RECENTLY, THE UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION

recommended a Local Rule eliminating the penalty when a ball( or ball-marker) is accidentally moved on a putting green by a player, his caddie or his equipment. The Virginia State Golf Association has adopted this Local Rule for all competitions in 2017. Full text of the Local Rule is on the USGA website( usga. org / 2017LocalRule). Note: This is a Local Rule and is only in play when the committee in charge of the club or event has adopted the Local Rule.

Dustin Johnson speaks to a USGA rules official during the final round of the 2016 U. S. Open.

LOCAL RULE REQUIREMENTS Three key requirements of the Local Rule are:( i) the ball must lie on the putting green;( ii) the player accidentally causes the ball or ball-marker to move; and( iii) the moved ball or ball-marker must be replaced with no penalty to the player.

Players and officials should remember that when acting under the Local Rule, the first task is to determine if a ball at rest has moved and, if so, what agency caused the movement. If the ball moved and it is a player who accidentally caused it to move, the Local Rule applies. If wind or gravity caused the movement, the Local Rule does not apply and the ball is played as it lies.

PRACTICAL SITUATIONS Described below are two situations from the 2016 U. S. Open where a ball on the putting green moved without the Local Rule in effect. At the end of this article, the ruling for each situation is given as if the Local Rule had been in effect.

First, the eventual champion, Dustin Johnson, accidentally caused his ball to move by grounding his putter near the ball on the putting green of the 12th hole of the final day and incurred a one-stroke penalty.

Second, Romain Wattel, a French professional, was faced with a short, two-foot putt of two feet on the putting green of the 10th hole.

About five seconds after Wattel grounded his club behind his ball, he stepped away and stated that he thought the ball had moved because his alignment mark on the ball was not aimed at the hole as it was when the ball was replaced. He insisted that he didn’ t see it move. His fellow competitor, 2013 U. S. Amateur Champion Matthew Fitzpatrick, and their two caddies each stated that they didn’ t see the ball move, so the referee assigned to the group was called for assistance.

APPLYING THE LOCAL RULE Fortunately for Wattel, the referee was stationed nearby and confirmed everything that the player had relayed. The referee further stated that it was most likely that the ball had moved at about the time that Wattel noticed the shift in location of the alignment mark on the ball and gave the following ruling:

Because of( i) the delay time of five seconds between the grounding of the player’ s club near the ball and its movement;( ii) the three percent slope of the green near the hole;( iii) the extreme quickness of the

dry green; and( iv) a wind velocity of about 10 mph, the referee concluded, based on the weight of the evidence, that the player had not caused the movement but rather it was caused by one or more of these other factors. This conclusion was conveyed to the player and he was told to play the ball as it lay without penalty.

In the case of Dustin Johnson, had the Local Rule been in effect, the ruling would have been no penalty to the player for accidentally causing his ball to move and the ball would have been replaced. In the case of Romain Wattel, had the Local Rule been in effect, there would be no change in the outcome because the player did not cause his ball to move.

Properly understood, the Local Rule is a welcome addition to competitions and of great benefit to officials and players alike.

A former USGA Executive Committee member, Lew Blakey has served as a Rules official at more than 100 national championships, as well as the Masters, U. S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship.

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