Urban Myth Golf Rules

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Val

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Heard a new one lately.

You can't loss a ball on the fairway, if all players agree it should be on the fairway you are entitled to drop the ball and carry on regardless.

The guy was absolutely serious this was true, amazing stuff.

Any other beauties?
 
I have come across the one a few times so looked it up and it would have to be abnormal conditions. Our fairway has had a period of rabbits burrowing and you hit a cracker down the middle and if you are unlucky you never see the ball again. So frustrating.
 
Spoke to two guys this evening , one a 7 handicapper who were playing a 4bbb comp and one of the opponents turned up after 6 holes. They told him that he couldn't join in as he wasn't there at the start so he left, having asked another single figure player on the course what the rule was. They were gobsmacked when I put them right. They then said that they would probably have to replay the game having already posted the score, I put them right on that one too. They were miffed because he had just forgotten the game and still wanted to argue about the rule, all I could say was that I could only tell them the rule and not get involved in their moral argument.

If only one of them carried a rule book!
 
Handicaps are no guide to rules knowledge, a chaps whose h/cap is half mine proceeded to tell me a few weeks ago that there's no relief from my stance on a cart path... because ball was still on the grass!
 
Slab said:
Handicaps are no guide to rules knowledge, a chaps whose h/cap is half mine proceeded to tell me a few weeks ago that there's no relief from my stance on a cart path... because ball was still on the grass!
Click to expand...

Indeed - in general, you can't improve your lie, stance or swing path - flip side being that you get relief if anything abnormal affects your lie, stance or swing path.
 
Slab said:
a chaps whose h/cap is half mine proceeded to tell me a few weeks ago that there's no relief from my stance on a cart path... because ball was still on the grass!
Click to expand...

I had an 8 h/c try and tell me I couldn't get a drop from a cart path because my nearest point of relief was out of bounds and therefore he tried to insist I play it from the path.....he wasn't even in our 4 ball.....he'd come over from another fairway when he saw me measuring out my drop.......I called him the Smiffy word and told him to jog on as he was holding up the group behind him.. :o

A 6 h/c told me I couldn't brush sand away on the green.....I asked him where he got that rule from and he said someone had penalised him for it the week before in a Matchplay comp and he lost the hole. Showed him the rule and explained why he should carry a rule book and not just believe what other people told him.
Recounting the story later in the bar....6 out of a group of 8 thought he was right.... :o there is no hope!!
 
Heard a few people trying to take relief from a path/GUR/etc but thinking that the trees that surround/interfere with the nearest point of relief mean the NPR becomes the clear area on the other side of the thing they were taking relief from! (I hope that makes sense can I have a maths question next?)
 
cookelad said:
Heard a few people trying to take relief from a path/GUR/etc but thinking that the trees that surround/interfere with the nearest point of relief mean the NPR becomes the clear area on the other side of the thing they were taking relief from! (I hope that makes sense can I have a maths question next?)
Click to expand...

Very common one this!
 
cookelad said:
Heard a few people trying to take relief from a path/GUR/etc but thinking that the trees that surround/interfere with the nearest point of relief mean the NPR becomes the clear area on the other side of the thing they were taking relief from! (I hope that makes sense can I have a maths question next?)
Click to expand...

That'll be the 'Nearest Point of Relief' = 'Best Point of Relief' one

I've nearly been the victim of the 'Declaring the Ball Lost' myth. My FCs stopped looking when I went back to play another ball and had to be 'reminded' to continue. They found it within the 5 minutes.:D
 
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We had a guy at our work society who plays off 2 who used to tee off with a distance ball and swap it with pro v to putt and used to convince the new players that it was ok and allowed in the rules
 
Saw the free drop from a path situation before. When I said that he's have to take full relief from the path and that included his stance, his answer was, "if I do that the ball will be on a slope"

Thankfully I wasn't marking his card that day.
 
I've had the ball swapping to suit what your next shot is, I think thats more a sneaky tactic so you arent sure what ball they are using in case they lose it.
 
Grumps said:
We had a guy at our work society who plays off 2 who used to tee off with a distance ball and swap it with pro v to putt and used to convince the new players that it was ok and allowed in the rules
Click to expand...

:eek:

I had a friend who thought it legal to prepare a lie in the rough as long as the ball didn't move. First time I saw this I called him up and still he did it. Never played with him since.
 
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used to play with a guy who would always pick and place his ball when ever in the rough, when I questioned him he said that it was preferred lie's.

The same guy would also never manage to lose a ball no matter how offline he hit it and he always had a shot.
 
Grumps said:
We had a guy at our work society who plays off 2 who used to tee off with a distance ball and swap it with pro v to putt and used to convince the new players that it was ok and allowed in the rules
Click to expand...

If he is aware of the rule this 2 handicapper is a blatant cheat and I hope he gets called up on it.
If he isn't then someone give that golfer a rules book.

'Yeah, I think I will take maximum distance for my tee shot and approach on this par 5 but if I am in the bunker for my third I'd like something with a little more control' ... man alive!
 
NorfolkShaun said:
used to play with a guy who would always pick and place his ball when ever in the rough, when I questioned him he said that it was preferred lie's.

The same guy would also never manage to lose a ball no matter how offline he hit it and he always had a shot.
Click to expand...

I was playing in a four ball and my playing partner was the one who kept saying 'found it' when he was a mile off line.
On the 16th I turned to him and said 'no you didn't' before giving the hole to our competitors.
I was a tad embarrassed but I'll joke about it now - whenever he hits it off line, I'll say something like 'went in a Nike, came out a Titleist' just to keep him honest.
 
A common rule that I see misunderstood comes down to who is away when one player is on the putting surface but the other is not.
A number of times people have said the player not on the green is away even when they are closer to the hole. I have had to get the rules book out 2 times to clarify it is always down to distance from the hole.

It can be courteous to allow a player to play on to the green but technically, it is not there turn to play.
 
One situation amongst all causes most disagreement in my place - and everyone is correct :) We have a track running down RHS of hole parallel with fairway the OOB - you get relief from the track. The distance from the RH edge of the track to OOB is less than one club length. The OOB is defined by a simple wire fence. Between the RH edge of the track and the OOB is all crap. The ground to the LH side of the track is mown as short rough as it is all under trees - so very much preferable to be able to drop LH of track. If you ball finishes on the track closer to the RH edge what is the ruling. I have heard all variants - can I have a definitive one please
 
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