Golf Rules
- An obstruction is movable if it can be moved without unreasonable force or without causing damage.
E.G. pulling blades of grass out of the ground is deemed unreasonable force, however moving piles of freshly cut grass is not. - Highlighting the position of the hazards and flag positions on the greens is NOT deemed as giving a player advice. However, if a fellow competitor were to tell someone where they should hit the ball, that would be deemed as advice and the correct penalty should be taken.
- If at any point during a round a player deems his ball to be unfit for play, he is allowed to mark it and examine it WITHOUT penalty of a shot. The player and his fellow competitor must decide that the ball is deemed unfit for play. If both people can agree then the ball can be substituted immediately. If they cannot agree then the player must continue to play out the hole and replace it on the next tee.
- A ball deemed unfit for purpose is one that has visible cuts, cracks or is out of shape. A ball is NOT unfit for purpose when it has scrapes, scratches or if some of the writing is missing.
- A player must NOT take a practice stroke (hitting the shot, not a practice swing) at any point during the play of the hole. However, they may practice a shot between the play of two holes. For example if you play a poor chip during a hole, you must finish off putting the ball into the hole. Once that ball is in the hole you may return to try the chip again to see if you can execute the chip shot better.
- When dropping the ball under the correct rules, a player must stand upright with their arm out in front of their body and at shoulder height. If the players drops the ball in ANY other way they must incur a 1 shot penalty stroke.
However, under the news rules the R and A will implement in the near future a player will be able to drop the ball from any height they wish.
A ball must be re-dropped when:
A) The ball rolls and comes to rest in a hazard
B) The ball rolls onto and comes to rest on the putting green
C) The ball rolls and comes to rest out of bounds
D) The ball rolls and comes to rest in the pitchmark that it was lifted out of (Embedded Ball)
E) The ball rolls and comes to rest outside the acceptable range of the drop.
E.G. further away from the 1 or 2 club lengths or closer to the hole.