Rules Knowledge – Page 2 – Poplar Creek Golf Club

Rules: Is Sand A Loose Impediment?

Can you remove sand in the bunker, hazard, fairway, fringe or even the tee box?

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The short answer is only the green. You cannot remove sand (or dirt) from anywhere on the course except for the green. Yes, the fringe is off limits. You cannot touch the sand if your ball is on the fringe in the middle of clumps of sand.

Here's USGA's explanation of Rule 23-1.

Why Sand and Loose Soil are Not Loose Impediments off the Putting Green

Q. What is the reason why sand and loose soil are not loose impediments off the putting green?

A. Sand and loose soil are part of the earth. Permitting the player to remove sand and soil other than on the putting green would inevitably lead to situations in which the player would be at liberty to remove a great deal of earth from the area of his intended swing and stance, improving the lie beyond the extent that should be permitted. Additionally, the putting green is an area specifically designed for putting and sand and loose soil are not commonplace on such a surface.

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Rules: Practice Swing + Divot = Penalty?

You're in the fairway and take a few practice swings, take a divot and the divot hits and moves your ball.

Is this a penalty?

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Per Rule 18-2A, it is a one stroke penalty if the divot hits your ball. You will need to replace the ball at its original location.

This is what happened to Hudson Swafford on the Web.com tour back in 2013. Who is Hudson Swafford? He picked up his first PGA Tour win in 2017 at the CareerBuilder Challenge.

Here's the YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UjlG6rP5Uc

And for pure irony, the same exact thing happened to Justin Rose the day before Swafford's incident.

Here's that YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ0yT3s5F2Q

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Rules: New for 2017 – Accidental Bump on the Putting Green

You address the ball with your putter and accidentally bump the ball and it moves a few inches. Penalty or no penalty?

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In 2016, yes. In 2017, no.

Starting January 1, 2017, a Committee may adopt a Local Rule that modifies Rule 18-2 by providing that there is no penalty if a player accidentally causes his ball on the putting green to move. For consistency, this Local Rule also modifies Rule 18-3 to eliminate the similar penalty in match play when an opponent accidentally causes the player’s ball on the putting green to move.

Rule 18-2 provides for a one-stroke penalty if a player causes his ball in play to move, unless certain exceptions apply. Decision 18-2/0.5 explains that when it is uncertain what caused a ball to move, all relevant information must be considered and the weight of the evidence must be evaluated. If it is more likely than not that the player caused the ball to move, the player incurs a one-stroke penalty under Rule 18-2 and the ball must be replaced. Otherwise, the player incurs no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies unless some other Rule applies (e.g. Rule 18-1).

As a related issue, this Local Rule also modifies Rule 20-1 by providing that there is no penalty if a player or his opponent accidentally causes the player’s ball-marker on the putting green to move.

Read the full text along with a helpful video and examples.

If a Committee wishes to introduce such a Local Rule, the following wording is recommended:

Accidental Movement of a Ball on a Putting Green

Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1 are modified as follows:

When a player’s ball lies on the putting green, there is no penalty if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved by the player, his partner, his opponent, or any of their caddies or equipment.

The moved ball or ball-marker must be replaced as provided in Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1.

This Local Rule applies only when the player’s ball or ball-marker lies on the putting green and any movement is accidental.

Note: If it is determined that a player’s ball on the putting green was moved as a result of wind, water or some other natural cause such as the effects of gravity, the ball must be played as it lies from its new location. A ball-marker moved in such circumstances is replaced.

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Rules: Repairing A Pitch Mark

Your ball is on the fringe and there is a pitch mark in front of your ball. Can you repair it?

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No, no, no. Doing so will cost you a two stroke penalty.

During a 2016 US Open qualifier, an amateur finished one stroke shy of getting into a playoff for one of four coveted spots to go to the big stage at Oakmont.

USGA Rule 13-2 states a player cannot improve his lie if the mark is in "his line of play".

13-2. Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play

A player must not improve or allow to be improved:

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,

by any of the following actions:

pressing a club on the ground,

moving, bending or breaking anything growing or fixed (including immovable obstructions and objects defining out of bounds),

creating or eliminating irregularities of surface,

removing or pressing down sand, loose soil, replaced divots or other cut turf placed in position, or

removing dew, frost or water.

However, the player incurs no penalty if the action occurs:

in grounding the club lightly when addressing the ball,

in fairly taking his stance,

in making a stroke or the backward movement of his club for a stroke and the stroke is made,

in creating or eliminating irregularities of surface within the teeing ground or in removing dew, frost or water from the teeing ground, or

on the putting green in removing sand and loose soil or in repairing damage (Rule 16-1).

Read the article on the infraction at GolfChannel.com.

While we are on the subject of improving one's lie, be careful about standing on a semi-buried rock or acorn and using your feet to scrape the ground and dislodge them. You may be called out for improving your lie since neither is a loose impediment.

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