On the April 13, 2014 edition of the Mike Fay Golf Twitter Show #askthepro, the question posed to me was what happens when you hit your ball into a garbage can on the golf course? I did my best to answer the question in the 140 characters or less that Twitter allows, but I feel the answer needs a more complete explanation and this forum gives me the opportunity to better explain the Rule.
The garbage can is a movable obstruction which means it can be moved without unreasonable effort, without unduly delaying play and without causing damage. Under Rule 24 -1b Movable Obstruction, if a ball lies in or on the obstruction, the ball may be lifted and the obstruction removed. The ball must through the green or in a hazard be dropped, or on a putting green placed, as near as possible to the spot directly under the place where the ball lay in or on the obstruction, but not nearer the hole. The ball may be cleaned when lifted under this Rule. If for some reason the ball to dropped or placed under this Rule is not immediately recoverable, another ball may be substituted.
If you have any questions regarding the Rules of Golf please submit them to Mike Fay Golf and I will answer them for you. Here’s hoping you are ‘’Playing By The Rules”.
How many times have you been watching golf on television when you will hear one of the on air personalities describe a bad break to a player, such as a ball landing in a divot, as “rub of the green”? This is a misuse of the term. In the Rules of Golf, under definitions, “rub of the green” is defined as: “A rub of the green occurs when a ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency (see Rule 19 -1).”
The only time you will see the term “rub of the green” in the Rules of Golf is under Rule 19 -1 Ball in Motion Deflected or Stopped which states: “If a player’s ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency, it is rub of the green, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies. An example of “rub of the green” would be a when a players golf shot hits a Direction Post (Decision 19-1/1). Such a deflection is “rub of the green” and the ball must be played as it lies without penalty.
An example that is NOT “rub of the green” would be when a players ball strikes his own caddie who is standing out of bounds and the ball comes to rest out of bounds. The player incurs a penalty of one stroke (Rule 19 – 2) and, since the ball lies out of bounds, he must proceed under Rule 27 -1, incurring another penalty stroke. That is a “bad break” and not “rub of the green”.
Hope you are “Playing by the Rules”. If you have any questions regarding the Rules of Golf, please submit them to mikefaygolf.com.
What happens during a round of play if one of your clubs becomes damaged during the course of play? Rule 4 -3: Damaged Clubs: Repair and Replacement talks about damage in the normal course of play and damage other than in the normal course of play. So what constitutes the “Normal Course of Play”?
The term “Normal Course of Play” is meant to cover all REASONABLE acts but specifically excludes cases of abuse. In addition to making a stroke, practice swing or practice stroke, examples of acts that are in the “normal course of play” include: a.) removing or replacing a club in a bag; b.) using a club to search for or retrieve a ball (except by throwing a club); c.) leaning on a club while waiting to play, teeing a ball or removing a ball from the hole; d.) accidentally dropping a club.
Examples of acts that are not in the “normal course of play” include: a.) throwing a club whether in anger, in retrieving a ball or otherwise; b.) “slamming” a club into a bag; c.) intentionally striking something (e.g. the round or a tree) with the club other than during a stroke, practice swing or practice stroke.
As long as the club was damaged in the normal course of play, a player may: a.) use the club in its damaged state for the remainder of the stipulated round; b.) without unduly delaying play, repair it or have it repaired; c.) as an additional option available only if the club is unfit for play, replace the damaged club with any club. The replacement of a club must not unduly delay play (Rule 6-7) and must not be made by borrowing any club selected for play by any other person playing on the course or by assembling components carried by or for the player during the stipulated round.
If, during a stipulated round, a player’s club is damaged other than in the normal course of play rendering it non-conforming or changing its playing characteristics, the club must not subsequently be used or replaced during the round.
If you have a question on the Rules of Golf, please submit it Mike Fay Golf and I hope you are “Playing By The Rules”.
This is the next in the Playing By The Rules Video Series both Mike and Frank discuss your options when you hit your ball in an areas that the grounds keeper terms as ground under repair. They will show you how to take complete relief from this situation. Enjoy and be on the lookout for the next Playing By The Rules Video on the Mike Fay Golf Channel.
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Rule 13 – 2 deals with Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play. The Rule prohibits a player from improving certain areas. What, specifically, does “improve” mean? Decision 13-2/0.5 in the Decisions on the Rules of Golf gives an excellent clarification of the term “improve”.
“Improve” means to change for the better so that a player would get a potential advantage with respect to the position or lie of his ball, the area of his intended stance or swing, his line of play or a reasonable extension of that line beyond the hole, or the area in which he is to drop or place a ball. Thus, merely changing an area protected by Rule 13 – 2 will not be a breach of Rule 13 – 2 unless it creates such a potential advantage for the player in his play.
Examples of changes that are unlikely to create such a potential advantage are if a player:
*repairs a small pitch-mark on his line of play five yards in front of his ball prior to making a 150 yard approach shot through the green;
*accidentally knocks several leaves from a tree in his area of intended swing with a practice swing, but there are still so many leaves or branches remaining that the area of intended swing has not been materially affected; or
*whose ball lies in the thick rough 150 yards from the green, walks forward and pulls a few strands of grass on his line of play and throws them in the air to determine wind direction.
Examples of changes that are likely to create such a potential advantage are if a player:
*repairs a pitch-mark through the green five yards in front of his ball and on his line of play prior to making a stroke from off the putting green that might be affected by the pitch-mark(e.g., a putt or low running shot);
*accidentally knocks down a single leaf from a tree in his area of intended swing with a practice swing, but, as this was one of very few leaves that might either interfere with his swing or fall and thereby distract him, the area of intended swing has
*pulls strands of grass from the rough a few inches behind his ball to test the wind, but thereby reduces a potential distraction for the player, or resistance to his club, in the area of his intended swing.
The determination as to whether a player has gained a potential advantage from his actions is made by reference to the situation immediately prior to his stroke. If there is a reasonable possibility that the player’s action has created a potential advantage, the player is in breach of Rule 13 – 2.
