Oddest, Unique, Unusual Rules Situation

[bkuehn1952]

In a tournament setting, what is the most unusual/odd/strange Rules situation have you found yourself?  My typical advice to a first time or novice tournament player is learn the basics.  Frankly, it is rare to have to deal with anything much more complex than a water hazard or O.B.

Mine was in a match where my opponent pulled a drive over a pond, hit a tree which bounced back into the hazard. He prepared to drop on the near side, allowing him a clear shot to the green. I pointed out that his ball cleared the hazard and last crossed on the opposite side.  That spot, when lined up with the flag, was well blocked by trees. 

[Martyn W]

16 hours ago, bkuehn1952 said:

In a tournament setting, what is the most unusual/odd/strange Rules situation have you found yourself?  My typical advice to a first time or novice tournament player is learn the basics.  Frankly, it is rare to have to deal with anything much more complex than a water hazard or O.B.

Mine was in a match where my opponent pulled a drive over a pond, hit a tree which bounced back into the hazard. He prepared to drop on the near side, allowing him a clear shot to the green. I pointed out that his ball cleared the hazard and last crossed on the opposite side.  That spot, when lined up with the flag, was well blocked by trees. 

He was right, see 26-1c. Not that unusual, really.

[bkuehn1952]

6 minutes ago, Martyn W said:

He was right, see 26-1c. Not that unusual, really.

Good point but in this instance it was a water hazard and not a lateral water hazard.  I believe the option to drop on the opposite side (equidistant) is reserved for lateral water hazards.

[Martyn W]

1 minute ago, bkuehn1952 said:

Good point but in this instance it was a water hazard and not a lateral water hazard.  I believe the option to drop on the opposite side (equidistant) is reserved for lateral water hazards.

Pretty unusual for a WH to have an opposite margin. I can't picture your scenario but it sounds like it was a LWH since he 'pulled a ball over a pond'.

[saevel25]

Hole #3, maximum of two putt. The reason being the Ohio Open was played at the course that year. We had a drought and the tournament was around the time of the Ohio Open. This particular green was severe to the point it was unfair to play. Years later they built another green complex off to the side to replace that green. 

[Rulesman]

19 hours ago, bkuehn1952 said:

 

Mine was in a match where my opponent pulled a drive over a pond, hit a tree which bounced back into the hazard. 

Does this match the situation?

 

 

[bkuehn1952]

Just now, Rulesman said:

Does this match the situation?

 

 

Yes, and imagine a few more trees blocking his route to the green.

[Hardspoon]

1 hour ago, Rulesman said:

Does this match the situation?

 

 

That's what I was imagining too. There are several holes I play where a similar situation could occur (some just due to slopes on the far side, others due to trees), and I don't think any are marked as lateral.

[Fourputt]

If it is a yellow hazard, then the drop would be over on the far side.  If the sketch is close to the real situation, then part of the hazard should/could be marked red.

When/if the new rules come out, this should be mostly irrelevant.  This is one complication that shouldn't exist any more. 

[6Aces]

A player hit his tee shot into some trees after which I went to this area and asked if he wanted help looking for his ball. I found a TMP 3, which is the same kind as he said that he hit.  He chipped the ball out, hit his approach shot to the green and then called me.  The ball was not his. I sent him back to the tee to start over again, with a 1 stroke for the lost ball and 2 strokes for the wrong ball.

My two mistakes:  (1) I did not give him the unused portion of the 5 minutes to continue search for the original ball. 

(2) I was unaware that and did not ask if he had hit a provisional ball.  He had and had actually picked it up.

Consequently, he incurred an additional penalty for picking up the provisional ball and so would have hit stroke 8 from the tee.

Decisions 27-2b/10 covers this scenario. 

 

 

[Wally Fairway]

Here is the best one that I've run across:

A right handed player pulls his approach left of the green and his ball is resting about 2 inches from a tree, his only swing to advance the ball is to play left handed. However when he takes his stance to play left handed he is standing on a cart path.
So he gets relief from the cart path, plays the shot right handed and gets up & down.

[Asheville]

And, Wally, as you know, so long as his nearest point of relief was properly determined, that's legitimate. D24-2b/17.

[bpburner]

The most unique one I have encountered was playing on a course with a short par 4 dogleg right.  I step up and cut the corner putting the ball on the back fringe.  After the group realizes what I did they tell me it's an illegal shot and that I have to re-tee and hit 3.  I argue the point for a while but all they would say is local rule says you can't cut the corner.  No local rules were discussed prior to start but I was a long ways from home and it wasn't worth it.  How should this be handled or what could I have done different sans asking for every "local rule" be read prior to start.

[Rulesman]

4 hours ago, bpburner said:

The most unique one I have encountered was playing on a course with a short par 4 dogleg right.  I step up and cut the corner putting the ball on the back fringe.  After the group realizes what I did they tell me it's an illegal shot and that I have to re-tee and hit 3.  I argue the point for a while but all they would say is local rule says you can't cut the corner.  No local rules were discussed prior to start but I was a long ways from home and it wasn't worth it.  How should this be handled or what could I have done different sans asking for every "local rule" be read prior to start.

Such a 'local rule' would not conform to the USGA and R&A's requirements. ie would not be approved or authorised

Edited February 28, 2017 by Rulesman

[DaveP043]

10 hours ago, bpburner said:

The most unique one I have encountered was playing on a course with a short par 4 dogleg right.  I step up and cut the corner putting the ball on the back fringe.  After the group realizes what I did they tell me it's an illegal shot and that I have to re-tee and hit 3.  I argue the point for a while but all they would say is local rule says you can't cut the corner.  No local rules were discussed prior to start but I was a long ways from home and it wasn't worth it.  How should this be handled or what could I have done different sans asking for every "local rule" be read prior to start.

In a tournament, you'd get a local rules sheet.  For casual play, local rules are usually listed on the scorecard.  If its not written, its not in effect.

6 hours ago, Rulesman said:

Such a 'local rule' would not conform to the USGA and R&A's requirements. ie would not be approved or authorised

Even though not acceptable by the ruling bodies, sometimes rules of this type are used, primarily for safety reasons.  If its in effect for a specific event, a player is probably better off playing in accordance with the local rule, rather than trying to argue the point after breaking it.

[Fourputt]

35 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

In a tournament, you'd get a local rules sheet.  For casual play, local rules are usually listed on the scorecard.  If its not written, its not in effect.

Even though not acceptable by the ruling bodies, sometimes rules of this type are used, primarily for safety reasons.  If its in effect for a specific event, a player is probably better off playing in accordance with the local rule, rather than trying to argue the point after breaking it.

I've seen a few instances where a course has such a policy in effect for general play in the interest of safety and pace of play.  When you have one guy in a group waiting for the green to clear on a short par 4, it can really create a bottleneck.  If the rest of the group isn't long enough to cut the corner, that one guy makes the whole lot stand and wait, which usually means that the following group is already at the tee waiting by the time your group heads up the fairway.  Put one of those guys in every second or third group and it just makes a mess of that hole.  Then too, sometimes the green can't be seen from the tee, so player safety is a significant factor in such a policy.

It may not be allowed under the rules, but that doesn't stop some courses from making such a policy and enforcing it for casual play.

[dave s]

Not in tournament, just a normal round.  We come to a hole where a tree service was cleaning up an area after removing a tree from the corner of a dogleg L hole.  Guy in our group hits his ball and it comes to rest 2' up the tree stump in a large vine wrapped around the tree which was now gone.

He wanted a free drop due to work being done ON the course and cited 'ground under repair.'  In fact, there was a can of red spray pain that was to be (and 'to be' is the operating phrase here) used after cleanup and before the stump was actually removed.  The course has hundreds of old-growth oaks, maples, etc.  Some die and they are taken out immediately and in similar fashion.  After further inspection of site, the red paint hadn't been applied to the area.

As good friends would do to another, we busted his chops giving him the 'play it where it lies, or take an unplayable penalty' decision.  Finally, he took a whack at it, dislodged it from its resting place between the inch-thick vine and the stump and put it back into play.

Of course, we let him know he could have dropped it on his line back to the tee without penalty in our game!  He wasn't happy with us but wouldn't have had a shot on a 'free drop' anyway.

It's just fun to mess with your boys when something ridiculous happens on the golf course!

dave

[Buckeyebowman]

I know you asked about tourney situations, but I have just have to chime in.

Shortly after joining this forum I asked a question about a particular situation a playing partner encountered. He hit his ball into the front left bunker on a short part 3. His ball came to rest against the maggot riddled carcass of a dead squirrel that was surrounded by a cloud of blowflies!

I allowed him to drop somewhere else in the bunker and play from there with no penalty. After all, how was he responsible for the carcass in the bunker? And I couldn't blame him for not wanting to get anywhere near the ball that rested against it! So, he abandoned that ball, played another, and we bitched like Hell when we got back to the clubhouse!

But here, I was informed that he should have been assessed a penalty! HUH!? How anal is that?!