The Rules
Whether marked with yellow or red stakes,
you have options at your disposal if you’re
caught in a penalty area.
if you hit into a penalty area marked red,
you’re allowed a third option: Lateral
relief. Say a heavily wooded area up the
left side of the hole is marked red, and
you pull your second shot hard into that
area. Find your reference point (the point
where the ball last crossed into the red
penalty area), and determine your two-
club length relief area from that point.
From there, under the penalty of one
stroke, you may make another stroke.
If you decide to play a ball from inside
a penalty area, you play it under the same
Rules that apply to a ball in the general
area, meaning you’re allowed to ground
your club or remove loose impediments
from around the ball.
One other thing to remember: There is
no relief under any other Rule for a ball
in a penalty area. For example, when a
player’s ball is in a penalty area, there is
no relief for interference by an abnormal
course condition, an embedded ball, or
an unplayable ball. The only relief option
is to take the one-stroke penalty relief
under Rule 17.
(One exception: When a dangerous
animal condition interferes with the play
of a ball in a penalty area, the player may
take either free relief in the penalty area
or penalty relief outside the penalty area.
We wouldn’t want you to step on a rattle-
snake for the sake of playing a ball!)
Understanding penalty relief options
will help with pace of play and add to the
overall enjoyment of the game, even if
you’re a high handicap golfer. Rule 17 is
here to help.
Quiz Wizards
Top scorers and correct answers revealed for the 2019
Virginia Golfer Rules of Golf quiz
area, you first must find your reference
point, which is a point on the course cho-
sen by the player that is on the reference
line and is farther from the hole than the
estimated point where the original ball
last crossed. There’s no limit on how far
back on the line you can go. The size of
this relief area is one club-length, but
with these limits:
• It must not be nearer the hole than the
reference point, and
• May be in any area of the course except
the same penalty area, but
• If more than one area of the course is
located within one club-length of the
reference area, the ball must come to
rest in the relief area in the same area
of the course that the ball first touched
when dropped in the relief area.
RED PENALTY AREA OPTIONS:
In addition to two yellow relief options,
vsga.org
AS OF AUGUST 13, 2019 individuals logged in to
VSGA.org to take the 2019 Virginia Golfer Rules of
Golf quiz. The following people scored at least 18
out of 20 on the quiz, or 90 percent. Congratulations
to all, and thank you to all who participated! The
answers to the quiz are below.
Virginia Golfer
Official publication of the Virginia
State Golf Association as a service
to its more than 72,000 members.
JULY | AUGUST 2019
$2.95 vsga.org
PERFECT SCORE (20/20):
Jay Hardwick, Debbie Kitts, Brad Swingle, Jeff Minnix,
Bert Wilson, Nicholas Hosten, Harrison Braxton
19/20 (95 PERCENT):
Stephen Endres, Connor Jones, Steve Pendry, Bill Vogt
Test your know-how of the new Rules
of Golf with our 20-question quiz
inside
18/20 (90 PERCENT):
Terry Brock, Bill Elliot, Jordan Green, James Jackson,
Jim Jarreau, Nora Klein, Ben Lenhart, Richard Mears,
Daniel Stamper
HOLD ON: GOLF GRIP
DIFFERENCES EXPLAINED
ON COURSE: INSIDE ARCHITECT
ANDREW GREEN’S PLANS FOR
CONGRESSIONAL
INDULGE: A TASTE OF
CUISINE FROM AROUND
THE COMMONWEALTH
QUIZ ANSWERS (REFER TO JULY/AUGUST ISSUE FOR FULL QUESTIONS):
1. C; 2. A; 3. C; 4. C; 5. C; 6. A; 7. C; 8. A; 9. C; 10. A; 11. B; 12. B; 13. C; 14. A;
15. A; 16. A; 17. C; 18. C; 19. A; 20. B.
S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 19 | V I R G I N I A G O L F E R
19