TheRules
You have several options should
you find your ball buried in an
impossible lie in a bunker.
@SUNSHINESEEDS VIA TWENTY20
Answering Some
Common Rules
Questions BY CHRIS LANG
VSGA staffers were scheduled to host
several in-person Rules of Golf seminars
in the spring before the coronavirus
pandemic shut down much of the world.
Still, we were able to conduct a pair of virtual
webinars where members and aspiring
Rules officials could riff with tournament
department staff on the Rules. As we return
to competitive play this summer, there are
still some facets of the updated 2019 Rules
that spawn more questions than others. A
quick look at two of them:
I HIT MY BALL INTO A PENALTY AREA
BUT IT’S PLAYABLE. CAN I GROUND
MY CLUB OR GET RID OF A STRAY
LEAF BEFORE TAKING MY SHOT?
Yes, you can. One of the changes in the
2019 Rules of Golf was to eliminate any
special restrictions when a ball is in a
penalty area, the expanded designation
for the area that includes what were
previously called water hazards. Per
Rule 17, a player can touch or move loose
impediments and touch the ground with
hand or club, such as grounding the club
right behind the ball, subject only to the
prohibition on improving conditions
affecting the stroke, which is covered
in Rule 8.1a.
Why the change? The USGA reasoned
that a strict prohibition of touching or
moving loose impediments or touching
the ground in a water hazard (now penalty
area) was never practical. A series of
exceptions had to be issued in previous
Rule 13-4, Rule 12-1 and various Decisions,
creating confusion and complications
in applying the Rules. Essentially,
penalty areas are now treated the same
as the general area for these purposes,
simplifying the Rules, reducing confusion
and eliminating unnecessary penalties.
Of course, you can still operate under
the various Rule 17 relief options under
the penalty of one stroke and remove the
ball from the penalty area.
I HAVE THE WORST LUCK. MY SHOT
ENDED UP PLUGGED IN THE BUN-
KER, UNDERNEATH THE LIP, LEAV-
ING ME NO SHOT. WHAT CAN I DO?
Before, you had the unplayable ball rule,
including taking the ball out of the bunker
under the penalty of stroke and distance.
Now, there’s an extra relief option—though
it comes with a price.
It’s not uncommon for a player to need
to take unplayable ball relief in a bunker,
such as when the ball is very close
to the bunker wall or lip. Under previous
rules, this presented particular problems
in stroke play because the player was
required to finish the hole and could not
simply pick up and move to the next hole
after multiple tries to play the ball from
the bunker. Though you could previously
take unplayable ball relief, you still had to
play the ball out of the bunker after trying
and failing to get the ball out of the sand.
Find yourself in an impossible lie in the
sand? You have another choice. You can
take relief anywhere outside the bunker
using the back-of-the-line procedure for
a total of two penalty strokes, as outlined
in Rule 19.3b.
A two-stroke penalty ensures that the
penalty is consistent with the significant
relief being allowed while also ensuring
that the option does not become commonly
used by players who are able to play from
a bunker.
LOOKING TO BRUSH UP ON
MORE RULES KNOWLEDGE?
The USGA is offering both a virtual
short course and a virtual Rules school
on its website. Visit USGA.org and
click on the “Rules Home” under the
playing tab for more information.
vsga.org J ULY/A UGUST 2020 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 13