rulespin
Paul Kruger is a PGA professional at
The Landings Club in Savannah, Georgia.
by Paul Kruger
april fool
Apparently, April Fools’ Day
began around 1582 when the
Gregorian calendar replaced the
Julian calendar. Back then, those
who forgot that there was a new
calendar and attempted to celebrate
New Year’s (formerly celebrated on
April 1st) on the wrong day were
teased as “April fools.” Nowadays,
we recognize April 1st as the day
reserved for playing practical jokes
on others. As illustrated by the
adjacent photograph, a classic April
fools prank on the golf course is
tricking a friend into teeing up an
exploding golf ball.
Pranks on the golf course aside, it
is foolish for someone to even think
about playing a competitive round
golf without knowing the Rules.
As noted in Rule 6-1 [Rules], “The
player and his caddie are responsible
for knowing the Rules.” This article
highlights just a few of the foolish
mistakes that can be made by golfers
who are ignorant of the Rules
pertaining to stroke play.
Player A marked the position of
his ball on the putting green, and
then set it aside while waiting for
his turn to play. When it became
his turn to play, Player A failed to
replace the ball. Instead, he putted
the ball from where he had set it
aside. After completing play of the
hole, this “fool” then played from the
next teeing ground. For these foolish
mistakes, the player is disqualifi ed!
Decision 15/4 [Player Lifts Ball,
Sets It Aside and Plays It from
Where Set Aside] points out that
when a ball is lifted under Rule 20-1
[Lifting and Marking], it is out of
play. Thus, when the player played
a stroke with his ball while it was
out of play, he played a wrong ball.
Pursuant to Rule 15-3b [Wrong
Ball: Stroke Play], Player A incurred
a penalty of two strokes and was
required to correct his mistake prior
to playing from the next teeing
ground. Because he failed to do so,
Player A is disqualifi ed!
Player B’s ball comes to rest
against the fl agstick in the hole, but
a portion of the ball is above the
lip of the hole. Believing her ball
to be holed, she picked it up and
proceeded to the next teeing ground
where she commenced play of that
hole. For these foolish mistakes, the
player is disqualifi ed
!
The Defi nition of “Holed”
advises, “A ball is “holed” when it
is at rest within the circumference
of the hole and all of it is below the
level of the lip of the hole.” Rule
17-4 [Ball Resting Against Flagstick]
states, “When a player’s ball rests
against the fl agstick in the hole and
the ball is not holed, the player …
may move or remove the fl agstick,
and if the ball falls into the hole, the
player is deemed to have holed out
with his last stroke; otherwise, the
ball, if moved, must be placed on
the lip of the hole, without penalty.”
Since Player B did not hole out, she
was in breach of Rule 3-2 [Failure
to Hole Out] which, like Rule 15-3b,
is a so-called “must correct” Rule.
Rule 3-2 states, “If a competitor fails
to hole out at any hole and does not
correct his mistake before he makes
a stroke on the next teeing ground,
or in the case of the last hole of the
round, before he leaves the putting
green, he is disqualifi ed.”
Player C marked his ball on the
putting green, but his ball-marker
was on the line of putt of a fellow-
competitor. At the request of the
fellow-competitor, he moved his
ball-marker one putter head to the
side, and then lifted his ball. When
it became his turn to play, Player
C replaced his ball in front of his
ball-marker without fi rst shifting
the ball-marker back to its original
location. After Player C putted
and his ball came to rest near the
hole, he remembered that he had
not relocated his ball-marker. He
then picked up his ball and placed
it as near as possible to the spot
on which his original ball came to
rest on the putting green. He then
putted out from that location. For
these foolish mistakes, the player is
penalized a total of four strokes!
Decision 20-7c/2 [Ball Putted
from Wrong Place Lifted and
Putted from Right Place] indicates
that, when Player C replaced his
ball in front of his ball-marker and
putted, he played from a wrong
place and incurred a penalty of
two strokes per Rule 20-7c [Playing
from Wrong Place: Stroke Play].
Rule 20-7c states, in part, “If a
competitor makes a stroke from a
wrong place, he incurs a penalty
of two strokes under the applicable
Rule. He must play out the hole
with the ball played from the wrong
place without correcting his error,
provided he has not committed a
serious breach….” Subsequently,
when Player C lifted his ball from
where it lay near the hole without
marking its position and did not
replace it, he incurred a second two-
stroke penalty for a breach of Rule
20-1 [Lifting and Marking].
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