TheRules
Play It
BY KELSEY SOLAN
As It Lies
One of the most fundamental Rules of
Golf is to play the course as you find it.
While there are exceptions, in general,
you must play the ball as it lies on the golf
course and play the course as it’s found.
This means that normally you must accept
the conditions of where your ball came
to rest. To maintain this principle, Rule 8
protects areas known as the “conditions
affecting the stroke” for the next stroke
that you will make. These protected
conditions include:
• the lie of your ball at rest,
• the area of your intended stance,
• the area of your intended swing,
• your line of play, and
• the relief area where you will drop or
place a ball.
While you generally may not make
improvements to these areas, the Rules
do allow you to take certain reasonable
actions even if they improve those conditions
affecting your stroke. Additionally,
there are limited circumstances where
you can avoid penalty by restoring conditions
even after they have been improved.
Let’s take a look at some of the actions
you are and are not allowed to do as well
as some examples of each.
ACTIONS THAT ARE NOT ALLOWED
Except as allowed by certain actions, you
may not take any of the following actions
if they improve the conditions affecting the
stroke (that is, if they are likely to give you
a potential advantage):
• Moving, bending or breaking any object
that is growing or attached, an immovable
obstruction, an integral object or a
boundary object.
BIGSTOCK
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V IRGINIA G OLFER | M AY/J UNE 2020
vsga.org