First Tournament - Couple questions

[djackson89]

Hello everyone!

I've spent the last couple hours reading up on some of the topics here and have my first tournament play coming up this weekend and had a couple of questions if anyone could help out that would be great!

1) Is there a standard ruling on Pin Seekers for tournament play? I currently use a Callaway LR550 (non-slope) pin seeker and wanted to ensure it's legal to use.

2) Looking for a confirmation on the fact that it is legal to carry and use a rulebook during your round if required.

3) Situational questions; a ball is being tee'd up on the Tee Box and to ensure that it's at the correct height a player places his driver next to the tee with the ball on it to measure. While pulling his driver away he accidently nudges the ball and it falls off the tee. He has not "addressed" the ball with his stance but the driver is still on the ground beside the ball when the incident occurs. What is the correct ruling?

Thanks everyone! I'm from BC, Canada if there's any locals!

[Shorty]

2. Of course you can carry a rule book. In fact you should. 3. Ball not in play yet. Re-tee it without penalty.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by djackson89

Hello everyone!

I've spent the last couple hours reading up on some of the topics here and have my first tournament play coming up this weekend and had a couple of questions if anyone could help out that would be great!

1) Is there a standard ruling on Pin Seekers for tournament play? I currently use a Callaway LR550 (non-slope) pin seeker and wanted to ensure it's legal to use.

2) Looking for a confirmation on the fact that it is legal to carry and use a rulebook during your round if required.

3) Situational questions; a ball is being tee'd up on the Tee Box and to ensure that it's at the correct height a player places his driver next to the tee with the ball on it to measure. While pulling his driver away he accidently nudges the ball and it falls off the tee. He has not "addressed" the ball with his stance but the driver is still on the ground beside the ball when the incident occurs. What is the correct ruling?

Thanks everyone! I'm from BC, Canada if there's any locals!

1)  You have to ask the tournament committee if they have put in the local rule allowing electronic distance measuring.  Only they can tell you that.

2)  Yes a rule book is not only allowed - I highly recommend it.

3)  There is no penalty because the ball in not yet in play.  If you make a swing and miss, then the ball IS in play and a penalty is incurred.  If you plan to carry the rule book, it makes sense to study it a bit before the competition.

[djackson89]

Thanks man! I've definately been doing a lot of studying/reading up this week and I do own a rulebook, but being that I used to umpire baseball and bringing a rulebook on the field (player or coach) is illegal. I thought it best to check, although I did suspect it was encourage due to some posts I saw.

[luu5]

Originally Posted by djackson89

but being that I used to umpire baseball and bringing a rulebook on the field (player or coach) is illegal.

WTF?

[djackson89]

What was confusing about that statement?

[stealthduffer]

Reading the rulebook can be confusing the first time through (or 2nd, 3rd....) so I'd recommend one of the books that help to explain them.  I think situational examples will be much more useful than just the rules.  The interpretations to the rules are good as well - again dealing more with situations than abstract rules.

[rustyredcab]

I do not recall the name, but I bought a bunch of rules-made-easy books before a large group trip. It had pictures and explanations for about 20 common things. Way more helpful that the rule book itself. Borders is close to closing, maybe they have some. Places like Golfsmith are likely to have something too. This is not the one I bought but is like this:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&client;=safari&q;=golf+rules+book+simple&cid;=9548659431837636283&ei;=3GMkTt28B56oM9PZ5NcB&ved;=0CBEQ8wI

[djackson89]

That's awesome! I was just thinking when I bought the rules that there must be a place that has the most used rules with better explainations because that thing is loaded with information that would barely ever get used.

One question I ran into: at a course where the white stakes is marked by an out of bounds fence, is the fence considered 'man-made' and if it were to impede your stance/swing you would get relief from that location?

[sacm3bill]

Originally Posted by djackson89

What was confusing about that statement?

I think the "WTF" was an expression of surprise, not confusion. What possible rationale can there be for not allowing a rule book while playing a game governed by the rules in said rule book?

[newtogolf]

I'm not sure if this is still the case, but when I managed softball and baseballs teams I was told the umpire is responsible for knowing the rules and making the proper calls.  Once a call is made, it will not be reversed.  If you disagree with a call, proper protocol is to discuss the ruling with the umpire and make him aware you're playing the game under protest and then file a protest with the league.  A rulebook at a game serves no purpose other than waste time and show up the umpire which are both frowned upon.

Originally Posted by sacm3bill

I think the "WTF" was an expression of surprise, not confusion. What possible rationale can there be for not allowing a rule book while playing a game governed by the rules in said rule book?

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by sacm3bill

I think the "WTF" was an expression of surprise, not confusion. What possible rationale can there be for not allowing a rule book while playing a game governed by the rules in said rule book?

A rulebook was always present at our games. Maybe because the coaches knew more about the rules than the volunteer umpires?!?

[djackson89]

Rulebooks were 100% illegal when i was umpiring softball, and any coach that brough it on the field was kicked out.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by djackson89

One question I ran into: at a course where the white stakes is marked by an out of bounds fence, is the fence considered 'man-made' and if it were to impede your stance/swing you would get relief from that location?

Any wall or fence serving as the course boundary is not an obstruction.  It is treated the same as a white out of bounds stake and no relief is given.  You  play the ball as it lies or declare it unplayable and proceed under one of the options in Rule 28.

[B-Con]

I'm not sure if this is still the case, but when I managed softball and baseballs teams I was told the umpire is responsible for knowing the rules and making the proper calls.  Once a call is made, it will not be reversed.  If you disagree with a call, proper protocol is to discuss the ruling with the umpire and make him aware you're playing the game under protest and then file a protest with the league.  A rulebook at a game serves no purpose other than waste time and show up the umpire which are both frowned upon.

I refereed basketball and we were told not to bring rulebooks for this reason. There was no point in having one since it couldn't effect a call already made and what was a referee supposed to do, whip it out before blowing the whistle? I too was told that the moment a rulebook appears, coaches will be screaming that every call get checked against the rule book. For games with a 3rd party official and a requirement for instantaneous call making, it really does make sense to disallow rulebooks. They don't benefit the referee anything. Maybe the coach would benefit if he wanted to look something up, so I supposed he could keep one on his bench, but beyond that they were only useful off of the court. Golf, though, is a different story. We can stop, take a deep breath, and contemplate a situation. We can even make a ruling after we're done playing. In golf we can actually aspire to a perfectly-ruled game, in other sports there's a lot more judgment call (and sometimes finger-crossing) involved.

[B-Con]

Any wall or fence serving as the course boundary is not an obstruction.  It is treated the same as a white out of bounds stake and no relief is given.  You  play the ball as it lies or declare it unplayable and proceed under one of the options in Rule 28.

This one's easy to remember because the inner part of the OB markers denotes the edge of in bounds line, so the markers [i]are[/i] out of bounds... [quote]"Out of bounds" is beyond the boundaries of the course or any part of the course so marked by the Committee. When out of bounds is defined by reference to stakes or a fence or as being beyond stakes or a fence, the out of bounds line is determined by the nearest inside points at ground level of the stakes or fence posts (excluding angled supports). When both stakes and lines are used to indicate out of bounds, the stakes identify out of bounds and the lines define out of bounds. When out of bounds is defined by a line on the ground, the line itself is out of bounds. The out of bounds line extends vertically upwards and downwards. [...] Objects defining out of bounds such as walls, fences, stakes and railings, are not obstructions and are deemed to be fixed. Stakes identifying out of bounds are not obstructions and are deemed to be fixed.[/quote] ...which kind of implies you don't get relief. I believe at this point their considered "immovable objects OB": [quote]24-2b/21 Interference by Immovable Artificial Object Situated Out of Bounds Q. An immovable artificial object situated out of bounds interferes with a player's swing. May the player obtain relief as provided in Rule 24-2b? A. No. Immovable artificial objects off the course are not obstructions (see Definition of "Obstructions"); therefore, the Rules provide no relief without penalty. [/quote]