The Rule — Golf’s Cornerstone

            Many of the golfers in this country break the Rules of Golf somewhere along the line just about every time they play, either intentionally or inadvertently, and get away with it.  On the other hand, in professional golf and important amateur competition, the Rules of Golf are never broken, at least not without the prescribed penalty being invoked.

            The strict adherence to the rules is the cornerstone of our professional tour.  Without them the game would be a shambles and, without the individual integrity of the players in a sport in which much of the action can go unobserved, these rules would be useless.

            The Rules of Golf have been carefully constructed and revised through the years by the U.S. Golf Association, the governing body of amateur golf in this country.  Sometimes, the public becomes upset over an application of the rules that seems unduly harsh and unfair.  In fact, we of the pro tour have found it necessary at times through the years to alter one or two of the USGA’s rules.  But, basically, we play those Rules of Golf and so should everybody who plays the game and wants to play it right. 

            It usually takes the newcomer quite a while to completely master the Rules of Golf, even if he buys himself a copy from the USGA for a quarter and studies them closely.  He usually learns them on the course or by watching tournament golf.  So, it occurred to me that I might help you learn the more important rules by creating a fictitious round of golf filled with trouble and applying the rules to it.

            Let’s join the gallery of Hapless Harry as he tees up his ball on the first hole:

            A bit nervous, Harry tees his ball up, sets his driver down behind it to line up and nudges the ball off the tee. (No penalty.  Tee up again, Harry.)  Harry drives into the fairway.  So far, so good.  Except that when he gets to the ball, he nudges it with the toes of his club onto a tuft of grass. (Unless a special rule is in effect for the competition, usually called “winter rules,” the player may not move his ball to improve its position.  Two strokes or loss of hole in match play.  This also applies to bending or breaking off fixed or growing vegetation interfering in any way with the shot.)

            Harry proceeds without further incident until he gets on the green, marks the position of the ball directly behind the spot with a dime (a recommended procedure that becomes a rule if specifically designated for the competition), puts the ball in his pocket and puts a new one down in it place.  (Unless the first ball was so damaged as to be unfit for further play and a fellow competitor or official witnesses this, it’s a two-stroke penalty in stroke play, loss of hole in match play.)

            On to the next hole.  Our hapless friend hooks the tee shout and it appears to roll outside the row of white stakes along the left side.  Out of bounds?  Not Sure.  (He tells a fellow competitor he is playing a provisional ball until they get there and find out.  He has to count the first shot and take a penalty stroke, so he is hitting three.  If he finds that the original ball is out of bounds, he proceeds with the provisional ball and his fourth stroke.  If the original ball is in bounds, he must play it and pick up the second.)

            Harry’s approach shot drops into a trap.  He walks into the trap, works his feet into the sand.  (Very proper.)  Then, just as he does on other shots, he lays the head of his wedge on the sand behind the ball.  (That’s a two-stroke penalty or loss of hole.  You can’t sole the club in any hazard until you make the forward stroke.)

            Trouble continues on the third hole.  Harry’s tee shot rolls into a chewed-up area in the fairway that has been circled with a white line, maybe marked with a sign.  (That means “ground under repair” and a free lift.  He goes to the nearest point outside the line or damaged area that is not closer to the hole, stands erect facing the hole and drops the ball behind him over either shoulder.  It’s a one-stroke penalty if you drop improperly.)

            Naturally, Harry fails to carry the little pond in front of the green.  (This costs him a stroke.  Unless officials have designated a special drop area, he goes to the point where the ball crossed the edges of that water hazard and can drop anywhere behind that point on a line from the hole.  If feasible, he can replay the shot with the stroke penalty.)

            His next tee shot sails to the right and bounds into a creek running parallel to the fairway.  (That costs him a penalty stroke.  He has the same drop options as he had with the ball in the pond on the previous hole, but since this is a lateral water hazard, he can also elect to drop within two club lengths of the edge on either side from the point where the ball entered the hazard.)

            Harry’s succeeding shot flies into a heavy thicket and stops in a spot from which he feels he can’t play a shot.  (He can call it unplayable without consulting anybody else and has three options:  With a stroke penalty, he can replay the previous shot, can drop within two club lengths to either side of that spot but not nearer the hole or can drop as far behind that spot, keeping himself in direct line with the hole and that spot.)

            The next mishap occurs when Harry puts his ball behind a rain shelter house.  (This is an immovable obstruction and he gets a free drop if his ball is within two club-lengths of it and it interferes with his stance or any part of his swing.  His drop is two club-lengths from the edge of the obstruction nearest the ball, again not nearer the hole.  With a few exceptions, anything artificial built of placed on a course is an obstruction.)

            It had rained heavily that morning and our man’s next shot rolls into a puddle of rain water.  (That’s “casual water”—a temporary accumulation.  He gets a free drop, following the same procedure as with “ground under repair.”)\

            So what does Harry do then but hit his ball into the woods.  After five minutes of searching, it hasn’t been found.  (It then becomes a lost ball and is treated exactly as was the ball out of bounds—replayed from the previous spot with a stroke penalty.)

            At that point, Harry figures that he has had enough for one day.  We head in.  Hundreds of other incidents in golf involve the rules, so learn them and abide by them.