Two I've Never Seen

[bigwave916]

It was raining steadily from first tee until after we cleared the green on 17. Medal play, one day tournament this past Saturday.

Two things I saw that I've never seen before:

1. A guy playing in the group ahead of us had a hat that was really just a mini umbrella with a headband in it so that he was literally wearing an umbrella. Funny looking as all get out, but great idea if you don't mind looking silly. Of course, the subject of it's legality in tournament play came up.  Of course all you rule fanatics know there's nothing illegal about it.  You can even hold an umbrella yourself while playing you just can't have someone else hold it for you.

2. On the 14th hole there was a stream of water running from the back to the front.  This stream of water was 3/4 to 1 inch deep in some areas and 3 to 4 feet wide.. There was casual water on a couple of greens and we made the appropriate allowances under the rules of golf.  However, on this particular hole the stream of water ran over the cup and the cup was submerged with at least a 1/2 inch of water over the cup. We had no choice but to putt through the water to the cup. I was closest so I was able to watch everyone else put and see there balls come up very short because of the water.  I also noticed that when the put there hand in the hole to retrieve there ball water was forced out of the cup reducing the level in the immediate area.  By the time I stroked my par put the water was down a good bit and I was able to putt upstream a little and let the water current help the ball into the hole.

 

 

[Martyn W]

It was raining steadily from first tee until after we cleared the green on 17. Medal play, one day tournament this past Saturday.

Two things I saw that I've never seen before:

1. A guy playing in the group ahead of us had a hat that was really just a mini umbrella with a headband in it so that he was literally wearing an umbrella. Funny looking as all get out, but great idea if you don't mind looking silly. Of course, the subject of it's legality in tournament play came up.  Of course all you rule fanatics know there's nothing illegal about it.  You can even hold an umbrella yourself while playing you just can't have someone else hold it for you.

2. On the 14th hole there was a stream of water running from the back to the front.  This stream of water was 3/4 to 1 inch deep in some areas and 3 to 4 feet wide.. There was casual water on a couple of greens and we made the appropriate allowances under the rules of golf.  However, on this particular hole the stream of water ran over the cup and the cup was submerged with at least a 1/2 inch of water over the cup. We had no choice but to putt through the water to the cup. I was closest so I was able to watch everyone else put and see there balls come up very short because of the water.  I also noticed that when the put there hand in the hole to retrieve there ball water was forced out of the cup reducing the level in the immediate area.  By the time I stroked my par put the water was down a good bit and I was able to putt upstream a little and let the water current help the ball into the hole.

 

 

33-2d/2

 

Hole Surrounded by Casual Water

If all the area around a hole contains casual water, in stroke play the course should be considered unplayable and the Committee should suspend play under Rule 33-2d. In match play, the Committee should relocate the hole.

[bigwave916]

Yeah, Martyn, we know that, but the "committee" is one person and he was not aware of the problem until we reported it at scoring. We were the last group to finish since the group behind us "withdrew".  Also the first half of the field went through before the water began to run down the green enough to create the rivlet.  I was just commenting on the rarity of such a set of circumstances. The fact that some played the hole under different conditions was just the "rub of the green" as far as any of us were concerned.

[DrvFrShow]

The hole was unplayable when you played it. It was not "rub of the green" just because others played it under different circumstances.

I know that many times the "rules" call for no cell phone use, but in this case it is for a ruling. Take a photo, call "the committee" and send the photo to their e-mail.

Take photos of your ball locations. If they don't rule the course unplayable, you might just finish out 18, then go back and putt out on 17 after the flood.

Seriously, if the course is a swamp I won't play on it.

[Martyn W]

Yeah, Martyn, we know that, but the "committee" is one person and he was not aware of the problem until we reported it at scoring. We were the last group to finish since the group behind us "withdrew".  Also the first half of the field went through before the water began to run down the green enough to create the rivlet.  I was just commenting on the rarity of such a set of circumstances. The fact that some played the hole under different conditions was just the "rub of the green" as far as any of us were concerned.

By Decision, one option would be to cancel the hole and have everyone play another designated hole to make up the stipulated round. Reducing the stipulated round to 17 after play has begun would not be an option.

btw a rub of the green is not 'bad luck' it is a ball in motion stopped or deflected by an outside agency (Rule 19)

[Fourputt]

Yeah, Martyn, we know that, but the "committee" is one person and he was not aware of the problem until we reported it at scoring. We were the last group to finish since the group behind us "withdrew".  Also the first half of the field went through before the water began to run down the green enough to create the rivlet.  I was just commenting on the rarity of such a set of circumstances. The fact that some played the hole under different conditions was just the "rub of the green" as far as any of us were concerned.

Just for your information:  Rub of the green occurs any time a ball in motion is deflected or stopped by an outside agency.  It can be a good break as easily as it can be a bad break.  

For instance:  Your ball is headed toward the "Death Bunker" from which you have never been able to play a reasonable shot.  The ball hits a rake and stops short of the bunker leaving an easy pitch.  That is a rub of the green.  

Or your ball is hooking off into the "Forgotten Forest" never to be seen again, but deflects off a branch and bounds back into the middle of the fairway.  Rub of the green again.  It might prove to be a bad break for your opponent in these cases, but it certainly isn't bad for you.

Edited October 13, 2015 by iacas
removed extra returns

[bigwave916]

The rub of the green

more like this...

...other phrases about:

• Sport and games
• Colour
• Betting and luck

Meaning

Luck; especially in sports and pastimes played on a green surface.

Origin

Snooker commentators in the UK often refer to the 'rub of the green'. From the context of their remarks it is clear that what they mean by the phrase is 'luck', usually bad luck. I had always assumed that the green in question was the green baize cloth that covers the snooker table. When I heard the expression used in a similar context in a golf commentary it seemed just as likely that the green might have been a putting green. A little investigation has turned up the fact that, despite golf having ancient origins, the term rub wasn't first used in relation to that sport, or that of snooker, if indeed that can be called a sport, but was first used in the game of bowls. A 'rub' is any hindrance or impediment that diverts the bowl from its proper course. The term is virtually synonymous with 'let', which also remains with us in lawn tennis and in the expression 'let or hindrance'.

Some of the early 16th century references to rubs are figurative, and so we can assume that the literal term rub was in use before then. Shakespeare alludes to a rub in Richard II, 1593:

Lady: Madame, wee'le play at Bowles.
Queen: 'Twill make me thinke the World is full of Rubs, And that my fortune runnes against the Byas.

Of course, Shakespeare also referred to 'the rub', with the meaning of 'the obstacle', in one of his best-known passages - Hamlet's 'To be, or not to be' speech:

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

The first appearance of 'rub of the green' in print that I've found doesn't have anything to do with games where gentlemen sank balls into holes, but from Philip Horneck's The High-German Doctor, 1716, which is a strange rambling discourse on the occult. Horneck uses the expression as the name of a character.

The first citation that I've found of the current, sporting meaning of the term does come from the world of golf. The rules of golf have been codified in Scotland since their first publication in 1744. From the 19th century these have mostly emanated from the Society of St Andrews Golfers, under the unambiguous name The Rules of Golf. In 1812, the rules included:

Whatever happens to a Ball by accident, must be reckoned a Rub of the green.

Over time, a 'rub' has altered in meaning from a physical hump, dip or some other hindrance on the green's surface to 'a stroke of good or bad fortune'.

[Fourputt]

All well and good, but rub of the green quite specific in golf.  It's not one of those definitions which is essential to understand in order to properly apply the rules, but if one is going to use the phrase, it should be used in proper context.

Rub of the Green

A "rub of the green" occurs when a ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency (see Rule 19-1).

19-1. By Outside Agency

If a player's ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency, it is a rub of the green, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies, except:

a.

If a player's ball in motion after a stroke other than on the putting green comes to rest in or on any moving or animate outside agency, the ball must through the green or in a hazard be dropped, or on the putting green be placed, as near as possible to the spot directly under the place where the ball came to rest in or on the outside agency, but not nearer the hole, and

b.

If a player's ball in motion after a stroke on the putting green is deflected or stopped by, or comes to rest in or on, any moving or animate outside agency, except a worm, insect or the like, the stroke is canceled. The ball must be replaced and replayed.

 

Outside Agency

In match play, an "outside agency" is any agency other than either the player's or opponent's side, anycaddie of either side, any ball played by either side at the hole being played or any equipment of eitherside.

In stroke play, an outside agency is any agency other than the competitor's side, any caddie of the side, any ball played by the side at the hole being played or any equipment of the side.

An outside agency includes a referee, a marker, an observer and a forecaddie. Neither wind nor water is an outside agency.

 

If your fellow competitor (an animate outside agency) was to stop your ball after a stroke on the putting green, you are required to cancel and replay the stroke.  We see this a lot in casual rounds where your FC kicks your ball back to you before it has completely stopped rolling.  Next time he does it, you get  free second try at the putt.  

[iacas]

The rub of the green

more like this...

...other phrases about:

• Sport and games
• Colour
• Betting and luck

Meaning

Luck; especially in sports and pastimes played on a green surface.

In golf, particularly when discussing the Rules of Golf, "rub of the green" has a very specific meaning. 

That meaning is not "luck."

[Jon Hoover]

It was raining steadily from first tee until after we cleared the green on 17. Medal play, one day tournament this past Saturday.

Two things I saw that I've never seen before:

1. A guy playing in the group ahead of us had a hat that was really just a mini umbrella with a headband in it so that he was literally wearing an umbrella. Funny looking as all get out, but great idea if you don't mind looking silly. Of course, the subject of it's legality in tournament play came up.  Of course all you rule fanatics know there's nothing illegal about it.  You can even hold an umbrella yourself while playing you just can't have someone else hold it for you.

Were you playing with Bill?