Gary Brown

Rules Roundtable

06/22/2019 by Gary Brown

Rules Roundtable June 2019

My plan was to take the summer off from the rules roundtable while we were playing, but I have a few things I’d like to explain. One is a rule change, one is the proper way to take “Back on the Line” relief and the other is Gimmies. After playing a few rounds with other divisions I have discovered that some of the divisions interpret the rules differently.

At our board meeting Tuesday, the Rules Committee made a motion to change our lift, clean and place options. And the board voted to agree. Up until now, we were only allowed to touch the ball during cart path only conditions with anything other than our club. We have changed the rule to read “A player may lift, clean and place their ball back within 1 foot no closer to the hole from its original spot at any time, except when it is in a bunker or penalty area. If the player is taking relief from a bunker or penalty area, the ball may be cleaned at that time. Anytime a ball is legally lifted another ball may be substituted “.

This rules change will take effect immediately.

Back on the line relief

If you hit your ball into a lake, the bunker, or other penalty areas, or you determine that you can’t play the ball from where it lies. You choose the spot where your ball last crossed into the penalty area, stand behind that spot while looking at the pin on the green. Then you may drop one club to either side along that line as far back as you wish, with a 1-stroke penalty. The same is true when you’re in a bunker. If the bunker is unplayable (no place to drop within the bunker) you may take a free drop back on the line. If you determine you can’t play your next shot from the bunker, you must assess yourself a 2-stroke penalty before moving back on the line to drop the ball.

Gimmies

I have been saying that Gimmies are not allowed all year. In the last couple of events that I have participated in, I have observed people in 2 different groups other than my own, who have violated this rule. When it happened in my group, I recorded a 9 for that competitor, because he picked up his ball before completing his 8th stroke. He seemed surprised, but the next time he picked up the ball without putting out, he remembered to put it right back down and finish the putt without penalty. Please help all of our members to abide by this rule by calmly reminding them of the RULE, and recording a 9 on their scorecard, anytime you witness it.

That’s it for now. So look for the rules roundtable after our season is over or if something important comes up that I need to tell everyone about. Enjoy the rest of the year. Remember if you have any rules questions send them to me at rules.questions@gkbrown.net. I will do my best to get them answered in a day or 2.

Rules Committee

Gary Brown

Rules Roundtable

04/03/2019 by Gary Brown

This month I have a few items to explain about the rules for 2019, the affect those changes will have for Metro Seniors, and our tremendous progress in pace of play.

If you saw my presentation at the meeting you may have heard the term “flagstick dancing”. We simply mean we don’t want the flag taken in and out repetitively. We want you to work out a system with the other golfers in your foursome. For example, if someone needs the flag in until they finish putting out, and no one else does, let that player go ahead and putt out and then hold the flag for the rest of you. If we don’t work out some type of a system among ourselves like that, it could be bad for our pace of play numbers. We have our rounds down to less than 4 ½ hours in just the three years we have been working on it. We would hate to go backwards over this new rule. PLEASE insure the flagstick is all the way down in the cup and standing straight for the next group.

You may have noticed that on the tour the caddies cannot line up their player shots anymore. Unfortunately, that same USGA rule applies to us during all of our events. You are not allowed to line up your partner’s putt or shot. This doesn’t mean you can’t help your partner pick the line. You just can’t stand behind him/her while he/she is addressing the ball. The penalty for doing so is 1 stroke, and your opponents should be more than happy to remind you of that.

One of the most talked about rules violations is “The Gimmie”. Everyone knows what it is, and I think everyone knows the league is trying to eliminate the terms “that’s good” and “it’s a Gimmie” from all of our golfer’s vocabulary. If you pick up on any hole before your 8^th stroke, your score will be 9. Let’s keep it fair and play by all the rules across all our divisions as we are competing for the Championship. If you witness rules violations and don’t want to say anything to the person who violated that rule, you can e-mail me directly at rules.questions@gkbrown.net. This will help direct our efforts to see that we all play by the same rules.

It’s important to remember, Metro Seniors has declared all penalty areas as red staked penalty areas. There are some areas on the course that are not marked that we will also be considered red staked penalty areas. They include grass or weeds more than a foot tall and heavy woods and sometimes fences at the boundary of the courses. This means that you can take a two-club relief no closer to the hole, from wherever your ball last crossed the margin of the penalty area. In some cases, this may be on the other side of the penalty area. Add one penalty stroke and play on.

I look forward to a great and fun season. I hope we all have at least a couple of exceptional rounds this year.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Rules Roundtable. I hope you find it enjoyable and informative. Please let me know if there is anything you’d like to see in future installments of the Rules Roundtable. This is the Member’s blog so please post your questions and we will try to answer all of them all.

If you didn’t get an opportunity to see the rules presentation at our general meeting or maybe you just couldn’t hear it very well. I have included the link below which should allow you to see and hear the complete presentation. We tried to post it under the rules tab, but the sound and automation doesn’t work.

https://1drv.ms/p/s!Atf9NKTNQNOyknGuBqYgbi5nRNDO

Rules Roundtable

02/03/202002/06/2019 by Gary Brown

Where do I drop the ball?

I have seen many variations of the correct place to drop your ball if it’s out of bounds, lost in the weeds or in a Penalty Area. My hope is to show everyone the correct place to drop with this communication. I have included a couple of illustrations created by Rick Hines (Thank you Rick). You must scroll down and put your glasses on to see them.

There is some confusion about the term “Back on the Line Relief” as well. Most golfers I have talked to, thought that meant the line from their previous shot to where the ball came to rest, but that is not correct. The best way I can describe “Back on the Line” is to, stand behind the ball while looking at the pin and then taking your relief back on that line 1 club to either side of it. Then drop the ball from your knee height. Metro seniors allows us to roll the ball with our club up to a foot, left, right or back to try and improve our lie.

Lift, Clean and Place of the ball within one (1) foot, not nearer the hole, allowed on the whole of the course except:

1. The putting green of the hole being played; and
2. All Penalty Areas on the course including Bunkers
3. If the grass your ball is in, is longer than 6”
4. NOT ALLOWED to improve line of play, to get relief from behind tree, in a different cut of grass (rough to fairway),

Enjoy this video of the proper way to use “Back on the Line” relief: http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/major-changes/procedure-for-taking-back-on-a-line-relief.html

Lateral Relief: Is another option for determining your drop options in some cases. This option may be used to your advantage, depending on where your ball entered the Red Staked Penalty area (Sand traps are not Red staked). I have also included a video on the proper Drop Procedures.

Lateral Relief: http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/major-changes/procedure-for-taking-lateral-relief.html

2019 Rules Roundtable

01/06/201901/05/2019 by Gary Brown

2019 Rules Roundtable

Well 2019 is bringing a lot of new rules changes and I’m going to try to highlight some of them from time to time. We play by the rules to keep it fair for everyone as we are all competing each week for a spot in our championship.

Last year I had more questions about the Provisional Ball rule than anything else. Most of the questions came from a competitor’s playing partners. Trying to determine if they had played the provisional ball correctly. So, one thing you’ll notice that’s different this year is we don’t have an exception for the Provisional Ball Rule in our “Metro Seniors rules exceptions”. The USGA plays the Provisional Ball Rule with a stroke and distance penalty and can only be played with the parameters described below in the USDA rule.
The Metro Seniors removed our exception this year to try and clear up some confusion.
We took away the distance penalty for a Lost or Out of Bounds shot a couple years ago. When a ball is determined lost or out of bounds, it may be dropped within 2 club lengths (your driver) from where it went out or is determined lost, no closer to the hole. Since Metro Seniors has dropped the distance penalty it has also eliminated your need to go back to play your next shot. Your only options are to assess a 1 stroke penalty and play from within your 2 club drop area or assess a 1 stroke penalty and play your next shot from the same place, before moving forward to search.

In my opinion with the metro seniors removing the distance penalty it is rarely to your advantage to play a provisional ball. There are some exceptions that can only be determined on the course during play. Please familiarize yourself with the USGA rule, so you can use this rule to your advantage by making an informed decision on the course.

A provisional ball may still be played according to the USGA rule 27-1 & 27-2.

Author: Gary Brown

27-1. Stroke and Distance; Ball Out of Bounds; Ball Not Found Within Three Minutes

a. Proceeding Under Stroke and Distance

At any time, a player may, under penalty of one stroke, play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5), i.e., proceed under penalty of stroke and distance.

Except as otherwise provided in the Rules, if a player makes a stroke at a ball from the spot at which the original ball was last played, he is deemed to have proceeded under penalty of stroke and distance.

b. Ball Out of Bounds

If a ball is out of bounds, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5).

c. Ball Not Found Within Three Minutes

If a ball is lost as a result of not being found or identified as his by the player within three minutes after the player’s side or his or their caddies have begun to search for it, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5).

Exception: If it is known or virtually certain that the original ball, that has not been found, has been moved by an outside agency (Rule 18-1), is in an obstruction (Rule 24-3), is in an abnormal ground condition (Rule 25-1) or is in a water hazard (Rule 26-1), the player may proceed under the applicable Rule.

Penalty for Breach of Rule 27-1:

Match play – Loss of hole; Stroke play – Two strokes.

27-2. Provisional Ball

a. Procedure

If a ball may be lost outside a water hazard or may be out of bounds, to save time the player may play another ball provisionally in accordance with Rule 27-1. The player must:

(i)

announce to his opponent in match play or his marker or a fellow-competitor in stroke play that he intends to play a provisional ball; and

(ii)

play the provisional ball before he or his partner goes forward to search for the original ball.

If a player fails to meet the above requirements prior to playing another ball, that ball is not a provisional ball and becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 27-1); the original ball is lost.

Rules Roundtable

12/13/2018 by Gary Brown

Hello fellow metro senior members my name is Gary Brown I am the leagues Rules Chairman. The members of the Rules Committee and myself are going to be making regular monthly posts trying to clarify the rules that we all must play by. This will keep our league a great place to play the game we love both now and in the future. We all compete for the same thing, a spot in our championship, so it is important that we all play by the same rules and understand how the rules can be applied. Sometimes to our advantage and sometimes not so much. I have decided to call it the “Rules Roundtable” and I will attempt to address a new rule every other week. I hope everyone finds this new segment interesting and enjoys learning more about the rules of golf.

As you all know we play by the USGA rules with some exceptions for the metro seniors. Those exceptions will be the target of my rules roundtable. We are a handicapped league to make it fair for everyone. So if you’re picking up putts or not counting all your strokes you may be unintentionally lowering your handicap and costing yourself strokes and prize money every week you play. By the way, none of our exceptions concern “gimmes” or “mulligans” and the USGA does not allow for either. Every stroke up to 9 must be counted to keep our league fair for everyone.

If you have other questions about rules you can send them to me at rules.questions@gkbrown.net.

I recently attended a rules adherence meeting with the division VP’s, the President, other Board members and a few members of the Rules Committee. We discussed all types of rules violations and how to handle those violations. There were several solutions discussed. I must admit some were better than others and some were pretty harsh. The Executive Committee is serious about having everyone play by the same rules.

Let’s all hope for a great 2019 and a couple more rounds this year.

Author: Gary Brown

Look for our next post discussing the “Provisional Ball Rule”