Roney on the Rules
Colin Mul 'Roney' has been good enough to sumbit his thought on the Rules as they effect us.
Roney on the Rules 1
In this series all references to persons are gender inclusive.
To keep these snippets brief some qualifications, additions,
alternatives, exceptions etc need to be read in conjunction with THE
BOOK.
Changes to the Rules applied from 1.1.12 and every golfer who plays in
competitions should read the new book ( and carry it in the bag
?).
Your FREE copy is available in the Pro-shop, Office or 19th foyer
Roney on the Rules 2
You may play a Provisional ball for a
ball that may be lost outside a Water Hazard or may be Out Of
Bounds. If the ball is known to be in the Water Hazard you
must play under the Water Hazard rule.
If you are playing a Provisional ball
you are saying that you are not certain that the ball is in the
Hazard, so if you don't find it you must continue with the
Provisional
ball.
Rule 27-2
Roney on the Rules 3
If you are going to play a
Provisional ball you must play it from the same spot as the original ball. You must tell your partner(s) of your intention before you hit
it, and you must play that ball before you go forward to look for the
original ball.
So if you played from, say, the 8th
tee and your ball may be in the creek or lost, you cannot then go down
to the creek and say “I’ll play a provisional ball across before we go
over to look”. You must have declared it and played it from the
tee. Otherwise you have played a wrong ball with penalty of 2
strokes or disqualification.
Rule
27-2
Roney on the Rules 4
Your ball nearly makes the green and
bounces out of it's pitch hole and runs back a little way. You
want to putt but the pitch mark is on your line. So you repair
it. Don’t forget to add your two stroke penalty!! That act
is a no, no (unless the pitch mark is on the green).
Roney on the Rules 5.
If you cannot list the 3 options for
a ball in a Water Hazard, or 5 options for a ball in a Lateral Water
Hazard then you are not giving yourself the advantage of being able to
chose the best option. If you don’t know the difference you
should play with someone who does until you learn.
Rule 26.
Roney on the Rules 6
Is it one club length or two ?
First decide if it is a free drop (
GUR, Casual water , Obstructions, some Local Rules,....) or a penalty (
Water Hazard ,Unplayable Lie .....) .
FREE DROP – First find the nearest
the Nearest Point of Relief , mark it , then drop within ONE club
length of that length.
PENALTY DROP – Measure and mark TWO club lengths and drop within that area.
Of course all points above must not be nearer to the hole.
Roney on the Rules 7
You are about to drop a ball on a
steep slope. You know the ball will run down too far so, instead
of wasting time, you just place it. Is that allowed? No!
Two stroke penalty if you play it! The ball must be placed on the spot
where it first touches the ground on the second drop.
Rule 20.
Roney on the Rules 8
Don’t be too quick to pick up a
dropped ball. It should really be allowed to come to rest, then
it is time to decide whether it should be re-dropped. How many
reasons can you list for legally lifting a dropped ball?
Rule 20-2 c lists more than seven.
Roney on the Rules 9
A dropped ball may run up to two
clublengths before it has to be re-dropped. The ‘two clublengths’
is measured from where it first struck the ground on the drop, not from
where it originally lay.
Roney on the Rules 10
Your ball is unplayable. You measure and mark then drop.
What is the greatest distance the ball could be from the original lie before you must re-drop?
Answer- nearly 4 club lengths!
Roney on the Rules 11
Your ball is unplayable in thick scrub where a two clublength penalty
drop is still in the scrub. Are you entitled to go further to get clear
relief from the problem?
Answer – No. One penalty gives you two clublengths, you may need
several more penalties to get clear. You may be wise to try
another relief option.
Roney on the Rules 12
You drop a ball correctly from an unplayable lie and it stops in another unplayable position.
Do you get a free re-drop?
No. Take another penalty drop ! .
Roney of the Rules 13
A player may declare his ball “unplayable” anywhere on the course
EXCEPT in a water hazard or a Lateral Water
Hazard. Rule 28.
Roney on the Rules 14
You declare your ball unplayable and drop correctly and the ball rolls
back into the same position. Do you drop again for free? No, take
another penalty.
Rule 28. Decision 28/3.
Roney on the Rules 15
You get a free drop from an immovable obstruction, but NOT in a water hazard. Rule 24-2. Note 1.
Roney on the Rules 16:
Professional golfers enjoy a “Line of Sight” rule but there is no such
rule for us ordinary folk. Interference by an obstruction must be
physical to allow relief i.e., the object bust interfere with the
stance or the area of the intended swing i.e.,
touching. Rule 24-2a
Roney on the Rules 17:
A boundary fence is not an obstruction therefore no free relief. See Obstruction in definitions in the Rules book.
Roney on the Rules 18:
Easily removed obstructions may be removed, but not stakes marking
specific areas or protecting trees. The Committee has declared all
stakes to be immovable. See the score card and Definitions.
Roney on the Rules 19:
I heard about a player putting his finger on the ball while he removed
some sticks near it. I hope he added his two-stroke
penalty! You are not allowed to attempt to influence the movement
of a ball. Rule 1-2.
These rulings have led to members questions such as the one below:-
Dear Roney,
Can you give me a ruling on the attached photo please?
Last week I over-shot my third into the men’s lavatory and was then perplexed on how to manage it from there!
I ended up taking a free drop. Is this correct?
It has been suggested to me that the toilet bowl might be casual water, but it looked pretty permanent to me.
"Perplexed"
Any other questions may be submitted to Steve Humble.
