Rules Query

[Crow]

I was in a water hazard while playing a strokeplay round and completely forgot about the not grounding the club rule as I took a few practice swings in the hazard, grounding the club more than once in the process.

Only after having played out of the hazard did I realise my error.
Is the penalty two strokes for each infringement, or is it two strokes in total?

I've searched the R&A site but can't find an answer.

 

[Imurg]

I would say it's a 2 stroke penalty


plus another 2 for being a berk!!

 

[Crow]

plus another 2 for being a berk!!

Too true!

And the worst of it is I was in the middle of a great round, assuming the two stroke penalty is correct I still scored 78 gross for 42 points, Pro-Shop comp.
A new course record for me.

 

[MashieNiblick]

Imurg is correct. Two stroke penalty even though there were multiple breaches of the Rule.

Decision 13-4/3 Touching Ground in Hazard with Several Practice Swings

"Q. In stroke play, a competitor in ignorance of the Rules took several practice swings in a hazard, touching the ground each time. What is the penalty?

A. Two strokes for a breach of Rule 13-4."

Also see Decision 1-4/12 Player Breaches Rules More Than Once Prior to Stroke; Whether Multiple Penalties Applied (too long to cut and paste!).

 

[patricks148]

I played with one berk in a comp a couple of years ago and while in the hazard took about 4 practice swings each time grounding the club and taking a huge divot.
When i brought this up with him, he got the arse and said" you are wrong there's no water in it, it don't count!

 

[Crow]

Thanks Mashie, I couldn't find it anywhere.

 

[MashieNiblick]

No probs Crow. I happened to remember this is covered under Rule 13, rather than Rule 26 which covers water hazards.

As someone said on another thread, sometimes the trouble with the Rules is knowing where to look. As another example DMDs/artificial devices are covered under Rule 14 - Striking the Ball rather than Rule 8 - Advice; Indicating Line of Play, which seems a more logical place.