How well do you know the rules?

[Motown88]

I found this and thought it may be helpful to some players.  Turns out without referencing the rule book I don't know much!!!

Rules Quiz

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by Motown88

I found this and thought it may be helpful to some players.  Turns out without referencing the rule book I don't know much!!!

Rules Quiz

I would say that I know them better than the average player* but not as well as the experts. I got 8/10 on the random mix.  One incorrect answer was a Committee question and I read it carelessly (intentionally misstated handicap - I missed the word intentionally.)  The other was an on course question I just got wrong because I thought 2 answers fit and I picked the wrong one.  One of the answers was a situation I've never encountered but that is no excuse.

* and WAAAY better than the average professional golf announcer LOL.

[zeg]

I know them quite well, in general, I'd say well above average. I got a 9/10 on the Advanced version of that quiz (I've taken many iterations of it in the past), and like turtleback, my wrong answer was something of a brain fart.

However, in practice on the course, my hit rate is probably a bit low. In the "classroom" I can usually figure out whether a penalty is one or two strokes, but in a hurry or under pressure, I'm more inclined to err. Fortunately, lost ball is about the only penalty that ever comes up for me.

(boy is that last one a sentence I never thought I'd write!)

[iacas]

10/10 on the basic ones, and I suggest people start there. I've taken the 25 question advanced ones in the past and, well, they take awhile...

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by iacas

10/10 on the basic ones, and I suggest people start there. I've taken the 25 question advanced ones in the past and, well, they take awhile...

Yeah... if you haven't made a study of the rules then the advanced questions can be a bit frustrating.  I did the advanced one and made 9/10, and the one I missed I had the right thing in my head but misread the answer.

I had similar issues with some of the questions I missed when I took the 100 question examination at the last USGA Rules Workshop I attended.  Apparently I have more issues with reading comprehension than with rules understanding.

[David in FL]

9/10 basic......with a silly miss. That's why I carry a rule book with me and refer to it as needed!

[zeg]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Yeah... if you haven't made a study of the rules then the advanced questions can be a bit frustrating.  I did the advanced one and made 9/10, and the one I missed I had the right thing in my head but misread the answer.

I had similar issues with some of the questions I missed when I took the 100 question examination at the last USGA Rules Workshop I attended.  Apparently I have more issues with reading comprehension than with rules understanding.

Yes, the same happened to me. There was a question about an incorrect drop procedure after hitting into a water hazard. The question was how many total penalty strokes, and I answered only considering the strokes associated with the incorrect drop. I didn't think to add the one for the drop in the first place... I wasn't surprised to have missed one, but I didn't think it'd be THAT one.

One thing I find with the quiz/exam format is that you can game it a bit. Sometimes a later question will give a hint to the answer to an earlier one, or sometimes just looking carefully at the details they include gives you a hint as to the rule to apply. I think that's why it's harder on the course---just being told, e.g., "X happened intentionally ," can be a big clue. In the real world, you have to remember whether to think about clues like that. Though in the quiz I just took, they did a pretty good job of peppering in tricks, irrelevant details, etc, so they've clearly taken care not to be too artificial.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by zeg

Yes, the same happened to me. There was a question about an incorrect drop procedure after hitting into a water hazard. The question was how many total penalty strokes, and I answered only considering the strokes associated with the incorrect drop. I didn't think to add the one for the drop in the first place... I wasn't surprised to have missed one, but I didn't think it'd be THAT one.

One thing I find with the quiz/exam format is that you can game it a bit. Sometimes a later question will give a hint to the answer to an earlier one, or sometimes just looking carefully at the details they include gives you a hint as to the rule to apply. I think that's why it's harder on the course---just being told, e.g., "X happened intentionally," can be a big clue. In the real world, you have to remember whether to think about clues like that. Though in the quiz I just took, they did a pretty good job of peppering in tricks, irrelevant details, etc, so they've clearly taken care not to be too artificial.

I got the drop one right but got the one about grounding a club on a bridge that crosses a water hazard.  For some reason I had it in my head that the boundaries of the hazard extended upwards to the sky.

The times I've tried the more advanced quizzes it seemed as if the tough ones involved the interaction of 2 or more rules, which may have each been a little obscure to start with.  Some of them I'm not sure I could get even after looking things up in the rules and decisions.

Fortunately the things I encounter on the course seem a little more straightforward.  And whenever I play somewhere other than my regular course I always make sure to read the scorecard.  I am amazed at how many regulars at my home course do not realize that they are entitled to a free drop from the sandy wells under our Joshua trees, even though it's printed right there on the scorecard.  If I got a stroke for every stroke I've saved playing partners by telling them that, my handicap would be a stroke or two lower.  LOL

[Rulesman]

Originally Posted by turtleback

but got the one about grounding a club on a bridge that crosses a water hazard.  For some reason I had it in my head that the boundaries of the hazard extended upwards to the sky.

,

The margins of a water hazard do extend vertically upwards (and downwards). However, the surface of the bridge is not considered to be 'ground in the hazard' so you may touch the surface with your club,

13-4/30

Grounding Club on Bridge in Water Hazard

Q. A player's ball lies on a bridge over a water hazard within the margins of the hazard when extended upwards. May the player ground his club?

A. Yes. A bridge is an obstruction. In a hazard, the club may touch an obstruction at address or in the backward movement for the stroke - see Note under Rule 13-4 . Touching the bridge prior to address is also permissible, since an obstruction in a water hazard is not "ground in the hazard."

This applies even if the bridge has been declared an integral part of the course.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by David in FL

9/10 basic......with a silly miss. That's why I carry a rule book with me and refer to it as needed!

Me too.  Even if I'm certain that I'm right, sometimes an oppoonent or fellow competitor won 't take my work for it.  It can be necessary to show it in black and white.

[Motown88]

I wish I could say I got 9/10...apparently I don't know the rules as well as I thought.  Then again I've never read the rules on match play and went with my gut on most of them, which turned out to be a bad thing.

[David in FL]

Me too.  Even if I'm certain that I'm right, sometimes an oppoonent or fellow competitor won 't take my work for it.  It can be necessary to show it in black and white.

I've always wanted to attend a rules workshop. Know that I need to....

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by Rulesman

The margins of a water hazard do extend vertically upwards (and downwards). However, the surface of the bridge is not considered to be 'ground in the hazard' so you may touch the surface with your club,

13-4/30

Grounding Club on Bridge in Water Hazard

Q.A player's ball lies on a bridge over a water hazard within the margins of the hazard when extended upwards. May the player ground his club?

A.Yes. A bridge is an obstruction. In a hazard, the club may touch an obstruction at address or in the backward movement for the stroke - see Note under Rule 13-4. Touching the bridge prior to address is also permissible, since an obstruction in a water hazard is not "ground in the hazard."

This applies even if the bridge has been declared an integral part of the course.

Ah, so I had a mangled application of a real concept.  Interesting.  Maybe now I'll remember that.  Thanks.

Originally Posted by David in FL

I've always wanted to attend a rules workshop. Know that I need to....

I would also like to do this.  I have gone to the Handicap Seminar to get certified to be a Chairman of a Handicap Committee but never a Rules seminar.  Someday . . .

[Dormie1360]

I didn't miss any but I take this test pretty regularly.   If you take it enough you see all the questions again so overtime your odds at getting them all correct improve greatly.

I highly recommend the USGA/PGA 4 day workshop for anyone interested in learning the rules.  Go ahead and take the 100 question exam at the end.  (There is a 70 question test available, which isn't as hard, but I'd go for the 100 question test. Why not.

Class schedules for next year should be out shortly.  Just keep checking the USGA website.  Classes usually run from January thru March.

[Willie Malay]

8/10 General. Need a little work although I don't think I'd call them "general".