How Well Do You Know The Rules OF Golf?

What do I do when my  own playing partner calls me on a golf ruling?

My name is Ken and  I have a ruling problem that I would like clarified. I was involved in a  best ball golf tournament and I hit a wicked slice off the tee on a hole that has out of bounds stakes down the right hand side of the fairway. In the out of bounds area were a number of trees. My shot sliced itself out and it appeared from the tee that it definitely was OB.  So, I hit a provisional ball and then went to look for the original ball under the 5 minutes time limit for looking.

We found my original golf ball and to my surprise it was still in bounds.  My moron playing partner calls me out with his own interpretations of the golf rule.  He tells me that I must play the provisional ball because obviously the ball must have hit a tree that was ob and bounced back in bounds.  I went along with him in order to keep peace.

Who was correct?   Does anyone reading this know the answer to my dilemma?   Leave your comments below?

Would you now like the answers now?

According to Rule 27-2, section C. Your playing partner was totally wrong. You could have done two things to have protected yourself from further rulings.
You could have played both your original ball and provisional ball, and finished the hole out. Then before signing your golf card sought out the ruling from the club professional or a  member on the rules committe. The other thing you could have done was find out the ruling in your U.S.G.A. rules book you should be carrying with you in your golf bag at all times.

The ruling states:  When the original ball is neither lost or out of bounds. The player shall abandon the provisional ball and continue playing with the original ball. If the player fails to do so, any further strokes played with the provisional ball shall constitute playing the wrong golf ball and the provisions of rule 15 shall apply. (Two strokes penalty for every shot you hit with the wrong ball in stroke play or lost of hole in match play.)

With me it cost me the club championship at my golf course that I play on. I was at the 18′th hole a 225yard par 3.  I was leading by one shot and needed par. Trees to the left and a roadway to the right out of bounds. In front of the green to the right was a culvert that allowed the creek to run through it . I hit a 3 wood and it had a banana flight to it.  It ended up in the culvert.  It was at the end of summer so there was very little water in it but a lot of green cabbage. You had to hit an explosion shot out of there.  I was able to hit a sand wedge out of there because I was only 30 yards away from the green.

Since I was playing in the last group there was a lot of spectators around the green mostly my fellow golfers that I play with in the club. They are all yelling at me that I must hit the ball where it lays. In normal conditions I agree. However, the culvert according to local or club rules it’s pick, clean and place NO CLOSER TO THE HOLE.

I didn’t do this because I forgot this ruling myself.  So I listened to my friends and hit the sandwedge the ball ended up sailing over the spectators heads behind the green.  Now I had a steep downhill chip with the green slanting away from me.  Of course I over chipped ending up 30ft from the cup.  From there ended up two putting and lost the club championship by one stroke.

I was furious went and sought out the club pro for his interpretation.  Bottom line I should have finished the hole out playing with two balls. The original and provisional, and then found out the correct ruling. It was a hard lesson to learn but, I never forgot about it. To this day the one who was doing the most yelling at me,  and who is one of our best golfers.  When he tells me something I don’t believe him.  He lost my trust!

Belinda Berman

United States Golf Association

77 Liberty Corner Road

Far Hills, NJ 07931

Phone: (908) 234-2300 x 1034

Fax: (908) 719-9593

Email: DMCA-agent@usga.org