6 Rules Golfers Find Confusing

  • last year
In this video Neil Tappin is joined by rules expert Jeremy Ellwood to look at the 6 rules golfers find confusing. They cover everything from when to practice on the course to your dropping options when faced with a bunker filled with water. Jeremy's clear explanations should help you avoid any unwanted penalty shots in these scenarios.
Transcript
00:00 - Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly
00:02 and welcome to Prince's Golf Club
00:03 and this video on the six rules
00:05 that golfers find confusing.
00:06 Now what you're going to watch is a conversation
00:08 between myself and Jez Ellwood
00:09 where we've picked out six scenarios
00:11 out here on the golf course
00:13 where certain rules will come into play
00:15 that you will need to know.
00:16 Right, let's get started.
00:17 (upbeat music)
00:20 - That ball's moved, oh no!
00:27 - Uh-oh.
00:27 - Right, I thought it was fairly solidly placed there
00:31 but it was obviously a critical blade of grass
00:33 that I've just disturbed.
00:34 - You've accidentally caused your ball to move.
00:36 - Yes, indeed.
00:37 - And Jez, in this video we are covering scenarios
00:39 that golfers find confusing.
00:41 Where do you think the confusion arises here?
00:43 - Well I think the confusion arises
00:45 because people want to believe
00:46 they won't be penalized for anything accidental
00:48 on the golf course but that's not always the case
00:51 and in the general area where we are here,
00:53 if you cause your ball to move,
00:55 you are still penalized.
00:56 - Right.
00:57 - So you do need to tread carefully.
00:58 There are scenarios where you aren't penalized
01:00 on the putting green,
01:01 accidental movement is no longer a penalty
01:04 and when you're searching for your ball,
01:07 if you tread on it by mistake,
01:08 there's no longer a penalty there.
01:09 In all those circumstances
01:11 and even in this circumstance,
01:12 you must replace the ball where it was before playing on.
01:15 - Yeah, but in this scenario,
01:17 there's a penalty shot to add.
01:18 - There is.
01:19 - And then what about,
01:20 what I was going to ask you about,
01:21 what about on the tee?
01:21 So let's say you're about to hit your tee shot
01:24 and you accidentally just dink your ball off the tee.
01:26 - Yeah.
01:27 - Somebody in the group says one.
01:28 - Yes.
01:29 - Everyone has a good laugh.
01:30 - Amusingly.
01:30 - Do you get a penalty shot in that scenario?
01:31 - You don't because at that point on that hole,
01:32 the ball is not in play.
01:33 So it's only when your ball is in play as it is here,
01:37 you know, close to the green on this hole,
01:39 on the general area,
01:40 that is a penalty.
01:41 On the teeing area,
01:42 before you've played your tee shot,
01:44 you can knock it off with the toe of your club
01:45 and it's not a problem.
01:46 - So I think the advice here is to be careful.
01:48 If your ball is perched on a tuft like Jez was here,
01:51 tread carefully around the ball
01:52 because if you are deemed to have caused it to move,
01:55 unfortunately, you've broken the rules.
01:57 (upbeat music)
02:00 Right Jez, so I'm confused.
02:05 And the reason I'm confused is my ball has come to rest,
02:06 I hope you can see on the camera,
02:08 in the bunker here, in the temporary water.
02:10 - Yeah.
02:11 - And I know that I'm allowed to take a drop here,
02:13 but I can't see anywhere I can drop
02:15 that means that I won't still be stood in the water.
02:18 So what am I allowed to do?
02:19 What am I not allowed to do in this scenario?
02:21 - Okay, well I think golfers,
02:23 a lot of golfers know that
02:23 when you're taking relief from something,
02:25 you have to take complete relief.
02:26 So typically elsewhere on the course,
02:29 you can't have your feet still in the water, temporary water.
02:32 However, in bunkers and also on the putter green,
02:35 we'll come onto in a minute,
02:37 you can take what is called point of maximum available relief
02:40 so the point where you get as much relief as possible
02:43 from there, but your feet might still be in the water
02:46 or the ball might still be in a bit of shallow water.
02:48 - Right, okay, so I have the option then
02:50 to drop it just to the side there,
02:51 I'll still be stood in the water
02:53 or under penalty, I've still got the option
02:57 to take an unplayable here.
02:59 - Yeah, I mean, that is the shot
03:01 you're trying to save yourself
03:02 is by still being able to play
03:04 without taking the penalty
03:05 that it would cost you to drop outside the bunker.
03:07 - Yes.
03:08 - So by being able to play that still,
03:11 you may get up and down and save par.
03:13 Going outside to drop,
03:15 you're trying to get up and down for bogey.
03:17 - Okay, so clarify for us
03:19 what you were just referring to about the green.
03:20 - On the putter, it's a similar thing on the putting green
03:23 and you have to remember that
03:24 with an abnormal course condition,
03:26 which typically on the putting green
03:29 and in a bunker would be temporary water,
03:32 you normally only get relief from it.
03:35 On the putting green, you get relief
03:37 if it's lying between you and the hole,
03:38 if it's on your line of play as well.
03:40 - Right, okay.
03:41 - But again, on a really flooded green,
03:42 there might be nowhere where you can get complete relief.
03:45 But again, on the putting green,
03:46 you can take point of maximum available relief
03:48 where you might have to put through shallower water.
03:51 - There you have it, maximum available relief.
03:54 Well worth knowing.
03:55 (upbeat music)
03:57 Okay, so the next one on our list
04:01 of rules that golfers find confusing
04:03 relates to practicing on the golf course.
04:05 Now, Jez, what do people need to know here?
04:07 - Well, I mean, basically there's not a lot of practice
04:10 you can do during a competition round
04:12 and that's stroke play or match play,
04:14 but it's not completely restricted.
04:17 You can putt and chip on or around the green
04:20 that you've just played,
04:21 or on or around the tee of the hole
04:23 you're just about to play.
04:24 But chipping and putting only,
04:26 no bunker shots, no other shots,
04:28 but you can do that as long as you're not delaying play
04:31 by doing so.
04:31 - Okay, that's clear.
04:32 So then that begs the question,
04:33 is there anything else that you can't do
04:35 when it comes to practicing on the course?
04:36 - Well, in a match play competition,
04:38 ahead of a match play round,
04:39 you can go and play the golf course beforehand
04:41 if you want to. - Right.
04:42 - In a stroke play competition,
04:43 you can't go on the golf course at all.
04:45 So if the 18th green is clear
04:47 and you fancy just going out and having a quick putt
04:49 to see what pace the greens are rolling out that day,
04:51 you can't do that.
04:52 You're going to have to restrict that
04:53 to the practice putt and green,
04:55 but not any of the greens you're going to be playing
04:56 during that round.
04:58 - So there you have it.
04:58 Those are the keys that you need to know
04:59 when it comes to practicing on the golf course.
05:01 (upbeat music)
05:04 Oh, that's not very good.
05:13 - Now, hold on.
05:15 Before you go ahead there,
05:17 what's that, two and a half, three feet?
05:19 You've not been that good from that range there.
05:20 We're playing in a match
05:22 and you don't have the right in a match
05:24 to go ahead and tap in and finish the hole.
05:27 - Right. - The order comes into play
05:29 in match play more than in stroke play,
05:31 where there's the drive towards ready golf.
05:33 In match play, there's a different dynamic.
05:35 If I now make mine, 'cause it's my turn to play,
05:38 your putt potentially becomes a lot harder.
05:40 - Yes. - So for that reason,
05:42 the order is more important in match play.
05:44 - So let me ask you a question, James.
05:45 What happens if I do go up and just tap it in from here
05:47 and I make the putt, what happens next?
05:50 Have I broken the rules?
05:51 - Well, you've broken a rule, but there's no penalty,
05:53 only if I decide to make you take the ball back out,
05:57 put it back where it was,
05:58 and play the shot again in the correct order.
06:00 - Right, so effectively that putt gets canceled
06:02 and I get another go.
06:03 - You would get another go if I decided
06:05 that you'd effectively gained an advantage
06:07 by getting to go at your shorter putt first.
06:10 - Yes, and it's just one of those things
06:11 that that would be pretty awkward, wouldn't it?
06:13 - It would be. - I mean, you and I
06:14 have played enough golf together over the years
06:15 that I don't think it would be awkward between us,
06:17 but I think if you're playing in a match against somebody,
06:19 you don't want to be left in that situation.
06:21 So my advice would be, in this particular scenario,
06:24 just go up and mark the ball.
06:26 If the player wants to give it to you, fine,
06:27 but if not, just put the marker down
06:29 and avoid any of this kind of awkwardness
06:31 that can surround this particular scenario.
06:33 (upbeat music)
06:36 Okay, so in the scenario we're faced with here,
06:41 we've got a golf ball here on the fringe,
06:43 we've got a clump of sand also on the fringe,
06:46 and another bit of sand on the green.
06:48 And there are certain things you can do
06:50 and certain things you can't do.
06:51 I think a lot of golfers, myself included,
06:53 would find this particular scenario slightly confusing.
06:56 Jez, clear it up for us, what can you do?
06:57 - Okay, well, I think the important thing to say
07:00 is that under the definitions,
07:02 sand and loose soil are not classed as loose impediments.
07:05 - Right. - So here,
07:07 you can't move this on the fringe.
07:09 However, there is within the rules,
07:11 special dispensation, if you like,
07:13 to remove sand and loose soil on the putting green only.
07:16 So you could brush that away there,
07:18 but you can't touch this slightly more prominent
07:21 clump of sand here off the green.
07:23 - So there you have it, if your instinct
07:24 would be to brush away this sand here,
07:26 as mine would probably be, then beware, don't do it,
07:29 otherwise you'll run into trouble with the rules.
07:31 (upbeat music)
07:34 - Hold on, can I just stop you there, Tavis?
07:40 You're not about to play that, are you?
07:42 - Yeah, I was about to play that, yeah.
07:44 - Right, but this is not the putting green
07:46 of the hole you're playing, is it?
07:47 - No, but there's, you know, it's a links course,
07:49 there's not much thick grass between me and the green.
07:52 I reckon I can get this quite close by putting it.
07:54 - And you possibly could, but sadly,
07:56 you're not allowed to even attempt to do so,
07:58 because you cannot play from a wrong green.
08:00 You must take relief.
08:02 - Okay, right, so even if there was only three feet
08:06 of fringe grass between me and the right green,
08:08 I still wouldn't be able to put this?
08:10 - You wouldn't, no.
08:11 The only time you could play from what appears
08:14 to be the green of a wrong hole to the correct hole
08:15 is when it's a double green, a shared green.
08:17 - Right, okay, so what do I need to do?
08:18 Where do I go?
08:19 - Well, here, your nearest point of relief
08:21 is probably over that way,
08:22 and it does make the shot a little bit tougher,
08:24 but unfortunately, the rules don't allow you any leeway.
08:28 You must take relief from the wrong green,
08:30 and you cannot play the ball as it lies.
08:32 - Right, there we go.
08:33 So there you have it, that's our look
08:36 at six rules golfers find confusing.
08:38 I hope you found that helpful.
08:40 If you have, please do hit the like button.
08:42 Also, please do leave some comments below.
08:43 Is there anything that we've missed?
08:44 We're always looking for ideas for future content,
08:47 so we'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
08:49 But that's it for now.
08:50 Thanks for watching.
08:50 We'll see you next time.
08:52 (silence)
08:54 (silence)
08:56 (silence)
08:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]