Earlier this year BMC members responded enthusiastically to an opportunity to flaunt their home course knowledge by taking the inaugural BMC member quiz sponsored by The Virtual 19th Hole. Which suggests that a follow-up quiz on course knowledge should probably be in the offing. But that’s for another day. Instead, today’s focus is on an altogether different topic: the Rules of Golf. And, yes, let’s face it—this is probably the least favorite subject of many golfers… But look at it this way: here’s a great opportunity to show up your golf buddies (and possibly call them on an infraction or two?)!
Below are several situations that come up routinely on the golf course. To take the quiz, simply determine which, if any, of these violates the Rules of Golf. This is an “open book test,” so feel free to research your answers. But bear in mind that whoever gets the best score first will be the winner.
OK, here goes: which, if any, of the following actions constitutes a rules violation?
- You pound a tee shot right down the middle and are exasperated to discover that your ball is right in the middle of a divot. You roll your ball out of the divot to the nearest point of relief, no nearer the hole, and proceed to hit your next shot without penalty.
- Your well-struck approach shot misses the green by mere inches and yet, somehow, the ball takes a bad bounce right into a greenside bunker. What’s worse, it comes to rest in a footprint. Feeling confident that you know how most guys would handle a situation like this, you move the ball slightly out of the footprint and place it at the nearest point of relief, no nearer the hole, staying of course within the bunker. You wind up with virtually the identical bunker shot you would have had if your ball hadn’t been in the footprint. You proceed without penalty.
- Same facts as in the second question, except that, instead of placing the ball in the bunker, you drop, again no nearer the hole, and staying within the bunker. You then proceed without penalty.
- Your drive bounces into the rough and comes to rest against a small branch or stick. Because the stick is a movable obstruction, as defined by the rules, you carefully remove it. But because your ball moves slightly in the process of removing the stick, you replace it back in the original spot where it had come to rest. You proceed without penalty.
- You hit a beautiful approach shot and the ball lands on the green, coming to rest only four feet from the hole. You appear to have a straight putt, but you decide to inch toward the hole to take a closer look– just to be sure. In doing so, you accidentally kick the ball, and it rolls several feet away. You replace the ball back into its original position and proceed without penalty.
- Your regularly scheduled round comes shortly after a hard rain and the course is soft. You hit a particularly high tee shot into the rough and it embeds. Although the ball is clearly in the rough, you go ahead and take a drop within the relief area, no nearer the hole, and proceed without penalty.
- Your drive is off line and the ball comes to rest on the cart path. You take a free drop in the relief area no nearer the hole. Unfortunately, the ball rolls into a divot, so you take another drop, again in the relief area and no nearer the hole, and this time the ball misses the divot. You then proceed without penalty.
- Same facts as in question 7, except that there’s a steep slope adjacent to where the ball originally came to rest on the cart path. A careless drop could result in the ball rolling all the way down the slope and out of bounds. You drop the ball as close to the slope as possible without risking it rolling down the hill. The ball winds up no more than a few inches closer to the hole. You proceed to hit your next shot from there without penalty.
- In match play, you and your opponent hit similar drives and both balls wind up close together on the fairway. You accidentally hit your opponent’s ball. You realize the error almost immediately as your opponent observes that the other ball is yours. Your opponent takes a drop where his drive originally came to rest and you go ahead and play the correct ball without penalty.
- In general: following the frequently hyper technical rules of golf is fine for guys with low handicaps. But most golfers can’t be expected to master every last rule and exception, so they should be cut some slack. Golf is difficult enough as it is.
Dick Helde
Editor, The Virtual 19th Hole
helde.richard@gmail.com
612-306-3590