same thing occurs in a round with your buddies, on a course that is perhaps less famous and the stakes of the competition aren’t quite so high. What’s the ruling? Is Zach (or, heaven forbid, you) hitting two?
THE RULING
Thankfully, accidental hits off the tee are only penalized with the stench of embarrassment. While Johnson did pause a moment before picking up his ball to confirm the ruling, thanks to USGA’s Rule 6.2b(5), accidentally hitting your ball off a tee is not a penalty, nor do you have to play it where it lies. You may re-tee the ball and take dead aim. The same applies for an accidental hit on a putting green (Rule 13.1d(1)
However, anywhere else, whether it’s fairway, rough or bunker, you will be assessed a one-shot penalty. The ball must be replaced to its original spot.
Of course, there is no rule for saying “one” if your playing partner accidentally knocks the ball off the tee, but if it were up to us, it’d be a DQ on the spot.
October, 2020
THE DILEMMA
Fall is here and you’re playing golf on a delightfully crisp afternoon in that brand new sweater as the cool breeze tickles your newly-grown facial hair. The fall foliage is in full swing creating a harmonious and colorful framing of holes. There’s just one problem mucking up this storybook scene! These leaves are turning color because they are dying and will eventually fall to the ground, a cold-hard truth you realize during your match on the 4th hole. You’ve stroked your drive down the right side only to realize that white ball is hidden under one of several thousand leaves. Your competitor, 2-down at this point, is acting like they’re helping you look but you can see them scrolling on their phone. It’s been three minutes. What’s the ruling?
THE RULING
Fallen leaves are an annual nuisance for golfers in many parts of the country. While losing a ball under scattered leaves in the fairway or rough results in a stroke-and-distance Lost Ball penalty – requiring stroke and distance (re-hitting from the previous spot with a one-shot penalty), there is an out: Rule F-14. This states that the committee can install a seasonal local rule for accumulations of loose impediments, thus treating leaf piles as Ground Under Repair from which free relief is allowed under Rule 16.1 (remember, losing your ball in GIR is a free drop). Public courses may not have these types of committee rulings posted for display during casual play. In that case, it is up to your group to determine how to handle balls lost in leaves and do so before the round and not when the first ball is lost – that could get awkward!
June, 2020
THE DILEMMA
Playing the 3rd hole of your favorite local track, you’re shocked (and a wee bit disappointed) to discover two golf balls next to one another in the fairway trap. You turn to your buddy, “Wow. Talk about cart golf, eh.” He laughs, hops into the bunker and says: “What number ball are you playing?” “2.” He replies with a wry smile, “Me too.” “Well mine has my custom logo on it.” Unfortunately, both balls are lying face up with only the 2 showing, so now what? Do you just hit one and guess later?
THE RULING
No worries. Following rule 12-2, you announce your intention to identify your ball to your playing partners, you mark the position of the ball, pick it up and your custom logo looks right back at you. Your first guess is correct. Now, just 87 yards from the pin, you pull out your trusty sand wedge and proceed to stick it to six inches from the cup for a kick-in-birdie. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
May, 2020
THE DILEMMA
Needing par to shoot your personal best, you flush a drive up the right side of the fairway and it takes a bad hop into a lateral water hazard. Bummed, you fumble through your bag for a ball and begin thinking how you’re going to drop within two club lengths, chip out from the trees and sink a pitch shot to save par. As you start measuring your drop, your playing partner shouts from the middle of the fairway, “Hey, what are you doing? You should walk to the other side of the hazard and play from there.” Considering his suggestion, you look at the other side of the hazard and see fairway from a neighboring hole and a long, but clear shot at your intended green. Confused, you ask: “Can I really drop over there?”
THE RULING
Your partner’s suggestion is a good one. As long as you keep your point of entry between your drop and your intended target, you are entitled to drop the ball wherever you’d like on that imaginary line. So after an extended walk around the hazard, you gather the yardage to the green from the TeeOff app and flush a nine iron 3 feet from the hole. Unfortunately, the rules of golf can’t help you make the par putt and you end up tying your best score. But it’s not all sad. You’ve learned a new rule that will help you immensely in your future battles versus par!
THE DILEMMA
Playing the 3rd hole of your favorite local track, you’re shocked (and a wee bit disappointed) to discover two golf balls next to one another in the fairway trap. You turn to your buddy, “Wow. Talk about cart golf, eh.” He laughs, hops into the bunker and says: “What number ball are you playing?” “2.” He replies with a wry smile, “Me too.” “Well mine has my custom logo on it.” Unfortunately, both balls are lying face up with only the 2 showing, so now what? Do you just hit one and guess later?
THE RULING
No worries. Following rule 12-2, you announce your intention to identify your ball to your playing partners, you mark the position of the ball, pick it up and your custom logo looks right back at you. Your first guess is correct. Now, just 87 yards from the pin, you pull out your trusty sand wedge and proceed to stick it to six inches from the cup for a kick-in-birdie. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
April, 2020
THE DILEMMA
Standing on the 1st tee, your buddy is ready to crush it with his new driver that he’s been talking about all week. As he takes an enormous cut, a loud ping rings out as he catches the ball on the heel, instantly snapping the shaft at the hosel. Shocked, you stammer, “looks like your clubhead flew farther than the ball!” As he prepares to retee, you remind him that he’s lying one just 30 yards in front of the tee box. He responds: “You’re kidding right?”
THE RULING
Not at all. The USGA defines a stroke as a “forward movement of the club to the ball,” and since his club still hit the ball, he is not entitled to a retee. And just to add insult to injury, he’ll have to play the rest of the round hitting his erratic 3-wood off the tee.
THE DILEMMA
Teeing up your ball up on a lengthy par 5, you know you need to really crush a drive to have a shot at making the green in two. You step back to take a practice swing, but as you follow through, the toe of your driver barely taps the ball and it falls off the tee. Stunned, you look around and find your playing partner laughing hysterically. “You got all of that one. Now you’re hitting two.” Is he right?
THE RULING
Nope. According to Rule 6.2b, if you had no intent on hitting the ball, it’s not a penalty and you’re allowed to retee. Taking advantage of the rule, you shake off your mild case of embarrassment, smoke one down the middle of the fairway and look at your playing partner with a smirk. “Now, I’m hitting two.”
March, 2020
THE DILEMMA
Chipping out of deep greenside fescue, you grab your 60-degree wedge and take an enormous hack. The ball screams over the green, clanks off your cart and bounces onto the fringe. “Whoops. How bout that break?!” “Not so fast, good sir. I’m pretty sure it’s a penalty to hit your cart. I think that’s classified as “equipment?” Rut roh… Is your playing partner correct?
THE RULING
Good news. Because you hit the cart on accident, you’re ready to roll without a penalty. Saved by Rule 11.1, you step up to your ball, put a perfect strike on it and record a very fortuitous par. “Boom. Just the way I didn’t draw it up.”
February, 2020
THE DILEMMA
Sitting 12 feet away from winning the match against your golf buddy/archrival, you bend down to fix a few spike marks in your line. “Whoa, what’re ya doing there?” “Just cleaning up the green a little bit. My grandpa always said leave the green better than you found it.” “Yeah, I don’t think so. Can’t improve your line like that.” Is she right?
THE RULING
She used to be, but not anymore. “2019 rules, come on! Not cleaning up your line is so two years ago.” With the 2019 rule changes, Rule 13.1c states that you’re now allowed to fix any damage on the putting green, including spike marks. After teaching her a lesson on the new rules, you take her to school by draining your birdie putt for the match. “LET’S GO!” you shout while flawlessly executing a ‘Tiger fist pump’ and inadvertently stepping in her line. “Seriously?” “My bad. The new rules will help us fix that.”
January, 2020
THE DILEMMA
With a nice Hawaiian breeze at your back, you decide to try to cut the corner and blast one over a few small palm trees. After a smooth backswing, you rush your follow through and yank one that heads right for the trees. “Did you see that come down?” “No, but it has to be right there.” You and your partner drive up and see a ball stuck in the tree. “I think that’s it. What now?” “Well, you have to climb up there and make sure it’s yours.” “Wait, seriously?”
THE RULING
“Yeah seriously, if you want to take an unplayable lie.” He’s right. You need to identify your ball before taking relief, and then Rule 19 covers your options if a ball is deemed unplayable… and your ball certainly is. After a few failed attempts, you finally climb up and see your three green dots on the ball. “Yep, this is mine,” you say heavy of breath. “I’ll just drop within two club lengths and get up and down for par.” “Alright, let’s just hope that up and down goes a little smoother than you getting up and down from that tree.”
December, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Stepping up to the tee on a dogleg left par 5, you get aggressive and try to cut the corner. “I smoked that, but I don’t think it’s enough.” “I’d hit a provisional if I were you.” You reload and crush one down the middle because…that’s golf. “Golfer B is always better than Golfer A.” “Whatever, let’s see if my first one is in play.” After a quick walk up the stake-line, you get up to your ball and half of it is lying on the OB line and the other half is in play. “Sooooo, is this in or out?”
THE RULING
“Well half of it’s in, so I think you’re good.” He’s right. Rule 18-2 states that the entire ball needs to be across the line for it to be considered OB. “Whew! Well, I started this hole aggressive. No reason to stop now.” You rip the Caddyshack-themed headcover off your 3-wood and knock one on the green. “Putting for eagle. Just the way I drew it up!” Your partner rolls his eyes. “You’re just lucky the guy who drew that OB line doesn’t know how to draw a straight line!”
November, 2019
THE DILEMMA
After spraying a drive into a group of trees, you swap out the driver for a long iron. “I doubt my first one is in play so I’m going to hit this one. First ball is a Titleist 2. This is a 3.” As is always the case, your provisional is hit perfectly down the middle of the fairway. “Ugh. Should have done that the first time.” A short cart ride later, you find your provisional and strike a perfect shot into the green. After your partners play, you ride a bit further up the fairway and what do you know… A Titleist 2 is sitting on the left side of the fairway. “Oh my. That’s my drive. It must have kicked forward out of the trees. Can I play this first one or do I have to play my provisional and take the penalty?”
THE RULING
“I think you can still play that first one. Let me check my rulebook.” Your partner fumbles through his phone and comes across Rule 18-3c. “Yep, you’re good to play that one. Since your provisional ball was further from the hole than your first ball, the provisional ball kept the status of ‘provisional ball’ and not the ball in play. And because you didn’t spend any time looking for your first ball, it was never declared lost.” Lucky break for sure. But unfortunately, you have a few low-hanging branches to deal with. “Hey, what does your rule book say about using a chainsaw to take down a few of these branches?” “Ha. I can’t seem to find a solution for you there.” As it turns out, you don’t need one. You hit a perfect, low-runner 5-feet from the cup.
October, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Needing a par to break 80 for the first time, you hit a crisp wedge over a pond into a front pin location. “Oh, be good.” BANG! Your perfectly struck shot hits the pin and bounds directly backwards off the green and into the water. “Oh my god. No way! Did that just hit the pin and go in the water?! Ugh. Where do I drop?”
THE RULING
“Lucky for you, it’s red staked. So you can drop one up here next to the green. No closer to the hole.” “Yeah, I’m so lucky.” Shaking it off, you follow Rule 26-1. Drop the ball (knee high) within two-club lengths from where it entered the hazard and get ready to roll. “Alright, all I need to do is chip in. Easy.” You find a spot off to the left and hit a bump and run that grazes the pin and drops right in. “ONE TIME! That’s a par baby… 79!”
September, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Standing a comfortable 100 yards from the pin, you take a couple practice hacks with a wedge and prepare to take dead aim. “Watch me suck this one back for a little bird-action.” Supremely focused, you take one last practice swing and then the unthinkable happens. Clunk. Your divot flies directly into your ball and moves if it forward two inches. “Rut roh. Did you just see that?! I just took a divot on a practice swing and I moved my ball. Can I move it back or what?”
THE RULING
“Yeah move it back to where it was, but it’ll cost you a stroke.” “What?!” Unfortunately, your playing partner is correct. According to Rule 18-2, since the ball was not on the tee or green, you’re assessed a one-stroke penalty for accidentally moving a golf ball in play. Resigned from birdie wishes to dreams of making par, you pump your chest out confidently. “Whatever man, I’m still stuffing this.” You pull it back perfectly and flush a wedge. The ball cuts through the air like a knife through butter, lands 6-feet beyond the pin and spins back to and a mere foot from the hole. “Told you I had that shot.” Your partner smirks. “Yeah, sweet par.”
August, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Lying in a perfect lie in the rough, you pull the club back square and boom the ball flies off the face. “Whoopsie. I caught a flyer! I didn’t see it land, but it’s probably in the hazard behind the green on the right.” After a quick search, you drop behind the green and chip on. When you go to pull the pin, you see your first ball in the hole. “Wait, this is my first ball. I eagled!” Your partner responds, “But you already dropped and played another ball. I don’t think that counts anymore.” Who’s right?
THE RULING
Going back to the first rule of golf, “Each hole starts with a stroke from the teeing area and ends when the ball is holed on the putting green.” Lucky for you, your 2nd shot completed the hole and the strokes after didn’t count towards the hole. If your ball had been found anywhere outside of the cup after dropping, you would be stuck playing the 2nd ball. But since you drained it, you can put that pearly white Titleist back in your bag and keep rocking with your lucky eagle ball!
July, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Sitting 150 yards from the pin on your favorite par 3, you need a birdie to tie and an improbable ace to win. With a whisper of wind at your back, you flush a 9-iron and the ball lands behind the pin and spins back towards the stick before it disappears from your view. “Oh, man. I think that went in?!” “No chance.” After a quick cart ride you arrive at the green to find your ball lodged against the flagstick- halfway in the hole. “It’s in. Winner winner chicken dinner.” “Sick shot, but I’m not sure that counts as an ace because the ball’s not completely in the hole. Let’s ask the pro inside.”
THE RULING
Pulling out a rule book, the pro confirms your hunch. “It does! Rule 13-1, if any part of the ball is in the hole below the surface of the putting green, the ball is considered holed even if it is not fully in the cup.” “Ha! I won with an ace on the last hole!” Your playing partner smiles. “Amazing. But we all won, because the drinks are on you!”
June, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Teeing up your ball up on a lengthy par 5, you know you need to really crush a drive to have a shot at making the green in two. You step back to take a practice swing, but as you follow through, the toe of your driver barely taps the ball and it falls off the tee. Stunned, you look around and find your playing partner laughing hysterically. “You got all of that one. Now you’re hitting two.” Is he right?
THE RULING
Nope. According to Rule 6.2b, if you had no intent on hitting the ball, it’s not a penalty and you’re allowed to retee. Taking advantage of the rule, you shake off your mild case of embarrassment, smoke one down the middle of the fairway and look at your playing partner with a smirk. “Now, I’m hitting two.”
April, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Trailing by one shot against a buddy who will never let you hear the end of a loss, you embrace your inner Roy McAvoy, pull out driver and hope to hit a shot that will give your opponent nightmares for weeks. But much like Roy in Tin Cup, the shot you see and the one you hit are two drastically different things. Your overcooked driver finds the fescue left of the fairway. It’s going to take a miracle to win. After a short ride to the area your ball entered the thick stuff, you hop out, and after a quick look, you accidentally hit a ball with the pitching wedge you’ve been carrying dejectedly at your side. “Man, I just accidentally nudged a ball with my wedge on accident and I think it’s mine. Is that a penalty?”
THE RULING
“Nah, just put it back into its original position and hit,” he replies. “In the past, hitting your ball would’ve been considered a penalty, but after the USGA changed Rule 7.4, accidentally moving your ball while searching is no longer a penalty.” Relieved, you place your ball back in the nasty lie and take a hefty hack at it. Miraculously, it flies further then you could ever imagine and comes to rest 2-feet from the pin! Just how you drew it up. “Winner. Winner. Chicken Dinner.”
March, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Driving up the fairway of a long 580-yard par 5, you come to where you think your ball should be, but it’s nowhere to be found. After a quick look around, your partner shouts: “Dude, there’s a ball about 100 yards up on the cart path. Giddy up!” Sure enough, it’s yours. “380-yard drive, that’s about my average since I’ve been hitting the gym lately.” “Relax ‘DJ’, it rolled along the path for 100 yards,” your partner replies. “They don’t ask how, they just ask how long. I’m taking my free drop on the other side of the path. Mind if I swap out for a new ball? This one is all scuffed up.”
THE RULING
Your partner scratches his head and says: “If you asked me that a few months ago, I would’ve said no. But thanks to the new USGA rule changes, you’re in luck.” Under Rule 14.3, players are allowed the choice to substitute a ball when taking a penalty or free relief. After a knee-high drop (new rule, too), you pull out your 5-iron, give it a whack and leave it 30 yards short of your intended target. Your partner shakes his head & starts laughing hysterically. “Hitting the gym, you say?”
February, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Walking up to the 1st green, you find your ball in the bunker with a fried-egg lie. “Just how I wanted to start my round… Hopefully I can get this one out.” You take an enormous whack. The ball clears the lip. And then you inadvertently hit it again on your follow-through! The ball redirects off the clubface, bounds left and comes to rest 15-feet from the hole. “Did that seriously just happen? How many strokes is that going to cost me?”
THE RULING
“None,” your buddy replies. “After the USGA’s 2019 rule changes, you’re no longer penalized for a double hit, unless the double hit was intentional. Was it?” With a smile on your face you reply, “Dude, I couldn’t do that again if I tried.” Relieved, you take a quick look at your uphill par putt and knock it home. “Hooray for the USGA!” Your buddy shakes his head. “You need to work on your sand game… And your rhyming skills.”
January, 2019
THE DILEMMA
Standing on the 18th green, you crouch down to read a 25-foot, downhill birdie putt to break 80 for the first time. The line is crystal clear and assuredly lightning quick. As you step over the ball, your buddy walks over to pull the flagstick. “Not so fast. Keep the stick in. I want the backstop on this blazing putt.” Dumbfounded, your friend replies, “Sure, leave the stick in and hit it if you want. Go ahead and take a stroke penalty and ruin the round of your life.” Is your pal right? Are you about to blow it?
THE RULING
Your friend would have been correct in 2018, but after 2019 USGA Rule Amendments, it is perfectly legal to putt with the pin in. Having this rule in your back pocket, you proceed to smoke your putt down the hill, rattle it off the flagstick and drop the ball right in the center for a 79! “Pulling the pin is so last year, dude… And so is shooting in the 80s!”