Rules To Remember
Saying there are only 25 rules of golf is like saying Scotland has only five whiskey regions. Just as each region has its towns, and each town its distilleries, and each distillery a variety of aging and blending methods, the rules are so complicated that there’s a companion book of clarifications to help officials make interpretations. It’s enough to drive a golfer to the pub for a wee nip.
So I asked the CGA’s resident rules gurus which of the 25 a newbie or casual golfer should endeavor to implement, or which ones rules-observing CGA members ought to stress when encouraging a friend or family member to take up the game.
Here is the handful that emerged:
Play fast. This is not exactly one of the 25 rules of golf, but the directive is there in the fine print. Rule 5.6 encourages prompt pace of play and limits players to 40 seconds of preparation for a stroke. And 6.4 allows playing ready golf in match play and encourages playing ready golf in stroke play. This is No. 1 because, more than with any other, companions and other players on the course will appreciate your adherence.
Know what to do when you hit the ball in the water. Or, as the rules call it, a “penalty area.” Kevin Costner was so very entertaining in “Tin Cup,” but players should not feel compelled to emulate his character, Roy McEvoy, by dropping ball after ball at the same spot until they carry the pond. Rule 17, Penalty Areas, gives simple explanations of how to proceed, even including colorful diagrams of the options depending on whether the penalty area is lined in red or in yellow.
Know that you don’t have to hit a ball off a cart path. Cart paths qualify as “abnormal course conditions.” There’s no penalty to move your ball, but there is a procedure to follow, described in Rule 16. League and tournament players should learn the ins and outs of this rule, because sometimes it is smarter to play your next shot from the path. But in a casual round the thing to remember is to take relief for your stance and swing without moving the ball closer to the hole.
Know what to do if your ball is or may be lost or out of bounds. The first few times a beginner goes a little wild off the tee, he or she will spend many minutes searching. Failing to find the ball, he or she will then drop in the fairway and no doubt end up declaring a score that doesn’t match the process. Rule 18 is the one to learn here.
Know when to take a “mulligan.” OK, there are no mulligans in the Rules of Golf, but there is a little appreciated option in the rules known as “stroke and distance” that allows any of us to take a shot over again at any time with only a one-shot penalty. This is the one that gave Roy McEvoy permission to play his shot over and over again, incurring a one-stroke penalty each time. See if you can remember this rule when you’ve hit into a towering pot bunker from which you are unlikely to escape in one shot, or ever. Unfortunately, panic brain, like too many of those wonderful Scottish whiskeys, tend to fog up our memory of this feature of Rule 18.
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Veteran journalist Susan Fornoff has written about golf for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, ColoradoBiz magazine and her own GottaGoGolf.com. She provides the voice of “Molly McMulligan,” the CGA’s on-course consultant on golf for fun. Email her at mollymcmulligan@gmail.com.
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