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In this video, Neil Tappin is joined by golf rules guru Jezz Ellwood. They go through the most confusing rules in the book and offer simple explanations about how to proceed. Jezz's advice here will help you avoid any penalty shots whenever you're competing.
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00:00As most golfers know the rules of golf can at times feel fairly confusing and that's what this
00:06video is going to try to tackle. So we're going to look at seven rules that golfers still find
00:10confusing even if they've played the game for quite a while. I'm going to be joined by Jez
00:15Elwood, Golf Monthly Rules Guru and he's going to talk through each of these scenarios and explain
00:19a why they're a little bit confusing and b exactly how you should proceed in each of these
00:24situations. We're here at the London Club, let's get started.
00:34One. Very funny. But this part of the video is about when you are and when you are not penalised
00:42for accidentally moving your ball which I've just done there. Thankfully on the tee, no penalty.
00:47No penalty because at this point on the whole the ball is not in play, you haven't made a stroke
00:52at it unless that was an abnormally short back swing. It was not. So the ball is not in play
00:57so if you move it off the tee, fine. But there are plenty of scenarios on the golf course where
01:01you do get penalised for doing something like this. Jez, let's talk about that. For the first one,
01:06you're searching for your ball, you hit it in some deep rough and you're looking for it,
01:09you're swishing around, you accidentally move the ball, what happens then? Well this is one of the new
01:13exceptions that came in in 2019. Before, if you'd trodden on your ball when you were searching for it,
01:18you would have been penalised. Now you're not. You must replace the ball where it was or where you
01:24estimate it to have been before you kicked it or nudge it with a club to the best of your ability
01:29and then play on penalty free. So no penalty but you must replace the ball. Must replace the ball.
01:34What happens about, let's say you're in the rough or you're on the fairway and you put the club
01:38down behind the ball as I've just done there and you nudge it off or you drop something on the ball
01:43like a head cover or a towel or I don't know, you could be carrying anything, a coin. Yeah,
01:47well this is where some of the confusion has really come in and we've had quite a lot of letters
01:51golf monthly from people who think there is no longer any penalty for any accidental movement
01:57but that's not the case. The default position is still a penalty if you accidentally or deliberately,
02:03but if you accidentally move your ball with the club by dropping something on it, there is still a
02:08penalty. You've got to be careful around your ball once it's in play in the general area of the golf
02:13course. Yes, but the same isn't true on the putting green. It isn't, again in that previous scenario you
02:19do have to replace the ball before you play on. Yes, very important. Putting green, that was another
02:22exception that came in that any accidental movement, so whether you nudge it with the putter on a practice
02:28stroke or drop a coin on it or catch it with your foot, any accidental movement of the ball on the
02:35putting green is no longer a penalty. You must replace the ball before you play your next stroke.
02:40All really useful to know because these scenarios they do happen. I can guarantee you at some point
02:45in your golfing life you are going to accidentally move the ball while you are looking for it in deep
02:48rough. Knowing that it's not a penalty but you do have to replace it is key and it's worth just
02:53underlining that in all of these scenarios you always have to put the ball back. There's never a
02:57scenario where you move it accidentally and then play it from wherever it's come to rest. That is true and if
03:02we were going to stress one thing it is that if you move your ball whether it's accidentally or not
03:06on the fairway in the rough there is still a penalty despite a lot of people believing that there isn't.
03:12There you go.
03:18Okay so this is one of the very few scenarios in the game of golf where players will need to make
03:22a judgment call and it's not easy this particular scenario and it all boils down to a phrase that is
03:28known or virtually certain. Jez explain to us what's going on in this scenario.
03:32Well you'll find that phrase in the definitions section of the book and in a circumstance like
03:37this you've hit your tee shot it's come around some trees that you can't see. It's heading towards
03:42the penalty area. Yes. You think it's gone in there but when you get down here there's this area of
03:47very thick grass. Big area of thick grass. Right on line with where your ball was heading. Didn't see it go in.
03:52Didn't see it splash. No one saw a splash either in your group or in a group ahead calling back and saying it
03:57definitely went in. So you haven't got certainty and then the rules say virtually certain means 95%.
04:05Yes. So that's a bit of an intangible how you work that out I don't know but for me in this scenario
04:11here because this grass is so long and thick and right in the spot where your ball was heading for
04:17I would find it quite hard to say that was 95% certain it went into the water. Yeah and the truth
04:22is different people are likely to interpret this rule in slightly different ways. I think you've got to
04:26be honest you've got to be honest with yourself as well in this scenario am I sure my ball's gone
04:31in there I think I'm probably maybe at best 60% it could easily be in here I'm obviously going to
04:36have a very good look for it and if I if you find yourself having a good look for it in the thick
04:40rough it means you're probably not certain it's gone in there are you. Indeed and of course the difference
04:44then is can you drop just here where the ball allegedly last across the edge of the penalty area
04:51or because you can't find it do you have to go back and play again under stroke and distance. So it's a big
04:56difference and I'm sure a lot of people would err on the side of it must have gone in mate but that's
05:02not quite well if we were playing a friendly game of golf I wouldn't I wouldn't mind whatsoever in
05:06that scenario I'm sure you would say to me yeah just drop it somewhere near but if we were playing
05:10for handicap or you're playing in a competition you really need to think very carefully about this
05:14so a rule that is well worth knowing when you find yourself in this very tricky but not totally
05:20uncommon scenario. Okay so without question this is one of the most misunderstood rules of golf and
05:32Jez I'm not referring here to the um to the cart path this is an immovable obstruction and nobody is
05:38expecting you to play the ball from the cart path no the bit that I think is misunderstood and confused
05:44is often where you get your relief from yeah now we've chosen this specific spot very very specifically
05:51and it does happen so Jez talk us through what often happens in this scenario and how people should
05:57under the rules proceed. I think it's misinterpretation people think it's on the path
06:01and that's that's that so you can take relief wherever you get away from the path not nearer
06:07the hole but it's where the ball is lying on the path that's important key point and you get your
06:12nearest point of complete relief from where it's lying and in this case much as you would want to
06:17come this way I would definitely want to go I'm actually playing in this direction here so going
06:21around the corner there I definitely want to hit mine from over there in the fluffy semi-rough or thick
06:26foot-high grass over here and some people might even say well I can't drop there because I'm not
06:31really getting relief I'll go back over there but you have to remember what you're getting relief from
06:36you're getting relief from this abnormal course condition cart path and movable obstruction
06:41rules of golf don't give you relief from thick grass so if the thick grass is your nearest point of
06:46complete relief that is where you have to drop and there's only one nearest point of complete relief
06:51there's not a few different options it's one spot and in this scenario as you said Jez it's kind of in
06:55here isn't it yeah all of this bad lie the ball bit about here so that your club has no chance of
07:01hitting the path on the way through on the way through of course you don't have to take relief
07:05you can play it from as it lies that'll be down to the individuals to whether they want to kind of
07:10potentially endanger the bottom of their golf club by hitting a shot like this I think I'd probably
07:15have to I would probably take this relief here yeah and then try and just somehow well see how bad
07:20let's have a look see how bad it is and then get it back into play
07:23so that I would say was complete relief your club was sitting much better but I think I can hit this
07:32well I can
07:36yep so you're back in play and you've proceeded in accordance with the rules rather than
07:43going to where you would like to play from and then potentially breaking them hopefully that helps
07:47you when you're in a situation like this
07:58weak yeah that's not very good uh I'd quite like to have another go at that Jez now yeah
08:02in order for me to do that I need to know whether I'm allowed to practice
08:06on the golf course or not during a competition around a golf
08:10do I have permission to have another go at this well you do if there's no one waiting to play in
08:14hands on hips waiting for you to get out of the way which there isn't anyone on the hole so I'm
08:18fine so this again there is a limited amount of practice you can do in a round
08:23and it's confined to the putting green you've just played or the teeing area you're next about
08:30to play from so you can practice your putting and chipping on or near either of those two areas
08:35you can't practice any bunker shots so if you've fluffed a bunker shot you can't have another go
08:40I can't think of the time I've ever hit a practice bunker shot on the golf course I'm sure
08:43someone has but you're not allowed to not allowed and and if you are holding up the groups behind
08:47they are going to be very angry about that anyway so you're likely to hear about it after the round
08:51of golf yeah anyway um so this one is fine I can it's fine yeah you'll find all the detail in rule
08:575.5 what if I breach the rule if you breach the rule by playing a practice shot you're not allowed
09:02to in a place you're not allowed to or you are unduly delaying play you'll get the general penalty so
09:08if it's between holes as it would be in this scenario that would apply to the next hole you're
09:13about to play good so in match play you would get to the next tee and you'd have already lost that
09:18hole before you play it so you might as well walk on to the next hole great okay well I get to have
09:23another go at this yeah I'm not going to hit such a bad putt this time I promise
09:29yeah a little bit more authority I only just went in though oh I mean there's no
09:33in is in is yes I know I know I know always second time isn't it yeah yeah
09:42okay so this is a scenario within the rules of golf that many players find confusing even if they've
09:48played the game for many years and in order to for us to illustrate the point we've made two pitch marks
09:53one that is off the green just on the free and fringe here and one that is on the green but both of
09:58these are directly on the line of my shot I would definitely want to putt this Jez now one of these
10:03I can repair one of them I can't explain to me what's going on well there's a difference between
10:09the green and not the green the putting green as it's called in the rules you can repair a pitch mark
10:14on the putting green at any time okay whether your ball is lying on the green or off the green so that's
10:20no problem the one off the green you're not allowed to touch to repair that would be
10:25breaking rule 8.1a which talks about conditions affecting the stroke yeah you're not allowed to
10:30improve the turf conditions the ground conditions that would be deemed to be doing that right and
10:36the penalty is pretty severe it's two shots in stroke play or loss of hole in match play so
10:41ouch the general penalty definitely want to avoid that so I'm going to repair this
10:45what about if how about if my ball came to rest yeah and then that pitch mark was made by my
10:52plane partner well it's a it's a one in a million shot probably but in that scenario you would be
10:58allowed to repair it because you're entitled to the conditions that prevailed when your ball came
11:02to rest that pitch mark wasn't there at that point so in that rare rare rare scenario you would be
11:09able to then repair that pitch mark yeah that was created after your ball had come to rest that
11:13is unlikely it is much more likely that you're going to have a situation like this with a pitch
11:17mark yeah it does happen and I'm going to have to chip this and this is not my favorite shot no
11:24oh I didn't read it properly oh and that's three feet left no
11:34okay so I have had a total nightmare here I have hit a tee shot from uh way over behind me
11:40and I've sprayed it mild right and I'm on the the green here and this is not the green
11:45of the hole that I'm playing I now need to hit a seven iron in this direction here yeah what do
11:49I need to avoid doing Jez well you need to avoid hitting a seven iron off this finely prepared surface
11:55I really don't want to make a difference the putting greens here are perfect as well
11:59this is a wrong green as far as the rules of golf are concerned and play from it is prohibited so you
12:04cannot play from it you cannot play if your feet are on the green and your ball isn't you've got
12:10to have complete um you've got to be completely away from the wrong green yes not in interfering
12:16with stance or golf swing so my nearest point of complete relief somewhere where I'm not going to
12:20take a divot and it goes from there somewhere like that and then yeah down here somewhere so I'd be
12:26dropping just here and then I can continue to play that's it yep and uh that is what you would expect
12:34most people to do but somebody on the pga tour a few years ago did actually play from the wrong green
12:39with a full iron shot because probably because they're very good at just nipping the ball off
12:43the top but that was limbly is in play to stop you from damaging the green essentially I think
12:48it's important to remember as well even on a links course where you might be out and back and there
12:52are two greens very close together and it would be quite feasible to putt from one to the other you
12:57still can't do it you have to take relief that's good from the wrong green advice because I think I
13:02wouldn't even consider I think a lot of people would just think okay there's only a little bit of
13:05fringe or just put back to my green but you can't do that yeah and if you do do it even in that
13:10scenario it's the general penalty which is two shots and it is and you'll find this all in rule 13.1
13:15f there you go so uh playing from the wrong green uh there's a rule to protect you from doing it
13:20because it will damage the golf course make sure you run through the process that I've just been through
13:24then you should be fine oh no ah
13:39okay so for this one we have over elaborated a little bit yeah and you might need to use your
13:44imagination a little bit because obviously I'd never hit a putt that bad no well actually I have done but
13:51um it's worth remembering your options when you hit a really awful shot like that one the one that
13:56I've just hit Jess that one's gone over the crest of this hill it's gone down into a bunker it's gone
14:00right into the back of the bunker yeah which is an almost an unplayable position I'm now really
14:04scratching my head thinking what do I do now explain to me what my options might be you've putted it could
14:10have gone into the water it could have gone into a terrible lie as you say it's now at the back lip you've
14:14got no shot you're thinking you might have to take an unplayable but what you're probably not thinking is
14:19why don't I just putt it again under stroke and distance yes yes there's a shot to add
14:24so if if you two putt from there you know it's effectively three more shots but sometimes that
14:29just might be your best option best option in a scenario like this it's also worth remembering that
14:34if you've chipped so in that scenario if I was just off the green I'd thinned my chip
14:38not wholly unlikely again that option is open to me just remember that because I think when people
14:44get onto the green they sort of forget that that is a possibility don't they yeah definitely I mean
14:47it might be a case where you're very close to a ridge you're only four feet from the hole and
14:52you've just hit it a fraction too hard and suddenly it's off the front of the green well having seen
14:57the first part you might think okay my best chance here is to have another go at that four footer yes
15:02and you might be thinking okay well that means taking stroke and distance from it nearer the hole but
15:07you're allowed to do that on the putting green you can take stroke and distance uh just as you can
15:12anywhere else on the golf course and if that means you're nearer the hole and where your ball
15:16have come to rest you are allowed to do you're allowed to do that so it's worth remembering
15:20hopefully a situation like that doesn't arise for you but if it does try to keep that idea in mind
15:26so there you have it that's our look at the seven rules golfers still find confusing even if they've
15:31played the game for a long time there are reasons why some of these roles rules are a little bit
15:36confusing but hopefully Jez's explanations have helped to clear things up for you if you do have any
15:41questions please do leave some comments below we'd love to hear what you have to say but that's it for now from
15:45the london cub thanks for watching we'll see you next time
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