Virginia Golfer May / Jun 2020 | Page 17

The Rules Moving or bending an object that is growing or attached, such as this plant, is not allowed. Example: A branch growing off a tree is directly in the area of your intended backswing, and you break off the branch so it no longer will interfere. • Moving a loose impediment or movable obstruction into position (such as to build a stance or to improve the line of play). Example: If your ball lies in a tree, you may not move a nearby bench into position to stand on to be able to make a stroke at your ball. • Altering the surface of the ground. Example: Your ball is short of the green and you repair a pitch-mark in the general area a few yards in front of your ball on your line of play before hitting a low-running chip shot. • Removing or pressing down sand or loose soil. Example: When putting from just off the green, there is some loose sand in the fringe on your line of play that you brush away. • Removing dew, frost or water. Example: Because there is dew on your line of play on the putting green early in the morning, you clear all the dew off your line of play with a towel. ACTIONS THAT ARE ALLOWED In preparing for or making a stroke, you may take certain actions even if doing so improves one of the five conditions affecting the stroke, including: • Fairly searching for your ball. Example: While searching for your ball in tall grass but not doing anything beyond what is reasonably necessary to find it, you press down some grass that may have improved your area of intended swing. • Grounding the club lightly in front of or right behind the ball. “Ground the club lightly” means allowing the weight of the club to be supported by the grass, soil, sand or other material on or above the ground surface. Example: There is no penalty if in grounding your club lightly in a “waste area,” some sand is pressed down that improves the lie of your ball. However, a penalty would still apply if you press the club down more than lightly and improve your lie. • Fairly taking your stance. To fairly take your stance, you must use the least intrusive course of action to adapt to the situation. Example: If you back into a branch because that is the only way to take a stance for the selected stroke, there is no penalty even if this moves the branch out of the way and improves the area of your stance or swing. • Making a stroke or the backswing for your stroke, which is then made. Provided you finish making the stroke, there is no penalty for improvements made during your backswing or stroke. Example: In making the backswing for your stroke, you break off a piece of a branch and knock down some leaves. Note that the lists of allowed and not allowed actions above are not exhaustive. If you would like to read the full lists, please see Rules 8.1a and 8.1b in the Rules of Golf. New to the Rules for 2019 was the concept of restoring certain conditions after you have made an improvement to avoid getting a penalty. Such restorations can only apply in specific circumstances— bending or breaking an object or moving an object into position. As an example, prior to your stroke, you remove a boundary stake (which the Rules treat as immovable) that was interfering with your area of intended stance. If you replace the stake prior to making your stroke, you can avoid penalty under Rule 8.1. Outside of actions that are needed and reasonable to prepare for and make a stroke, you must not make improvements to affect the stroke you are about to make— play the course as you find it! A former player at James Madison University, Kelsey Solan works in the USGA’s Rules Department. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ THE FULL LISTS OF ALLOWED AND NOT ALLOWED ACTIONS, PLEASE SEE RULES 8.1A AND 8.1B IN THE RULES OF GOLF. vsga.org M AY/J UNE 2020 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 15