Urban Myth Golf Rules

[CMAC]

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

I'd have said you get NPR then within 1 clublength not nearer the hole, as you are on the RHS of the path then it's in the rough, you also have the option of playing it from the path or going back to the point you last played from under penalty of 1 stroke.

 

[sev112]

I'd have said you get NPR then within 1 clublength not nearer the hole, as you are on the RHS of the path then it's in the rough, you also have the option of playing it from the path or going back to the point you last played from under penalty of 1 stroke.

Hmmm.. You have to be able to take full relief , and if you can't get both your feet and the ball in that areas (less than one club length wide) then presumably it isn't actually a point of relief in the first place ?

 

[GB72]

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.

I have to admit that I used to think this in my early days of playing. Think I was actually corrected on here.

 

[muttleee]

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.

Sounds like that was his preferred lie...

 

[GMAC88]

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..

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.... there is no hope!!

Youre only allowed to do it with the back of your hand though.....

 

[Val]

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

You have to take full relief therefore the nearest point of relief for full relief may be the left hand side of the regardless of what side the ball landed on.

Full relief is stance not on the path and no interference with your swing where the fence on the RHS might interfere.

 

[muttleee]

I played with a guy once who hit a shot into casual water in a bunker and insisted that he was entitled to place it on the wet sand because otherwise it would plug.

I once played with another guy who had a staked tree about 5-6 yards in front of him on the line between his ball (which was in the rough) and the hole, so he proceeded to move his ball to a much better lie several yards to the right because "otherwise he might hit the tree". His reason for doing this was that staked trees are protected so he was obliged to make sure he wouldn't hit it with his next shot. Apparently it didn't occur to him to play away from the hole to avoid the tree. Myself and several other nearby players told him he was an eejit and couldn't do that but he did it anyway. Eejit.

 

[DCB]

Youre only allowed to do it with the back of your hand though.....

No, you can use anything.... see Decision 23-1/1

Loose impediments may be removed by any means, except that, in removing loose impediments on the line of putt, the player must not press anything down (Rule 16-1a).

 

[Tommo21]

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!

Dunbar has no relief from paths, and there's a few.

 

[Paul_Stewart]

Playing in a county open, low handicapper tried to claim relief from a sprinkler head because it was where he wanted to land his chip shot from 30 feet away.

We didn't let him but on the next hole, the other member of the group tried to claim the same thing from the light rough 230 yards from the flag to take the p but it nearly caused a fight because the other idiot still thought he was right. The comp organisers put him right at the end of the round and he didn't come back for the second round.

 

[Foxholer]

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

Nearest Point of Relief is exactly that - no more, no less (like all the Rules). The 'within 1 club-length' is a separate part of the overall Rule.

So I believe ball must be dropped 'in the crap' on the RH side.

As I posted above, it's Nearest, not Best! Remember though that it's stance and swing, not simply stance. That generally means about 3 feet or so difference.

It it's just a track rather than a road, I'd be more inclined to play it as it lies.

On the 16th I turned to him and said 'no you didn't' before giving the hole to our competitors.

While you were entitled to do so, it was only your partner that was out of the hole - unless you already were.

 

[DCB]

Re Tommo's post,

Just like Granny Clarks Wynd on the Old Course, an integral part of the course, no relief.

 

[Val]

Nearest Point of Relief is exactly that - no more, no less (like all the Rules). The 'within 1 club-length' is a separate part of the overall Rule.

So I believe ball must be dropped 'in the crap' on the RH side.

But if you drop in the right hand side you may not get full relief becasue of the fence, if the fence wasnt there then I see no reason why you dont drop in the rough.

 

[muttleee]

Youre only allowed to do it with the back of your hand though.....

You can use anything to remove sand on the green now. The only restriction is that you're not allowed to press anything down while you're doing it.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

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.

...and too often this leads to a lot of faffing about. In fact it is often pragmatic to have someone play to the green even if they are not 'away'. And sometimes other way around. Someone pitching to green may end up just short - but closer than nearest ball on green. Best to get the chip on over and done with rather than having waiting to chip then having to go get putter etc. Again - faffing about and slows things down. Other than in a match it's really just common sense.

 

[muttleee]

But if you drop in the right hand side you may not get full relief becasue of the fence, if the fence wasnt there then I see no reason why you dont drop in the rough.

Relief from the path and relief from the fence are two different things.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

But if you drop in the right hand side you may not get full relief becasue of the fence, if the fence wasnt there then I see no reason why you dont drop in the rough.

...and this is the argument used by many. The player is entitled to full relief, and as taking full relief i.e. ball can be one club length of nearest point of relief, would have you dropping OOB they claim that they can drop LH side of track.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Relief from the path and relief from the fence are two different things.

Agree - not talking about relief from the fence i.e. you don't if it marks the boundary of the course. So I look for a staked tree on the boundary close by that I can get relief from

 

[DCB]

Relief from the path and relief from the fence are two different things.

No relief from the fence as it designated OOB in this case.

 

[chrisd]

I had a single figure plonker, in a 4bbb match, tell me I was out of the hole because I played out of turn!