By Senior Rules Officials, Pete Scholz and Terry McEvilly
November 6th is Marooned Without a Compass Day, which plays well into two other designated days of the month. Chaos Never Dies Day is on the 9th and the 19th just happens to be Have a Bad Day Day. And every golfer has felt those sentiments after a poor performance on the course. “Will it ever end?” “I hate this game.“ “Forget ever shooting my age, I just want to keep my handicap lower than my age.” We have all said it. Rest assured; better days are ahead. Slumps don’t last forever and the winter months provide a break from the game and a great opportunity to work on other parts, like Rules knowledge.
All in the same month, with all that above mentioned gloom and doom, we have an opportunity to be grateful and thankful to our veterans on the 11th and Thanksgiving on the 23rd. Happy Veterans Day and Thanksgiving everyone. Thank you for making us part of your ongoing learning of the Rules.
With chaos in the air, test your knowledge of when things go “wrong” on the course with the following questions.
Questions: True / False
1) After a two-minute search, a player finds their ball in high grass. After leaving the area to grab a club, they return to the area where the ball is, but are unable to immediately find the ball. The player searches for another two minutes and finds and plays the ball to the green. Since the ball was found and identified the first time within the three-minute search time allowed, they have proceeded properly and incurred no penalties.
2) In match play, if a player plays a wrong ball or plays from a wrong place (serious breach), they must correct the error before beginning play of the next hole. Failure to do so is disqualification.
3) If another player plays your ball (from anywhere on the course except the putting green), the proper procedure for you is to drop the original ball or another ball within one club-length of the original spot.
4) In stroke play, when a player plays from a wrong place, the error must always be corrected by playing from the correct spot before beginning the next hole.
5) On a hole where there is a forced carry of about 100 yards over water fronting the putting green, a player’s shot lands on the putting green but then spins off the front of the green and comes to rest in the yellow penalty area. The player drops a ball more than two, but less than three club-lengths from where the ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area, no closer to the hole and plays it onto the green. The player gets three penalty strokes and must complete the hole with the ball played from the wrong place.
6) In stroke play only, if a player is uncertain whether their playing from a wrong place is serious or not, they may complete the hole with two balls and must report the procedure to the Committee, even if they scored the same with both balls.
7) In question #6, if the Committee rules that there was a serious breach of playing the original ball from a wrong place and the player properly corrected the error, the stroke from the wrong place does not count in the player’s score.
8) If a ball is dropped in a wrong way and is then played from the correct relief area, the player gets only one penalty stroke in both match play and stroke play.
9) A ball that is dropped in the right place, but in a wrong way, may be lifted and dropped again without penalty. However, the dropped ball still counts as one of the two drops required before a ball must be placed under Rule 14.3c(2).
10) Relief must be taken when the player’s ball lies on a wrong green, but not when the wrong green only interferes with his or her intended stance.
Answers:
1) False. Rules 6.3c, 18.2 and Clarification 18.2a(1)/1. The player’s ball became lost once the search extended past three minutes. Therefore, by playing their ball which was now out of play, the player played a wrong ball and must correct the error by playing under penalty of stroke and distance from where the stroke was made that resulted in the ball becoming lost.
2) False. Rule 6.3c and 14.7. In both situations, since it is match play, the player incurs a loss of hole penalty for either playing a wrong ball or playing from a wrong place, regardless if it was a serious breach or not. The opponent wins the hole and no correction is allowed.
3) False. Rule 6.3c(2). The proper procedure is for you to replace a ball on the spot from where yours was played by placing the ball, not dropping. If the exact spot is not known, it must be estimated. If the lie of the ball has been altered by the other player making their stroke, see Rule 14.2d for a bit of relief.
4) False. Rule 14.7b. While it seems logical that if a player has played from a wrong place they must always correct. Such is not always the case. Only when the breach is serious is the player required to correct the error. If the playing from a wrong place is not serious, the player must play out the hole with the ball played from the wrong place and add two penalty strokes.
5) False. Rules 17.1d and 14.7. The player is required to correct this error of playing from a wrong place. In this question, it could be confusing that the player’s wrong place was due to dropping three club-lengths from the edge where the ball entered the penalty area. But the actual wrong place is due to dropping on the wrong side of the penalty area. The lateral relief option mentioned is only available for red penalty areas. By using this option, the player gained a significant advantage of roughly 100 yards and must correct this serious error of playing from a wrong place.
6) True. Rule 14.7b(2). Unless the breach of playing from a wrong place is obviously not a serious breach, it is wise to complete the hole with both balls, and then report the facts to the Committee before returning the scorecard. But all is not rosy. No matter which ball the Committee rules to count, the player still receives a two-stroke penalty for playing the original ball from a wrong place.
7) True. Rule 14.7b(3). To quote the Rule directly, “The stroke made in playing the original ball from a wrong place and any more strokes with that ball do not count."
8) True. Rule 14.3b(4). In this situation the player has not played from a wrong place, but gets a one-stroke penalty for the improper drop.
9) False. Rules 14.5a and 14.3b(4). The first part of this question is true because when a ball has been dropped in a wrong way, it may be lifted and dropped again without penalty. The second part of this question makes the answer false because the ball dropped in a wrong way does not count as one of the two drops required before the ball must be placed.
10) False. Rule 13.1f. A player must not make a stroke with interference from a wrong green, which includes interference to their intended stance, swing or lie of ball. Thankfully, free relief is available and provides comic relief at the Thanksgiving dinner when asked what we are thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving.