The USGA Etiquette .........Spirit of the Game

ETIQUETTE

Unlike many sports, golf is played, for the most part, without the supervision of a referee or umpire. The game relies on the integrity of the individual to show consideration for other players and to abide by the Rules.

All players should conduct themselves in a disciplined manner, demonstrating courtesy and sportsmanship at all times, irrespective of how competitive they may be.

This is the spirit of the game of golf.

Until a couple of years ago etiquette on the golf course was encouraged but not mandated. Now, if you fail to follow the etiquette guidelines you can be disqualified, or even prohibited from playing on the course.

So be nice to one another.

2006 #17 Can You Mark and Lift Your Ball?

THE SCENE:
You are playing hole #4 with Nancy. Your approach shot stops just short of the green. Nancy’s ball is about 20 yards behind yours, at the bottom of the hill. The flag is up front. Nancy asks you to mark your ball. But your ball is not on the green.

What would you do?
A.  You are not allowed to move your ball. So you refuse.
B.  You mark your ball and lift it carefully so that you don’t clean it.

B is correct
If another player thinks your ball might interfere with her play and asks you to mark and lift your ball, you are not only allowed to lift your ball, you are required to.

But be careful. Don’t mark your ball because you think it might interfere with her play. Wait until you are asked. Otherwise you will incur a one stroke penalty. See Rule 22-2

22-2 Ball Interfering with Play
Except when a ball is in motion, if a player considers that the ball of another player might interfere with his play, he may have it lifted. …The ball must not be cleaned unless it lies on the putting green. 
In stroke play, a player required to lift his ball may play first rather than lift the ball. 
Note: Except on the putting green, a player may not lift his ball solely because he considers that it might interfere with the play of another player. If a player lifts his ball without being asked to do so, he incurs a penalty of one stroke for a breach of Rule 18-2a, but there is no additional penalty under Rule 22. 



Incidentally, you are allowed to mark your ball without a request if you think it might help her play. (Rule 22-1)

REMEMBER: If someone asks you to mark and lift your ball anywhere on the course, do so. But, unless your ball is on the putting green, don’t clean it.

2006 #16 Your ball strikes hers. Is there a penalty?

THE SCENE:
You are playing in the first stroke play Championship round, on hole #8. All four balls are on the putting green. One is beyond the cup. You are away, putting steeply downhill. None of the players has marked her ball.

What would you do?
A. Ask the players to mark their balls to prevent a 2-stroke penalty if your ball strikes one of them?
B. Say nothing and hope the player whose ball is beyond the cup leaves it there? If your ball misses the cup, her ball could act as a backstop. And she would get the 2-stroke penalty, not you.

A is correct. You would be penalized 2-strokes if your ball, after a stroke on the putting green, hit one of the other balls.

Open your Rules of Golf book to Rule 19-5. You will see the following:
Rule 19 Ball in motion deflected or stopped
19-5. By Another Ball
a. At Rest
If a player’s ball in motion after a stroke is deflected or stopped by a ball in play and at rest, the player must play his ball as it lies. In match play, there is no penalty. In stroke play, there is no penalty unless both balls lay on the putting green prior to the stroke, in which case the player incurs a penalty of two strokes.

REMEMBER: The only time there is a penalty when your ball hits another ball at rest is in stroke play, when both balls are on the green prior to the stroke.

2006 #15 Burrowing Animal Hole

THE SCENE:
You are playing the 18th hole. You hit your second shot over the hill and lose sight of it but you know it was on the right side of the fairway. You just hope it didn’t bounce down into the trees. You drive your golf cart down to the cart path. There is no sign of your ball. You climb out and walk down into the trees, searching under the huge rocks, inside the grate and finally you see it. It’s in a small hole. It’s a hole made by some animal, probably a mole or groundhog and your ball is down inside it. You can see it and it has your mark on it.

What would you do?
A. That area is not a hazard. You have to play the ball as it lies. But you can’t because it’s down in the hole. So you declare your ball unplayable, take a penalty stroke and drop within 2 club lengths.
B. The hole was made by a burrowing animal so you get free relief. You lift your ball, find your nearest point of relief and drop within one club-length, no closer to the hole.

B is correct.
The definition of Abnormal Ground Condition is:

Abnormal Ground Conditions


An “abnormal ground condition” is any casual water, ground under repair or hole, cast or runway on the course made by a burrowing animal, a reptile or a bird.

So what is a burrowing animal? The definition is:

Burrowing Animal


A “burrowing animal” is an animal that makes a hole for habitation or shelter, such as a rabbit, mole, groundhog, gopher or salamander.

So, your ball is in a hole made by a burrowing animal, which means it’s in an Abnormal Ground Condition. And you can drop within 1 club-length of your nearest point of relief. See the rule:

25-1 Abnormal Ground Conditions
a. Interference


Interference by an abnormal ground condition occurs when a ball lies in or touches the condition or when the condition interferes with the player's stance or the area of his intended swing.

b. Relief


Except when the ball is in a water hazard, a player may take relief from interference by an abnormal ground condition as follows: 


(i) Through the Green: If the ball lies through the green, the player must lift the ball and drop it without penalty within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief.

REMEMBER: If you find your ball in a burrowing animal hole anywhere on the course except in a water hazard, you get FREE relief.

2006 #13 Putter Used as Ball Marker

The Scene:
We were playing hole #18. All four balls lay on the green. I was away. I walked to my ball and placed my long putter behind it. Keeping my putter in place, I leaned over and lined up my ball. Then I removed my putter. But as I removed it, I twisted it against the ball and the ball rolled away a couple of inches. I replaced the ball. Should I take a penalty?

What would you do?

We weren’t sure what to do so we reasoned as follows:
First, I used my putter as a ball marker. Is that legal?
Yes, Decision 20-1/16 says
Examples of methods of marking the position of a ball which are not recommended, but are permissible, are as follows: 
• placing the toe of a club at the side of, or behind, the ball;

Second, when I removed my ‘ball marker’, the ball moved. Is there a penalty?
The following decision says there is no penalty.
20-3a/1 Ball Moved in Removing Ball-Marker After Replacing Ball
Q. A player replaces his ball under a Rule and, in the act of removing the object marking its position, accidentally moves the ball. What is the ruling? 
A. Removal of the ball-marker is part of the replacement process. Accordingly, under Rule 20-3a, no penalty is incurred, and the ball must be replaced.

Third, to make doubly sure, we phoned the pro shop. They checked it out and said that as long as I had replaced the ball there was no penalty.

REMEMBER: If you accidentally move your ball when you lift the ball marker, there is no penalty IF you replace the ball.

2006 #11 Ball Lost in an Immovable Obstruction

The Scene:
You are playing hole #17, just before the Bay Hill Invitational. You hit a fantastic high drive but it draws, and drops down left of the green. Bang, crack, it hits the grandstand and rattles around underneath. When you arrive at the hole, you walk under the stand and search for your ball. But you can’t find it.

What would you do?
A. Realize that your ball is lost, take a penalty of stroke and distance, go back to the tee and hit again?
B. Determine where your ball entered the grandstand? Take free relief from that spot? Find your nearest point of relief and drop a ball within one club length of that point, no closer to the hole?

B is correct.
The grandstand is an immoveable obstruction and your ball is lost in it.
Open your Rules of Golf book to Rule 24, Obstructions.

24-3. Ball in Obstruction Not Found
(new 2008) It is a question of fact whether a ball that has not been found after having been struck toward an obstruction is in the obstruction. In order to apply this Rule, it must be known or virtually certain that the ball is in the obstruction. In the absence of such knowledge or certainty, the player must proceed under Rule 27-1.

 24-3b. Ball in Immovable Obstruction Not Found
If it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in an immovable obstruction, the player may take relief under this Rule. If he elects to do so, the spot where the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the obstruction must be determined and, for the purpose of applying this Rule, the ball is deemed to lie at this spot and the player must proceed as follows:

(i)Through the Green: If the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the immovable obstruction at a spot through the green, the player may substitute another ball, without penalty, and take relief as prescribed in Rule 24-2b(i).

24-2. Immovable Obstruction
 b. Relief
(i)Through the Green:If the ball lies through the green, the player must lift the ball and drop it, without penalty, within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief. The nearest point of relief must not be in a hazard or on a putting green. When the ball is dropped within one club-length of the nearest point of relief, the ball must first strike a part of the course at a spot that avoids interference by the immovable obstruction and is not in a hazard and not on a putting green.

So, as in B above, determine where your ball entered the grandstand. Take free relief from that spot. Find your nearest point of relief and drop a ball within one club length of that point, no closer to the hole.

REMEMBER: Prior to the Bay Hill Invitational many new structures are built on the course. If you know your ball went into one of them and stayed there, but you can’t find it, your ball is lost in an immoveable obstruction, and you get free relief! Take advantage of the Rules. They can help you.

2006 #10 How many times can you play your provisional ball?

THE SCENE:
You hit a drive on hole #2. As your ball nears the left bunker it strikes something hard, bounces high in the air, going left and disappears down the hill. It is a dry day and you know the ball might have rolled all the way down the hill and out of bounds. So, you announce that you are going to play a provisional ball and you tee it up. Then you swing. But oh, no! You looked up. The club barely clipped the top of the ball. The ball rolls off the tee box and stops. After a few muttered expletives you walk towards your provisional ball to hit it a second time. But your partner stops you. “If you hit that, it will be your ball in play and you’ll be lying 4. Don’t you want to search for your original ball first?”

What would you do?
A. What if your partner is right? If your original ball is not out of bounds you’d be lying 1 near the green. If you hit the provisional ball you’d then be lying 4. Of course you search for your original ball.
B.  You think your partner is wrong. You can hit the provisional until you reach your original ball. And the whole point of playing a provisional is to save time. So you hit it.

B is correct.

Look in your Rules of Golf book at 

Rule #27-2
b. When Provisional Ball Becomes Ball in Play
The player may play a provisional ball until he reaches the place where the original ball is likely to be. If he makes a stroke with the provisional ball from the place where the original ball is likely to be or from a point nearer the hole than that place, the original ball is lost and the provisional ball becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 27-1).

REMEMBER: Once you hit a provisional ball you can hit it as many times as you need to until you reach the place where the original ball is likely to be. If you then find your original ball in bounds you can play it. In this case, if you found your original ball in bounds you’d be lying one.

2006 #6 Unplayable in Bunker

The Scene:
Your fourth shot on hole #12 went high and right then dropped straight down into the greenside bunker. You climb down into the bunker, determined to get your ball up and over the high lip (Can you call that big hill a lip?). So, you swing back and kill it. Your ball not only doesn’t get up, it buries itself up under the lip. You know you’ll never get it up from there.

You can take one penalty stroke and declare your ball unplayable. But then what? You could hit from where you hit before. But that was in the bunker and playing from there is what got you into this mess. So,

What would you do?
A. Take another penalty stroke to get out of the bunker? Drop your ball behind the bunker on an imaginary straight line that runs from the flag through your ball and back as far as you wish?
B.  Drop your ball, inside the bunker within 2 club lengths of where it lies?
C.  Drop your ball on an imaginary straight line that runs from the flag through your ball and back as far as you wish? But drop inside the bunker?

Either B or C is correct.

If you chose A you probably know that for a price you can get out of the bunker when there is interference from an Immoveable Obstruction or Casual Water or Ground Under Repair. But you can’t pay your way out for an Unplayable Lie. I’m sorry, but in this scenario you are stuck in the bunker.

REMEMBER: If your ball lies unplayable in a bunker, except for playing your ball from where you played before, your options don’t include any way to drop your ball outside of the bunker. You’ll have to play your way out.

2006 #5 Slow Play

The Scene:
Your foursome has just teed off on hole #6. The group behind you was waiting while you putted out on the last green. You can now see that there is no one ahead of you on your hole. And there is no-one on hole #7. Your group has really fallen behind.

What would you do?
A.  Plan to finish hole #6, then after hitting your drives on hole #7, wait and let the group behind you play through?
B.  Immediately break up into 2 twosomes. As soon as the first twosome is out of range, the second twosome should play.

There are holes open in front of you. The goal is to catch up. 

So B is the correct answer. 

Immediately break up into 2 twosomes. You will be amazed at how fast a twosome can play. Probably twice as fast as a foursome. Unless you are very long hitters both groups can play on the par 5s and par 4s at the same time.

Your first twosome will soon catch up with the group in front of you. Then, as they are waiting, your second twosome will catch up with them. You can then recombine your group into a foursome.

When your group is behind, you are slowing up not just the group behind you but everyone behind them, the entire course. So catching up is better than letting one group play through.

REMEMBER: When your group falls behind, break your foursome up into two twosomes and catch up.

2006 #4 Lateral Water Hazard

THE SCENE:
You are playing hole #4 at Beech Mountain. You slice your tee shot. It lands on the cart path and bounces right, into the water hazard on hole #5. What would you do? See diagram below.

To drop a ball outside the hazard, you know you have to take a penalty stroke.
But where should you drop your ball?
 
A. Drop a ball within 2 club lengths of where the ball last entered the hazard. See       X, below.

B. Draw an imaginary straight line from the flagstick through the spot where your ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard (X) and back as far as you wish. We will refer to the part of that line that is behind the hazard as (Y-Y). Drop a ball behind the hazard anywhere on line Y-Y.


A is correct because this is a lateral water hazard.


This side of the water hazard (adjacent to hole #4 fairway) is marked by a red line or stakes indicating that it is a lateral water hazard. So, You can drop within 2 club lengths of where your ball last entered the hazard, no closer to the hole.

If this were a regular water hazard, marked by yellow lines or stakes, your only options would be to play again from the tee or to drop a ball on your imaginary line behind the hazard (line Y-Y).


REMEMBER: When your ball is in a lateral water hazard you can drop a ball within 2 club lengths of where your ball last entered the hazard.

2006 #3 When is Your Ball Out of Bounds at Beech?

THE SCENE:
You are on the 7th tee at Beech Mountain. You pull out your driver and hit a ball high. It slices to the right where it bounces on the cart path. The ball lands beyond the white out-of-bounds stake, but then it bounces back. It is lying on the grass between the cart path and the white stake. In addition to the white stakes there are white circles and the letters OB painted on the cart path.

What would you do?
A.  Since your ball is inside the white out-of-bounds stake you can play it as it lies. No penalty.
B.  The letters and circles on the cart path mean that everything beyond the cart path is out of bounds. So you have to take a penalty stroke and play another shot from the tee. After that shot, you will be lying 3.

B is correct.
On both hole #3 and hole #7 you will see “OB” and solid white circles painted on the cart path. Ideally the white wooden stakes would be driven into the cart path or into the ground right beside it. But that is impossible. So, instead, we have these drawings on the cart path. The drawings mean “everything beyond the cart path is OB”. The reason the OB line is so close to the path is because everything beyond the path is private property.

So, your ball is out of bounds and you must take a penalty of stroke and distance.

Open your Rules of Golf book and look at 

Rule 27-1:
 b. Ball Out of Bounds
If a ball is out of bounds, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5).

REMEMBER: At Beech Mountain, if your ball lies beyond the cart path on the portion of either hole #3 or hole #7 where you see “OB” painted on the cart path, your ball is out of bounds.

Rules 06 Tip #2 Range Finders

ARE RANGE FINDERS LEGAL OR ILLEGAL? Our current Rule 14-3 says that range finders are illegal. But a note says the Committee can make a local rule allowing them to be used.
… Except as provided in the Rules, during a stipulated round the player must not use any artificial device or unusual equipment:
For the purpose of gauging or measuring distance or conditions that might affect his play;



The following was added in 2008:


Note: The Committee may make a Local Rule allowing players to use devices that measure or gauge distance only.


ADVICE OR NOT ADVICE? A current decision, 8-1/2, says you can share with anyone the distance between her ball and the hole.
8-1/2 Exchanging Distance Information
Information regarding the distance between two objects is public information and not advice. It is therefore permissible for players to exchange information relating to the distance between two objects. For example, a player may ask anyone, including his opponent, fellow-competitor or either of their caddies, the distance between his ball and the hole.
But if the information was determined by a range finder and the local rule for a range finder has not been adopted, the player asking for advice will be disqualified.
This following was added in 2008:
Except when the Local Rule allowing the use of distance-measuring devices has been adopted (see Note to Rule 14-3), information regarding distance must not have been obtained from an artificial device used during the stipulated round. A player who obtains distance information that he knew was measured by anyone with an artificial device during the player’s round is disqualified under Rule 14-3. (Revised)

REMEMBER: You can share the distance you see on your range finder with those with whom you are playing, if the course where you are playing has adopted the local rule.