bobmac
Major Champion
I preferred the old days when red lateral water hazard was a river and the yellow water hazard was a pond.
Drop behind the pond and drop to the side of the river
Drop behind the pond and drop to the side of the river
Players not knowing the rules
- Thread starter jim8flog
- Start date
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
Do you keep a copy of the 2023 rules in your bag?
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
One of the big changes in 2019 was that there does not have to be water to have a penalty area. It could be anything a club deems suitable to be declared as such.
I wanted to create quite a few on our course but was unable to get the traditionalist on our committee to grasp that concept.
E.G one area on our course with a lot of trees and (currently 10" high grass under them) involves a 200 yard trek back up a very steep hill for a ball lost in there if you need to replay the shot.
D
Deleted member 31467
Guest
Isn't that covered by playing a provisional ball?
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
Yes to sensible people however we all know how optimistic some players are.
Trouble is even finding your ball in there does not mean you can play it, finding it means you can no longer use the provisional ball. If it was a penalty area you could drop outside under penalty.
It's astounding the number of people who either have no clue on even the basic rules. What are these people doing in comps?? Worste example has to have been a guy I played last year who has been a member of my club for at least 50 years and had no clue where he was supposed to drop when putting the ball on the beach. The sea and beach are in play on the first 7 holes. He tried to drop where his ball ended up rather than where it crossed the hazard, so 200 yards further on
clubchamp98
Journeyman Pro
It’s like this in Florida.
most areas off the playing surfaces are red penalty areas.
The reason is there are snakes and other wildlife in there and you don’t want to meet them.
Imurg
The Grinder Of Pars (Semi Crocked)
Sitting here thinking about it...I don't believe we have any Red or Yellow stakes anywhere on the course...........Ians_sporting_bro
Member
I don't disagree - and actually stated that in my post.
Ians_sporting_bro
Member
Yes. Though these days it's called a phone!
Ians_sporting_bro
Member
A generlly adequate rule of thumb, but Rules of Golf are, and have to be, more precise. It's the colour of the stakes or lines that define the type of penalty area, not the other way around - as demonstrated in the video in post 58 where the creek changes from running parallel to play to across play. Another example where the pond vs river (or creek) definition doesn't work is demonstrated by Thorndon Park's 3rd hole, where the tee shot is over a pond to a fairway that runs beside the pond, so Yellow stakes for the tee shot and red stakes, for the same pond, once on the fairway.
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Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
Not many will have seen this rule breach I would think…… yesterdays competition old boy around 75 high handicap missed a short putt then went to tap in but ball hit his shoe and ball fell into hole.
That’s a 8 he said to his marker
That’s a 8 he said to his marker
D
Deleted member 23344
Guest
Leather wedge!Not many will have seen this rule breach I would think…… yesterdays competition old boy around 75 high handicap missed a short putt then went to tap in but ball hit his shoe and ball fell into hole.
That’s a 8 he said to his marker
Rlburnside
Challenge Tour Pro
He not only used a leather wedge on another hole he was in the rough with a poor lie he then put a tee down
♂ picked the ball up and placed it a foot in front of the tee 
took out a 3 wood and duffed it onto the fairway. Next shot he drove it into ground and looked ahead to see where his ball went
Serves you right you cheating bugger thought I.
NearHull
Well-known member
Leather putter?
clubchamp98
Journeyman Pro
Seen leather wedges before but never a leather putter!
Doon frae Troon
Ryder Cup Winner
We used to run a junior golf grade certificate system
Grade 4 was the highest and the youngster was given two situations [ie unplayable ball] and was then asked to find the correct solution in a rule book.
Many aspiring golfers sailed through the golfing tests and even knew the correct answer but failed to find the rule in the book
I was a great way of showing them how to use a rule book.
They were advised to always carry a rule book in their bag.
Grade 4 was the highest and the youngster was given two situations [ie unplayable ball] and was then asked to find the correct solution in a rule book.
Many aspiring golfers sailed through the golfing tests and even knew the correct answer but failed to find the rule in the book
I was a great way of showing them how to use a rule book.
They were advised to always carry a rule book in their bag.
The weakness with designating a penalty area like the one you describe is the lack of clarity that a water boundary provides. The trees and knee high grass will not normally be maintained to a clear boundary line. And so lead to one of the regular rules breaches problems with this type of 'green' penalty area : 'I didnt find the ball, so it must be in the penalty area, so I will take a penalty drop'. Or worse, playing a provisional, not liking the outcome of the provisional, and then taking a drop from the first one. The only way green penalty areas can be made to work is if grass is cut to fairway length right up to a clear penalty area boundary, and the area in question is fully visible from where shot concerned are likely to be played. So difficult, and so why they are rare, and, many of those that exist, are probably a mistake.
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Ians_sporting_bro
Member
Seems a pretty good way to help pace of play. I think it would be over-ruled back to non-penalty area though if the course was used for high-level competitions though, as, effectively, it turns a 2 shot penalty into a 1 shot one.
