League Play Rules

Some things come up in league play where golfers have had questions about the rules of play. For instance:

-If a ball hits in play and then goes out of bounds, do you place it back in play where it went out of bounds? Answer: Ball is out of bounds; one stroke penalty and hit your next shot from the original position.

-If a player intends to hit a ball and misses it entirely, should that be a practice swing? Answer: No. Count that swing as a stroke. The key word is intention - if you intend to hit the ball, and then miss it, that is a stroke. Playing partners do not have the option to 'forgive' the missed strokes.

-If a ball is in a hazard, can a golfer move it out without taking a penalty stroke? Answer: no; play the ball where it lays or take the unplayable lie and take a penalty stroke. Example: the drainage ditch on the left side of #2 fairway is a hazard - a Tuesday League member of long standing informed a Thursday League member of short standing that that was a free drop. No. Another example: a Thursday League golfer was in the trees down along the right side of #5 fairway and was told by his playing partners that he must play in there and not drop out in a clear area. Of course, though he reported the incident as if other playing partners would have giving him that option.

-If a golfer hits the ball twice with one swing, that's two strokes. I've seen that happen three times in the last several weeks (one of my own shots included) and was told the first time that 90% of the local golfers wouldn't have counted that as two strokes. With the tall grass around the greens, such a two hit scenario is more likely now. Count it as two strokes.

Need I say that we should all be playing by the same rules? Go here for our League rules.