- 14/06/2025
Neil Tapping talks about the 7 Rules Definitions
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00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club and
00:04this video looking at the seven rules definitions every golfer needs to know. You'll spot them in
00:10the rule book, there are 68 different definitions in total and they're all italicised. When you spot
00:15them there's also an index at the back to give you all the information you need to know but in
00:19this video we're going to take a look at what we think are the seven most important and if you can
00:23improve your knowledge of these definitions, no two ways about it, you'll have a better understanding
00:28for the rules of golf in general. Right, let's get started.
00:33Okay, so the first definition to look at is areas of the golf course and there are five
00:41different ones to look out for in the rule book and actually these are really important
00:45to know for anyone playing the game because the rules apply differently in those different
00:49areas don't they James? They do. What do people need to know here? Well you need to know there
00:52are five areas of the golf course, the general area which is fairway, rough, woodland, the
00:57vast majority of the course is now called the general area. Then you've got the teeing
01:02area of the hole you're playing, the putting green of the hole you're playing and then
01:05all bunkers and all penalty areas. Right, okay, so let me ask you a question
01:09then James, can you give us an example of where the rules apply differently if the same thing
01:14happened in different areas? Okay, so I mean what you would first need to know is that
01:18some of these areas of the golf course have their own rules in the rule book, so you'll find
01:23a lot about exactly what varies there, but one specific example would be accidental movement
01:28of the ball. If you do that on the putting green, accidentally move your ball at rest,
01:32there is no penalty and you must replace the ball. If you accidentally move your ball in
01:36the general area, the ball at rest, then there is a penalty, you still must replace the ball
01:41but there is a penalty there. So different areas of the course, you just have to be aware
01:46different scenarios result in different outcomes. Yes, and it might sound like the rules are making
01:51it more complicated for people, but those rules are there for a very good reason and that's
01:54why it's really important to know what the definitions are.
01:58Okay, so this definition is known or virtually certain and Jez, we've come to the 18th hole
02:07here on the west course at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club because this little stream that you
02:11can see in front of you runs all the way down the left-hand side of this hole and you and
02:15I have played this hole a few times when a ball has gone a little bit left off the tee, there's
02:19a few other things in the way, you can't be 100% sure, so what does known or virtually
02:24certain mean and how can it help people with the rules?
02:27Okay, well known or virtually certain obviously means known, so you might come down here, see
02:32a ball down in the stream there, you can see your identification marks on it or you've seen
02:37a splash or someone in the group ahead says your ball definitely went in the water.
02:41Yeah, so that's fine, that's known, there's the virtually certain bit where the rules,
02:46the definitions of the rules talk about all events suggesting it's at least 95% likely
02:53that the ball is in the penalty area.
02:55That's interesting because that then becomes a bit of a judgement call doesn't it because
02:59in this scenario if I've hit my tee shot, hopefully you can see the tee behind me, if I've hit
03:03my tee shot down the left-hand side here it may well be in the water but it might well
03:06also be in these ferns here, it might be in the thick rough over here.
03:11The rough here is thick enough for you to potentially not find a ball in, so it could
03:14be in there.
03:15Yeah.
03:16So in this scenario here, my personal opinion would be that you couldn't be 95% certain.
03:22No, I would say at best probably 60%.
03:25Something like that, so then in that circumstance when you're talking about a penalty area here,
03:30that known or virtually certain also applies to things like whether or not your ball moved
03:34and what caused it to move, but here I don't think you could be 95% certain your ball was
03:42in there unless you had specifically seen it go in, so in that circumstance you would have
03:46to go back and play again from the tee rather than proceed under the penalty area rules.
03:50Yes, with a lost ball penalty added to your score, so there you have it, a known or virtually
03:55certain, a definition well worth knowing.
04:01Okay, so we've already covered known or virtually certain, which is handy because that brings
04:07us on to our next definition which is club length.
04:09Now, in this scenario Jez, we would be virtually certain that the ball had gone in the stream
04:14because there's only a few bushes here and even then you can have a little look into those
04:18bushes.
04:19If it's not in one of those, it's in the stream.
04:20Yeah.
04:21So I think we'd be 95% certain that the ball was in there.
04:23I think in this area here there's no real rough to speak of.
04:28If it was in this little tuft here you'd see it.
04:30I think this would be a justifiable 95% certain.
04:33Yes, at which point you'll need to take a drop and at which point you will also need to
04:37know what a club length refers to.
04:39Yes, so club length is a newly defined term under the rules and that is because you're no
04:45longer able to use your putter to measure out a relief area because they wanted to stop
04:50people with long putters gaining an advantage.
04:52Yes, gaining an advantage of maybe a few inches, which actually in a certain scenario could end
04:58up being crucial.
04:59Might just get you clear of what you're taking relief from.
05:01Exactly, so you are going to use the longest club in the bag I would think, so for most
05:06people that would be driver.
05:07Yes, I mean that is more about unplayable lies to the putter, but it could be here where
05:12you're able to get a little bit further away and open up the angle to the green.
05:14Or an angle to get a green.
05:15Yep.
05:16So, club length is now defined as the longest club in your bag that you are carrying for
05:21that given round.
05:22So, typically driver, but if you have chosen not to carry the driver for any reason, you
05:27are sacrificing a little bit of relief area as well whenever you have to measure.
05:30Yes, so I think the ball's crossed about here, we're going in that direction there, so
05:35this is no nearer the hole, is that fair?
05:37Yes, and with a penalty drop it's two club lengths.
05:41For free relief it's typically one club length.
05:44So you can now drop anywhere within that area, and that has gone nearer the hole, so you
05:51have to re-drop.
05:53There we go.
05:55And that is now within the two club length area, not nearer the hole, so that ball is
05:59in play.
06:00There you go.
06:01Right, so for this one you're going to need to use your imagination slightly.
06:09So we've come out on a beautiful day in June, there's no clouds in the sky, there's no rain,
06:13but if it was raining hard, then there are going to be certain areas on the golf course
06:17where the water gathers.
06:18And let's just imagine that around my ball is a giant puddle.
06:22Jez?
06:23Yeah.
06:24What is the definition, the term within the rules that people need to look out for here?
06:27Okay.
06:28Well the definition is now temporary water.
06:29It used to be called casual water, but that got renamed temporary water in the 2019
06:35rules versions.
06:36It's basically any area where puddles gather or pools of water gather where there shouldn't
06:41be water on the golf course, so not in a penalty area.
06:45Yes.
06:46But if there's heavy rainfall and this has filled out this little hollow with a puddle of
06:50water or an irrigation system has chucked too much water out and caused the temporary
06:54accumulation, you would get relief from that.
06:56You are entitled to a free drop, but how do you identify?
06:59So there are often scenarios on the golf course where the course is getting really quite
07:02wet.
07:03Yeah.
07:04But it's kind of on the edge as to whether it's temporary water or not.
07:07What are you allowed to do and what are you not allowed to do?
07:08Well what you are not allowed to do, which you see a lot of people doing, is coming in
07:11here and really pressing down firmly with one foot to try and get the water to come
07:15up.
07:16Yes.
07:17It's only considered temporary water if it's visible either before or after your stance
07:20is taken without pressing down unnecessarily to get the water to come up around your shoe.
07:25Right.
07:26Got it.
07:27And then when you take the drop.
07:28Yes.
07:29You have to make sure that you are then completely free of the area that you are taking the drop
07:32from, right?
07:33Yes.
07:34That's right.
07:35So you need to find the nearest point where temporary water does not interfere with the
07:36stance or where the ball is lying and take relief there.
07:39Nearest area, not nearer the hole.
07:40That becomes your nearest point of complete relief and then you can go from there.
07:44And you drop from there.
07:45Yes.
07:46So it's just important to know that temporary water is not something that comes up when you
07:50put all of your weight on one foot and press down as hard as humanly possible.
07:54Yes.
07:55So it does happen this one on the golf course.
07:58If you're playing more and more golf, you'll encounter it.
08:00So it's well worth knowing exactly what temporary water is and what it isn't.
08:09This definition is stroke and distance.
08:11Now, Jez, why is it important for people to know what stroke and distance refers to?
08:15Well, it's a very common penalty and procedure referred to in the rule book for rules like
08:21rules 17, 18 and 19, which are the ones that cover unplayable balls and penalty areas
08:26and lost balls and out of bounds.
08:28Lost, but we all lose them from time to time.
08:30And when you do, you'll need to know what stroke and distance is.
08:33What is it?
08:34Well, it's effectively exactly what it says on the tin, really.
08:37You have a penalty stroke, but you also lose the distance that you gained with the original
08:41stroke.
08:42A lot of people think if you play again from here, having lost the ball, it's a two-shot
08:47penalty, but it's not a two-shot penalty.
08:49It's a one-shot penalty plus 200 yards of distance.
08:52Yes, it feels like a two-shot penalty.
08:53It feels like a two-shot penalty, and you do effectively add two to your score.
08:56Yes.
08:57So in this scenario, the general area of the golf course, if I've blazed one right, lost
09:00it, we've gone up and had a look at it, I've lost it, I'm coming back to the same
09:04spot, hit effectively the same shot again, which would just be here.
09:07Yes.
09:08But again, it's important to know how the rules differ for different areas of the golf course,
09:13isn't it?
09:14Yes.
09:15I mean, it is because your reference point must be within the same area of the golf course.
09:18If you played the original shot from the general area, which is this fairway, a penalty
09:22area, or a bunker.
09:23Yes.
09:24So if your original shot was from a bunker, your reference point then is that bunker for
09:28playing the shot after you've taken stroke and distance.
09:31What about from the tee?
09:32From the tee, you have the advantage of being able to re-tee the ball any way you like in
09:37the teeing area.
09:38So if you clipped a tree, you weren't expecting to clip and it sent it into oblivion, you could
09:43then perhaps tee off a little bit further to the right or the left to potentially eliminate
09:47the risk of repeating the mistake.
09:49So possibly a smaller advantage to be gained by knowing exactly what stroke and distance
09:53refers to in different areas of the golf course.
09:57But from this scenario, I'm playing exactly the same shot again.
10:00Hopefully not exactly the same shot.
10:02No, exactly.
10:03Try and keep it away from the right-hand side.
10:05That's going to catch the edge, I think, just above ground.
10:13Oh, it came back a long way.
10:15Decent.
10:16Okay, so the next definition is hold.
10:23When the ball is and when it is not hold, Jez.
10:26What do people need to know here?
10:28Well, I think people need to know that things have changed on this front, although the definition
10:32in the rules in some ways hasn't changed.
10:34It still says at the start of the definition, your ball is hold when all of it, the whole
10:39of the ball, rests below the surface of the putting green.
10:41Right, so not all of that is below the surface of the putting green.
10:44So is that hold or is that not hold?
10:45Well, it wouldn't have been, but it is now under the 2019 rules of visions because there's
10:49now an exception, calls a special case, which probably isn't that special because it happens
10:53all the time.
10:54Yeah, especially with the COVID rules.
10:56With the COVID rules.
10:57Things that you've got in the hole.
10:58But even without that being allowed to putt with the flagstick in, there is now this,
11:01what it calls a special case of the ball resting against the flagstick.
11:04And when the ball is resting against the flagstick, it's considered hold when any part of the
11:09ball is below the surface of the green.
11:10Yes, which clearly, there is part of my ball here that is below the surface of the green.
11:15So, this one is hold.
11:21Okay, so the last one on our list is the point of maximum available relief.
11:26Jez, what do people need to know here?
11:28Okay, well, I think people know that nearest point of complete relief is the normal term,
11:33and it is for taking relief from abnormal course conditions or dropping off a cart path.
11:38You have to have it such that that condition or obstruction no longer interferes with your
11:43stance or where the ball is lying.
11:45On the greens and in bunkers, there is a slight variation where you are able to find the point
11:49of maximum available relief if there is no point of complete relief.
11:52Right, so imagine this green is completely saturated, covered in water, or you are in
11:57a bunker and that bunker is completely filled with water.
11:59You are going to need to find a spot to drop the ball on no nearer the hole where that interference
12:04from the water is not quite so bad, is that right?
12:07Yes, so on a green you would be looking for the shallowest point between you and the flag
12:10that your ball would have to pass through, the point where it least interferes.
12:13But in bunkers, you might be trying to find a little bit round the edge where your feet
12:16might still be in the water, but you can actually drop your ball in the sand.
12:19So there you have it, the point of maximum available relief, a definition well worth
12:23knowing.
12:24So there you have it, that is our look at the seven rules definitions every golfer needs
12:28to know.
12:29If you do have any questions, please post them below, we will get back to as many people
12:32as we possibly can.
12:33But that is it for now for Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club, it is goodbye.
12:43Oh great, but I really Gladi жизни soon.
12:45I'm your host.
12:46We'll see you on Steinle Sem Whatever Journey.
12:48Great, thanks.
12:48Bye.
12:49hof Constable Me.
12:57Bye.
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