Local Rules

[rosecott]

I'm intrinsically nosey and always have a look at the course website of posters if they show one. I looked at jgozza's on another thread and found they have one of the most extraordinary local rules I have come across:

Restricted Approach to Certain Holes
If when playing the 8th/17th holes a ball passes to the right of the red marker post on the bank of the 5th/14th holes and comes to rest above a line extending from the red marker post to the yellow marker post and beyond (the R-Y line), the stroke must be replayed: penalty - distance only. A ball which passes to the left of the red marker post and comes to rest above the R-Y line may be played as it lies. A ball which comes to rest below the R-Y line is to be played as it lies to the left hand side of the red marker post.

Can jgozza or anyone simplify it for me? Does anyone have a better example of an unusual Local Rule?

 

[Foxholer]

Rules officials check out Local Rules whenever 'serious' tournaments are played at clubs. They tend to find issues with all but the 'standard' ones (stones in bunkers, roads/tractor tracks etc.).

 

[Colin L]

Crazy. Is this some daft way (insupportable in the Rules) of preventing short cuts?

You can't justify a rule that says (if I have got it right) two balls may end up in the same place, but in one case you play as it lies, but in the other you have to replay the shot under penalty - all on the basis of the route the balls took to get there.

Total nonsense!

 

[duncan mackie]

Crazy. Is this some daft way (insupportable in the Rules) of preventing short cuts?

You can't justify a rule that says (if I have got it right) two balls may end up in the same place, but in one case you play as it lies, but in the other you have to replay the shot under penalty - all on the basis of the route the balls took to get there.

Total nonsense!

I think you have it right - and yes it wouldn't be approved

Unfortunately it's a more common for such examples to crop up on 9 hole courses as well - but it can be anywhere!

 

[DaveM]

Sorry but totally confussed by that one.

One for Rosecott?

http://www.nmgc.co.uk/pages.php/index.html

 

[duncan mackie]

Sorry but totally confussed by that one.

One for Rosecott?

http://www.nmgc.co.uk/pages.php/index.html

ah but where's the local rules on that site?

 

[jammag]

At my old club, there is a hole which goes about 200 yards straight and then does a right angle clockwise then carries on for 50-70yards, positioned at the corner is a large tree on the inside of the turn. Now if you was at the tee and you know where the green is you could hit a shot to the right of tree and land it on the green that way, you would have to hit over oob area. How ever there is a local rule stating no direct shots to the green at the tee box, never seen this anywhere else. I assume its for health & safety reasons with hitting golf balls over an area where the general public would be.

 

[fat80b]

At my old club, there is a hole which goes about 200 yards straight and then does a right angle clockwise then carries on for 50-70yards, positioned at the corner is a large tree on the inside of the turn. Now if you was at the tee and you know where the green is you could hit a shot to the right of tree and land it on the green that way, you would have to hit over oob area. How ever there is a local rule stating no direct shots to the green at the tee box, never seen this anywhere else. I assume its for health & safety reasons with hitting golf balls over an area where the general public would be.

That could nearly describe a hole (10th I think) at the Meridien nr Cambridge where the local rule is you have to cross a brook twice to rule out cutting off the corner of the dogleg and going straight for the green. I thought it was odd at the time....
Bob

 

[rosecott]

A local short course (par 68, SSS 62) has, I'm told, a local rule for the first hole (short par 4 dogleg) that limits the club used to a 5-iron from the tee.

 

[duncan mackie]

At my old club, there is a hole which goes about 200 yards straight and then does a right angle clockwise then carries on for 50-70yards, positioned at the corner is a large tree on the inside of the turn. Now if you was at the tee and you know where the green is you could hit a shot to the right of tree and land it on the green that way, you would have to hit over oob area. How ever there is a local rule stating no direct shots to the green at the tee box, never seen this anywhere else. I assume its for health & safety reasons with hitting golf balls over an area where the general public would be.

not permitted

 

[duncan mackie]

That could nearly describe a hole (10th I think) at the Meridien nr Cambridge where the local rule is you have to cross a brook twice to rule out cutting off the corner of the dogleg and going straight for the green. I thought it was odd at the time....
Bob

no - not permitted

 

[duncan mackie]

A local short course (par 68, SSS 62) has, I'm told, a local rule for the first hole (short par 4 dogleg) that limits the club used to a 5-iron from the tee.

guess what?......

 

[North Mimms]

More daft Local Rules please!
I'm enjoying these

 

[6inchcup]

eccleston park had a iron only rule from the tees on a few holes,(then had to alter the course),a little 9 hole near winwick states that you must take 3 shots to the green on a par 5 because of the public footpath running across the fairway?

 

[hamshanker]

I know a few....

Peover,par 5 iron only off the tee then smash what ever you want after that..

Runcorn,1st from yellows iron only from tee...

and,Boysnope,18th par 5 dog leg left,there is a large corrugated farm building to the left and oob which if you hit a good drive or 2 knobby shots you could cut over the corner but local rule says you cant hit over the corner....

 

[duncan mackie]

I know a few....

Peover,par 5 iron only off the tee then smash what ever you want after that..

Runcorn,1st from yellows iron only from tee...

and,Boysnope,18th par 5 dog leg left,there is a large corrugated farm building to the left and oob which if you hit a good drive or 2 knobby shots you could cut over the corner but local rule says you cant hit over the corner....

just in case there's any miss understanding (and I'm sure hamshanker realises) all of these would not be approved LRs.

Maybe GM should do a spot on this subject, with comment from the R&A first and then from the CONGU - my take is that all of these would be unapproved LRs, therefore the game is not being played in accordance with the Rules, therefore any handicap based on these courses would not be CONGU handicaps....so it's a big issue!

 

[USER1999]

just in case there's any miss understanding (and I'm sure hamshanker realises) all of these would not be approved LRs.

Maybe GM should do a spot on this subject, with comment from the R&A first and then from the CONGU - my take is that all of these would be unapproved LRs, therefore the game is not being played in accordance with the Rules, therefore any handicap based on these courses would not be CONGU handicaps....so it's a big issue!

Trick is, if the council have said that they will enforce course changes (may be not affordable, or desirable), and or closure if the public are put in danger, what do you do? Pull the tee forward and make it a par 3, or introduce an irons only rule?

 

[duncan mackie]

Trick is, if the council have said that they will enforce course changes (may be not affordable, or desirable), and or closure if the public are put in danger, what do you do? Pull the tee forward and make it a par 3, or introduce an irons only rule?

probably the wrong place to debate this aspect but 'irons only' can hardly be considered a safety aspect - put a 2 iron in Swinger's hands and you have the range of most peoples drivers, put many people as the swinger of the iron (including me) and you have no additional directional control at all! It therefore follows that, from a safety perspective, such a hole needs redesigning.

Equally there is nothing against influencing play through hazards, OOB etc - all proven to work! Simply telling people that they can't 'go that way' strangely has little effect on a large number of peoples approach - we used to have OOB on any other fairway for 'safety reasons' - the only people who didn't play from there were club members in competition; a very small proportion of play. Equally we didn't actually have any doglegs so no-one aimed there in the first place...it took 5 years to get the club committee to approach the council to change it, and with reasoned argument it was changed 2 years later. If play in a particular direction is unsafe then trees and nets in the vicinity of the tee will resolve the issue properly in very little time.
I'm not suggesting it's easy, or that there is a quick fix to every situation. I am of the view that there is no real safety being provided by any of the LR's listed here.