rulespin
Paul Kruger is a PGA professional at The
Landings Club in Savannah, Georgia.
by Paul Kruger
Holiday Pie Quiz
Have you ever tried to devour an
entire pumpkin pie in one sitting? It’s
not that easy, is it? Well, here’s a no-
calorie, True/False Rules quiz, with
each question representing a slice of
the pie. Just like eating multiple slices
of a pie, each successive question just
might be a little more difficult to get
through than the previous one. See
if you can you make it through this
entire 8-slice pie without making any
mistakes. Bon appétit!
1. If you are standing close
enough to the flagstick so that you
may touch it; you are deemed to be
attending the flagstick
2. In repairing an old hole plug,
you are not permitted to tamp down
a spike mark that happens to be
within the hole plug.
3. A ball lying on a leaf in a
bunker is not considered to lie in
the bunker since the margin of the
bunker does not extend vertically
upwards.
4. If you start your round with
only 12 clubs, and you lose your
putter and then break your pitching
wedge over your knee after missing
a short putt, you are permitted to
replace those clubs.
5. You are not permitted to back
into a low-hanging branch of a tree
causing it to move out of the way if
that is the only way that you can take
your stance.
6. “Through the green” includes
the teeing ground and the putting
green of the hole that you are
playing.
7. If you are playing in a four-
ball or foursomes event, you may
never share clubs with your partner.
8. A dropped ball must be re-
dropped if it rolls into and comes to
rest in a hazard.
Answers:
1. True Note 1 to Rule 17-1
[Flagstick Attended, Removed or
Held Up] states, “If the flagstick
is in the hole and anyone stands
near it while a stroke is being
made, he is deemed to be attending
the flagstick.”
Decision 17-1/1
[Meaning of “Stands Near the
Hole”] clarifies that if a person is
close enough to touch the flagstick,
then he is considered to be “standing
near the hole.”
2. False Rule 16-1/c [Repair of
Hole Plugs, Ball Marks and Other
Damage] points out that you may
repair an old hole plug or damage
to the putting green caused by the
impact of a ball. Any other damage
to the putting green must not be
repaired if it might assist you in
your subsequent play of the hole.
However, Decision 16-1a/16.5
[Spike Mark on Line of Putt
Pressed Down When Player Repairs
Old Hole Plug] indicates that, in
repairing an old hole plug, there is
no penalty for repairing a spike mark
that happens to be within the old
hole plug.
3. False The Definition of
“Bunker” confirms that the margin
of a bunker extends vertically
downwards, but not upwards. This
Definition also states, “A ball is in a
bunker when it lies in or any part
of it touches the bunker.” Decision
13/5 [Ball Lying on Obstruction
in Bunker] advises, “Although
the margin of a bunker does not
extend upwards, a ball lying on an
obstruction in a bunker is in the
bunker.” It follows that a ball lying
on a loose impediment in a bunker is
in the bunker.
4. True Rule 4-4a [Selection
and Addition of Clubs] states, “The
player must not start a stipulated
round with more than fourteen
clubs. He is limited to the clubs
thus selected for that round, except
that if he started with fewer than
fourteen clubs, he may add any
number, provided his total number
does not exceed fourteen.” If you
had started the round with fourteen
clubs, then you would not have been
permitted to replace either your lost
putter or your pitching wedge which
was not damaged in the normal
course of play. See Decision 4-3/10
[Replacement of Club Lost During
Round] and Decision 4-3/8 [Player
Starting with 13 Clubs Breaks Putter
in Anger and Replaces It].
5. False Rule 13-2 [Improving
Lie, Area of Intended Stance or
Swing, or Line of Play] specifies,
in part, that you must not improve
the area of your intended swing by
moving anything that is growing.
However, you incur no penalty if
this action occurs in fairly taking
your stance.
6. False The Definition of
“Through the Green” states, in part,
“”Through the green” is the whole
area of the course except: a. The
teeing ground and the putting green
of the hole being played.”
7. False Rule 4-4b [Partners
May Share Clubs] states, “Partners
may share clubs, provided that the
total number of clubs carried by the
partners so sharing does not exceed
fourteen.”
8. True According to Rule 20-
2c(i) [When to Re-Drop], a dropped
ball must be re-dropped, without
penalty, if it rolls into and comes to
rest in a hazard.
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