rulespin
Paul Kruger is a PGA professional at The
Landings Club in Savannah, Georgia.
by Paul Kruger
wrap up your holiday season with a
few more gifts
That very special time of the year is
here when we are wrapping presents
and surprising our loved ones with
gifts. Did you know that the Rules
of Golf are also in the gift-giving
mode? Many players do not realize
this because their perception of the
Rules has been tainted by various
penalties they have incurred. For
them, the Rules are more Scrooge-
like than Santa-like, having received
too many “lumps of coal” in the
form of penalty strokes. The key to
discovering the many “gifts” that are
available within the Rules is having
a good working knowledge of the
Rules; otherwise these “gifts” will go
unnoticed. Here are a few examples
of the many “gifts” available within
the Rules:
• Your ball comes to rest in a
pristine greenside bunker. However,
another player makes a pitch shot
from behind the bunker, ejecting a
divot that lands right behind your
ball. Ordinarily, Rule 13-4 [Ball in
Hazard; Prohibited Actions] would
prevent you from removing that
divot, which is a loose impediment,
from the bunker. However, your
“gift” in this case is found in Decision
13-4/18 [Partner’s, Opponent’s or
Fellow-Competitor’s Divot Comes to
Rest Near Player’s Ball in Bunker].
This Decision states, “A player is
entitled to the lie which his stroke
gave him. Accordingly, in equity
(Rule 1-4), the divot may be removed
without penalty.”
• As you approach your ball
lying in a brushy waste area, you
notice a rattlesnake near your ball.
Rule 13-1 [Ball Played As It Lies:
General] states, “The ball must be
played as it lies, except as otherwise
provided in the Rules.” Thankfully,
you do not have to endanger yourself
by trying to play your ball as it lies,
or even trying to retrieve your ball.
In this case, your “gift” is embodied
in Decision 1-4/10 [Dangerous
Situation; Rattlesnake or Bees
Interfere with Play] which states,
in part, “If the ball lay through
the green, the player may, without
penalty, drop a ball within one club-
length of and not nearer the hole
than the nearest spot not nearer the
hole that is not dangerous and is not
in a hazard and not on a putting
green.”
• At the teeing ground, an
undetached divot is folded over and
situated just behind where you would
prefer to tee your ball. According
to Decision 13-2/5 [Replacing or
Removing Undetached Divot],
a divot which is not completely
detached is not a loose impediment.
It is something fixed and ordinarily
its removal or replacement would be
a breach of Rule 13-2 [Improving
Lie, Area of Intended Stance or
Swing, or Line of Play] as the lie
and area of intended swing would
be improved. However, your “gift”
in this situation is found in an
overriding statement within Rule
13-2 which advises, in part, “… the
player incurs no penalty if the action
occurs … in creating or eliminating
irregularities of surface within the
teeing ground….”
•
You are playing right into
the sun on a par-3 and, almost
immediately, you lose sight of your
tee shot.
When you arrive at
the green, your ball is no where to
be seen. After you search around
the perimeter of the green, you start
plowing through the bunker in front
of the green desperately trying to
find your ball within the five-minute
search period allowed by Rule 27-
1c [Ball Not Found Within Five
Minutes]. Failing in that effort, you
return to the teeing ground, playing
under penalty of stroke and distance.
When you successfully find the center
of the green with your second tee
shot, you are hopeful of one-putting
and escaping with just a bogey. At
that point, someone discovers that
your original ball is in the hole. In
this case, your “gift” is presented in
Decision 1-1/2 [Player Unaware He
Has Holed Out Puts Another Ball
in Play] which indicates that you
actually completed play of the hole
the moment you holed the original
ball. Merry Christmas … instead of
hoping for a bogey, you got a hole in
one!
7