ONLY WHEN THE FORM OF PLAY IS A FACTOR WILL IT BE STATED If you do not have a Rules of Golf book handy, go to: http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Rules-and-Decisions/ If you have any questions pertaining to this or previous quizzes, please ask. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Questions from week #203 What do you think? a. Andy’s ball is in a bunker mostly covered by leaves. He can see the ball as viewed standing behind the ball, but it is not visible after taking his stance. Andy adjusts the leaves such that he can make out his ball after taking his stance...permitted or not permitted? b. Ben’s ball is believed to be in shallow murky water in a water hazard. In probing Ben accidentally moves his ball. If Ben decides to play the ball, he is assessed a 1-stroke penalty for moving his ball in play...correct or incorrect? c. Craig finds a ball in the rough that he believes is his but he cannot see his identifying mark. Without moving the ball relative to its at rest position, Craig rotates it enough to see his identifying mark. This is permitted under the Rules...sure is, or, no way? d. Danny boy thinks he has hit his tee ball into a large Pampas Grass clump. He gingerly moves the grasses around. He sees a ball and dives in to retrieve it. In his eagerness to retrieve the ball it moves downwards further into the clump. At last, he grabs it, discovers it is his and then tells his fellow competitors he is declaring this ball unplayable. He takes relief under R28b, dropping well behind the clump of grass, but keeping the original spot of the ball between him and the hole. His next stroke will be his third...um, yeah; or, nope, his 4th? Answers a. Not permitted. First sentence in R12-1, Seeing Ball; Searching for Ball: A player is not necessarily entitled to see his ball when making a stroke. Then, you need to dig a littler deeper into the Rule, specifically the wording in paragraph b. Here we find more guidance for a ball in a hazard covered by loose impediments. Finally, for our specific case you should read D12-1/3. A player is not permitted to remove leaves provided his ball is visible from some angle, unfortunately just not from the address position. b. Incorrect, no penalty assessed to this point. Without penalty, Ben is permitted to search for a ball that lies in water inside a water hazard. If he moves the ball and he intends to play it, it must be replaced. Otherwise he may lift and proceed under R26-1. (R12-1c) c. No way!. The player has a specific procedure he must follow to identify his ball in play. He must: Announce, Permit observation, Mark, No cleaning, Replace. (R12-2) Craig incurred a 1-stroke penalty for rotating his ball in this manner. d. Nope, his 4th. Danny’s ball, as it lay in the grass clump is in play. When he first sees a ball, he should think about not allowing this ball to move during the search to identify it. If he considers he will probably declare it unplayable, he should announce this intention ahead of time. That way, if the ball subsequently moves, there is no penalty. Additionally, if he thinks he might try to play it, but needs to ID it first, he should come up with a way to first mark the position of the ball so that he can correctly replace it if it does move. We cannot just dive headlong into the bush with no regard for our actions. This same thought process should be used when searching for a ball inside a water hazard but not in water. (R12-1, R12-2, R18-2a, R28) |