I received an interesting question about whether or not a player may lift his ball to determine whether he is entitled to relief under a rule. The player had hit a chip shot across a green and it came to rest in a golf ball sized depression in the fringe, so only about half of the ball was visible. The ball was either sitting in someone else’s plug mark, was in a drain hole or on a small sprinkler head. The player had no way of telling what the situation was unless he lifted the ball. He decided to play it as it lies and he ended up hitting a bad shot. It turned out that ball was on a small sprinkler head and he would have been entitled to relief.
According to Decision 20 – 1/0.7: “In equity (Rule 1-4), if a player has reason to believe he is entitled to relief from a condition, the player may lift his ball, without penalty, provided he announces his intention in advance to his opponent in match play or his marker or fellow competitor in stroke play, marks the position of the ball before lifting it, does not clean the ball and gives his opponent or fellow competitor an opportunity to observe the lifting.
If the ball lies in a position that entitles the player to relief, he may take relief under the applicable Rule. If the player is entitled to relief and fails to comply with this procedure, there is no penalty provided he takes relief under the applicable Rule (see Decision 18-2a/12).
If the ball does not lie in a position from which the player is entitled to relief, or if the player is entitled to relief but decides not to take it, the ball must be replaced, and the opponent, marker or fellow competitor must be give the opportunity to observe the replacement. If a player who is required to replace the ball fails to do so before making a stroke, he incurs a penalty of loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play under Rule 20-3a, but there is no additional penalty for failure to comply with the procedure for lifting under Rule 20-1 or 21.
If the player lifts a ball without having reason to believe that it lies in a position from which he is entitled to relief without penalty or if the ball does not lie in a position which entitles the player to relief and the player fails to comply with this procedure, he incurs a penalty of one stroke but there is no additional penalty under Rule 20-1 0r 21.”
Knowing the Rules of Golf could have afforded the player the opportunity to seek relief from his situation and led to better score on the hole. Take some time to review the rules, you would be surprised how it may help your game somewhere down the line. If you have a question about the Rules of Golf please submit to me for The Ask The Pro Show on Twitter.
According to the definition in the Rules of Golf, a caddie is one who assists the player in accordance with the Rules, which may include carrying or handling the player’s clubs during play. Caddies are covered under Rule 6 The Player, and most specifically under Rule 6 – 4 Caddie.
While the Rules do not expressly so state, the following are examples of duties the caddie may perform for the player without the authority of the player:
1.) Search for the players ball as provided in Rule 12 – 1.
2.) Place the players clubs in a hazard – Exception 1 under Rule 13 – 4.
3.) Repair old hole plugs and ball marks – Rule 16 – 1a(vi) and Rule 16 – 1c.
4.) Remove loose impediments on the line of putt or elsewhere – Rules 16 – 1a and 23 – 1.
5.) Mark the position of a ball without lifting it Rule 20 – 1.
6.) Clean the players ball – Rule 21.
7.) Remove movable obstructions – Rule 24 – 1.
The player may have a caddie carry his clubs and have additional people carry items other than clubs like a rain suit, cap, umbrella or food and beverage. The additional people would be considered outside agencies, and any items carried by them would also be considered outside agencies while in their possession. However, the Committee may prohibit the use of such people in the conditions of a competition.
An interesting caddie/player incident on this year’s PGA Tour took place in the first round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. A television viewer called PGA officials after they thought they saw Nick Watney’s caddie, Chad Reynolds, testing the putting surface of the seventh green. Tournament Officials reviewed replays and what they saw was Reynolds hands hovering over the grass, but his hands did not touch the surface. Had Reynolds hand touched the green, it would have violated Rule 16 – 1d Testing Surface and Watney would have received a two stroke penalty. Lucky for Watney and Reynolds, the replays proved what they had said all along, that Reynolds never touched the surface of the green.
The USGA and the R&A, the governing bodies of golf, have proposed a rule change that would ban anchoring of a putter to the body while making a stroke. How clever. The USGA and R&A are not specifically banning anchored putting, instead, they have proposed a new definition of what defines a swing or stroke, Rule 14 – 1b. The new rule does not allow for anchoring a club to the body while making a stroke, though it will provide an exception to resting a club against the forearm, in the manner that Matt Kucher does when he putts.
The new rule will prohibit sticking a belly putter into your abdomen the way Keegan Bradley does and it would also prohibit a player from pinning his hand against his chest while using a long putter the way Adam Scott does. The governing bodies won’t officially move to adopt the rule until spring. There will be a three month time frame for more opinions and commentary on the proposal. The rule would become effective on January 1, 2016 when the Rules of Golf are scheduled for an update. Peter Dawson of the R&A stated, “Our objective is to preserve the essential skill and challenge of the game of golf.” Mike Davis of the USGA said, “We cannot honestly say to you that for some players in some situations it is not an advantage. What we are saying is when we write the playing rules, it is never about the advantages or disadvantages, or whether something is making the game easier. We are just defining the game. We are trying to get back to where the game used to be before anchored strokes.”
If this isn’t a performance based decision, why change the rule? Is every player on every tour using it? Is every top ranking amateur using it? The answer to both questions is a big NO. Where is the data that supports this potential boost in performance? There is none. The best that the USGA and R&A can point to is this: In the past 20 years, the percentage of players using the belly putter has increased from 2 to 4 percent in the 1980’s to one survey ESTIMATING its usage at 15 percent in 2012. I would call this an evolutionary process. The game of golf has evolved over the years and anchoring is just a part of that evolution. Let’s face it, a very small percentage of players today are in the “elite” category. The highest percentage of golfers today would be considered recreational, at best. If anchoring makes the game more fun for someone and has helped them lower their score from 120 to 115 for eighteen holes, so be it.
Let’s take a look at what has happened to game of golf since 1986 when the start of the over development of golf course communities, where developers subsidized golf loses with home sales, began. Now let’s move to 1997 when Tiger Woods burst onto the golf scene. The National Golf Foundation predicts we need a course a day built. America has 13.7 million avid players (played at least 4 times per month) and 25 million people playing 1 to 3 times per year. In 2000 golf spectatorship and TV ratings hit an all time high. By 2004 the bomb and gouge professional game destroys classic golf courses. In 2007 the American economy starts its downward spiral and the global economy follows. By 2008 American avid golfers were down to 8.7 million people and 18.5 million golfers were playing 1 to 3 times on an annual basis. We lost 5 million avid golfers and 7 million core players in an eleven year span. Starting in 2006, golf course closures have outpaced golf course openings for six straight years. In that time frame over 475 golf courses have closed in the United States. It has hurt local economies and put many golf professionals, superintendents, course managers and other golf related employees out of work. In the year 2012, the PGA of America said enough is enough and launched an initiative to grow the game called Golf 2.0. Hopefully, this initiative will help to stem the downward trend in golf and get people excited to play. The goal of the initiative is to make golf fun.
My question to the governing bodies o golf is this, what have you really done to grow the game over the years? What have you done to adopt to the changing culture and demographics and to understanding today’s youth? Junior golf is down. 55 percent of all American Junior Golf Association players quit golf by the age of 20. Is banning anchoring going to grow golf? I think not and I think it is a bad idea. My hope is that the PGA of America steps up to the plate during this time of opinions and commentary and asks the USGA and R&A how the ban on anchoring is going to grow the game of golf. The USGA and R&A keep talking about the “traditions” of the game, but anchoring has been in existence for over 30 years. Now all of a sudden we need to ban it? I think the next three months are going to be very interesting as players, golf manufacturers, and the golf industry in general, weigh in on this decision. It is time to give something back to the recreational golfer. I hope the ban on anchoring goes away. That’s my take, what is yours?
Frank Guastella, PGA Rules Official Michigan Section PGA
Staff Writer, Mike Fay Golf
If you have a question for Frank here’s where you can contact him.
While working as a Rules Official at a junior golf tournament this summer a young player approached me about a situation he had experienced during his round. After the player had played a stroke from just off the putting green, his ball came to rest overhanging the lip of the hole but not resting against the unattended flagstick. He reached the hole without unreasonable delay, waited an additional ten seconds, as the Rules allow, and then removed the flagstick. Shortly after removing the flagstick, the ball fell into the hole. The player replaced the ball and then putted it into the hole. A fellow competitor in his group told him he had holed out once the ball fell into the hole. The player asked me if he had proceeded correctly and if not, what was his score for the hole.
It is a question of fact whether the player’s action caused the ball to move and any doubt should be resolved against the player. The flagstick is a movable obstruction. If the movement of the ball was directly attributed to the removal of flagstick, the ball must be replaced on the lip of the hole without penalty (Rule 24-1a). If the player caused the ball to move but the movement of the ball was not directly attributable to the removal of flagstick, the ball must be replaced on the lip of the hole, and the player incurs a penalty stroke under Rule 18-2a.
If the player’s actions did not cause the ball to move and the ball fell into the hole, the provisions of Rule 16-2 (Ball Overhanging Hole) apply, whether the removal of the flagstick occurs before or after the lapse of time contemplated by Rule 16-2. In this case, the players actions did not cause the ball to move and fall into the hole. Rule 16-2 states that when any part of the ball overhangs the lip of the hole, the player is allowed enough time to reach the hole without unreasonable delay and an additional ten seconds to determine whether the ball is at rest. If by then the ball has not fallen into the hole, it is deemed to be at rest. If the ball subsequently falls into the hole, the player is deemed to have holed out with his last stroke and must add a penalty stroke to his score for the hole; otherwise there is no penalty under the rule. In our case, the player was deemed to holed out on his last stroke and a penalty stroke was added to his score.
Frank Guastella, PGA Rules Official Michigan Section PGA
Staff Writer, Mike Fay Golf
If you have a question for Frank here’s where you can contact him.
Golf is the only game where players actually call penalties on themselves. Can you imagine an NFL offensive lineman calling a penalty on himself for holding an opposing defensive player during a play? Can you imagine an NBA player calling a foul on themselves for knocking down an opposing player who was driving to the basket?
Golfers are known for their integrity, especially at the professional level. When a professional golfer calls a penalty on themselves it is going to either cost them money, or cost them the chance to make money. In the case of Blayne Barber, a young professional at the first stage of Q – School, it cost him his chance to play on golf’s grandest stage, the PGA Tour. Barber knew his club lightly touched a leaf in a bunker on his backswing at the 13th hole at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia, the site of the first stage of Qualifying School, the PGA Tour’s Qualifying Tournament. His brother and caddy, Shayne, did not think the club touched the leaf at all, but Blayne insisted that his club minutely touched the leaf on his backswing. According to Rule 13 – 4, a player in a hazard cannot touch or move a loose impediment before making a stroke at the ball.
Barber called a one – stroke penalty on himself and informed his fellow competitors of the rules infraction. His fellow competitors agreed, and Barber moved on with the rest of the round and tournament. That evening, while talking with his roommate, Mike Hebert, did Barber realize something might be wrong. A breach of Rule 13 – 4 might have been a two – stroke penalty, not a one – stroke penalty. If that was the case, Barber had signed an incorrect scorecard for the one under par 71 that he had shot. Signing an incorrect scorecard would have led to disqualification.
Barber had finished the tournament and qualified for the second stage of Q – School, but something kept gnawing at him. He knew he had touched the leaf in the hazard, so on November 2, which was a week after the tournament, he contacted the PGA Tour and had a conference call with a couple rules officials and one of the operating officers of the tour. He was informed that that a breach of Rule 13 – 4 results in a two stroke penalty, meaning he had shot 72, not the 71 he had signed for. According to Rule 6 – 6d, “The competitor is responsible for the correctness of the score recorded for each hole on his score card. If he returns a score for any hole lower than actually taken, he is disqualified.” Barber then disqualified himself. With plenty riding on the decision, Barber stuck to his principles.
What makes this decision even more difficult was that nobody else had noticed anything. Not his fellow competitors nor his brother/caddy. Barbers brother was adamant that Blayne had not touched the leaf at all. The road to the PGA Tour will be tougher for Barber, but he said “It’s the rules and I can’t change the rules. It’s a mistake I made and I want to adhere to them. That’s why I did it. I did it because I knew it was the right thing to do.” Now that is integrity.
Frank Guastella, PGA Rules Official Michigan Section PGA
Staff Writer, Mike Fay Golf
If you have a question for Frank here’s where you can contact him.
