Exercises – The Rulings

 

Here are a few exercises that focus on some key concepts, particularly selected for those of us who were confounded by the description or the ruling for the recent collegiate incident.

 

Assume stroke play and strokes were made after the drops:

 

1)  Player A finds his ball in a divot hole in the fairway.  Player A lifts his ball and drops it in the fairway about three club-lengths to the side of its original position.

**Player A moved his ball in play, incurring a one-stroke penalty under Rule 18-2a. Since Player A did not replace the ball, he incurs the general penalty of two strokes for a breach of Rule 18 (1p+2p=2p).  See Rule 18 penalty statement.

 

2)  Player B finds his ball in a divot hole in the fairway.  Player B lifts his ball, substitutes another ball and drops it in the fairway about three club-lengths to the side of its original position.

**Player B moved his ball in play, incurring a one-stroke penalty under Rule 18-2a. Since Player B did not replace the ball, he incurs the general penalty of two strokes for a breach of Rule 18 (1p+2p=2p).  There is no additional penalty for substituting a ball in 2008.  See Rule 18 penalty statement and Rule 15-2 Exception.

 

3)  Player C finds his ball in a divot hole in the fairway.  Player C, without lifting his original ball, drops a substituted ball in the fairway about three club-lengths to the side of its original position. 

     **Player C has a ball in play on the course.  Rule 13-1 is the applicable Rule.  Player C substituted a ball when not permitted and played from a wrong place incurring a two stroke penalty for a breach of Rule 13-1.  If a player plays from a wrong place, there is no additional penalty for improper substitution.  See Exception under Rule 15-2.  Also see Dec 18-2a/8.5, paragraph 2 in Answer.

4)  Player D finds his ball in a divot hole in the fairway.  Player D declares his ball unplayable, lifts his ball and drops it in the fairway about three club-lengths to the side of its original position.

**Player D incurs a one-stroke penalty under Rule 28 and an additional penalty of two strokes for playing from a wrong place, a breach of Rule 28 (1p+2p=3p).  Rule 20-7c and Dec 28/10 are relevant.

 

5)  Player E finds his ball in a divot hole in the fairway.  Player E declares his ball unplayable, drops a substituted ball in the fairway about three club-lengths to the side of its original position.

**Player E incurs a one-stroke penalty under Rule 28 and an additional penalty of  two strokes for playing from a wrong place, a breach of Rule 28 (1p+2p=3p).    Rule 28 permits substitution.  Rule 20-7c and Dec 28/10 are relevant.


6)  Player F arrives at an area in the rough where he thought his tee shot might have come to rest.  Not seeing his ball and to save some time, Player F drops another ball and continues play.

**The applicable Rule is Rule 27-1.  Player F incurs the stroke and distance penalty of one stroke and an additional two-stroke penalty for a breach of Rule 27-1 for playing from a wrong place (1p+2p=3p).  Additionally, Player F has committed a serious breach and must return to the tee to correct his error prior to playing from the next teeing ground.  See Dec 27-1/3.

 

7)  Player G arrives at an area in the rough where he thought his tee shot might have come to rest.  Not seeing his ball and to save some time, Player G declares his original ball unplayable, drops another ball and continues play of the hole.

** The applicable Rule is Rule 27-1.  Player G incurs the stroke and distance penalty of one stroke and an additional two-stroke penalty for a breach of Rule 27-1 for playing from a wrong place (1p+2p=3p).  Additionally, Player G has committed a serious breach and must return to the tee to correct his error prior to playing from the next teeing ground.  See Dec 28/15.