rulespin
Paul Kruger is a PGA professional at
The Landings Club in Savannah, Georgia.
by Paul Kruger
club med – when you get a tough “break”
Sorry to disappoint, but this is
not an article about where to book
your next vacation at one of Club
Med’s all-inclusive holiday resorts.
Instead, it is a brief review about
what, if any, “medical” attention
may be given to a club should it
become damaged during a round.
The relevant prescription for
repairing or replacing a damaged
club is found in Rule 4-3a [Damaged
Clubs; Repair and Replacement:
Damage in Normal Course of Play]:
If, during a stipulated round,
a player’s club is damaged in the
normal course of play, he may:
(i) use the club in its damaged
state for the remainder of the
stipulated round; or
(ii) without unduly delaying play,
repair it or have it repaired; or
(iii) as an additional option
available only if the club is unfi t
for play, replace the damaged club
with any club. The replacement of
a club must not unduly delay play
(Rule 6-7) and must not be made by
borrowing any club selected for play
by any other person playing on the
course or by assembling components
carried by the player during the
stipulated round.
Note: A club is unfi t for play if it is
substantially damaged, e.g., the shaft
is dented, signifi cantly bent or breaks
into pieces; the clubhead becomes
loose, detached or signifi cantly
deformed; or the grip becomes loose.
A club is not unfi t for play solely
because the club’s lie or loft has been
altered, or the clubhead is scratched.
Rule 4-3a authorizes the repair or
replacement of a damaged club only
if it was damaged in the “normal
course of play.” Decision 4-3/1
[Meaning of Damage Sustained in
“Normal Course of Play”], advises
that this phrase is intended to cover
all reasonable acts, but not cases
of abuse, and elaborates with the
following:
In addition to making a stroke,
practice swing or practice stroke,
examples of acts that are in the
“normal course of play” include the
following:
• removing or replacing a club
in the bag;
• using a club to search for or
retrieve a ball (except by throwing
the club);
• leaning on a club while waiting
to play, teeing a ball or retrieving a
ball from the hole; or
• accidentally dropping a club.
[The adjacent photograph shows
Ernie Els snapping his 4-iron during
the 2015 Valspar Championship.
This is an example of a club being
damaged during the “normal course
of play.”]
Examples of acts that are not in
the “normal course of play” include
the following:
• throwing a club whether in anger,
in retrieving a ball, or otherwise;
• “slamming” a club into a bag; or
• intentionally striking something
(e.g., the ground or a tree) with the
club other than during a stroke,
practice swing or practice stroke.
[The
adjacent
photograph
shows Thomas Pieters about to
snap his 9-iron around his neck
after a poor shot at the 2018 BMW
Championship. This is an example
of a club being damaged other than
in the “normal course of play.”]
According to Decision 4-3/2
[Meaning of “Repair”], “The term
“repair” in Rule 4-3a(ii) means
to restore the club, as nearly as
possible, to its condition prior to the
incident that caused the damage.
In so doing, the player is limited to
the grip, shaft and clubhead used to
comprise the club at the beginning
of the stipulated round or, in the
case of a club later added, when
the club was selected for play.
When a club is damaged to
the extent that the grip, shaft or
clubhead has to be changed, this
change exceeds what is meant by
the term “repair.” Such action
constitutes replacement and is only
permitted if the club was “unfi t for
play” – see Rule 4-3a(iii).”
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