DaveP043

I'm here to verify, @billchao hit his driver off the mat pretty well, especially considering it was his first try ever. We both kept those other shots in reserve for the actual golf course. Lots of fun having Bill and his delightful wife join us for the weekend. And the 18th at Kapalua is so down hill that even I wouldn't think of trying to hit driver from the fairway.

That was a bit of a fade, but not a big Bubba-fade.

First of all, welcome to GOLF, and welcome to our little corner of it here at TST! There's no reason to change your swing significantly for the shorter clubs, an in-to-out swing should work just fine. What's very common is that a change like you've made, it may take a while to fully incorporate the change in all of your shots. Make sure you practice with your short irons, they should begin to feel more natural quickly. You don't say whether you're getting some instruction, or figuring things out on your own. I suggest that you set up a Member Swing thread here: https://thesandtrap.com/forums/forum/13-member-swings/ Make sure to click on Reveal Hidden Contents to learn how to use that area, including how best to video your swing.

It sounds to me as if that area is "ground under repair." Usually GUR is defined with white paint, red is reserved for lateral water hazards, but the ropes make me think that its GUR. If indeed it is GUR, you can take free relief. You should figure out where the nearest point of relief is, and drop within one clublength, without going closer to the hole. The following link shows this https://www.randa.org/RulesEquipment/Rules/QuickGuide/Relief-Situations-and-Procedures/Immovable-Obstructions-and-Abnormal-Ground-Conditions If I'm wrong, and it actually IS a water hazard, you can play it with no penalty, or move it out of the hazard with a one stroke penalty. You have a couple of options with a lateral hazard. The R&A have a pretty clear explanation for those options here: https://www.randa.org/RulesEquipment/Rules/QuickGuide/Relief-Situations-and-Procedures/Water-Hazards Welcome to golf, I hope you enjoy it for a long time. Its nice to see that you're taking an interest in playing within the rules so quickly into your golfing journey.

That would mean that every time you pick up a ball on the golf course that isn't yours, you'd be penalized. Every time. Because that ball belonged at one time to another player. Or would you apply it only when you're in the same group with the player whose ball you picked up? What if someone in a different group from yours picked up your ball that you rocketed over the trees into into the rough on the other side of their fairway? (I'm teasing with that bit, I know how long you can hit it). Is that guy penalized? He has no idea whether its your ball, or a ball someone lost a week ago. But he's a fellow-competitor under the rules, the exact same status as the guys in your group, he has to be treated the same (equitably). I think the distinction between stroke and match play makes a lot of sense the way it is.

I think this is where equity would come into play. 1-2 says that you can't deflect or influence the movement of ball in play. If a player breaches this rule, and puts another player at a significant disadvantage, it can be classified as a serious breach, with DQ as a possible penalty. In equity, I'd say intentionally moving a fellow-competitor's ball, to put the FC at a disadvantage, should also be classified as a serious breach. Generally, the Rules do't consider situations with specific malicious intent, they assume that a player is doing his best to play fairly and within the rules.

If you check Decision 27/2, I'd say that once the player picked up the ball, intending to play it as his own, the time limit for searching was suspended. Once he realized it was not his ball, the timer would have been restarted. The decision isn't exactly the same, but its a pretty similar circumstance.

Here's the way I look at it. Perhaps I'm not entirely correct, but this is the way it makes sense to me. In match play, there are 3 categories of human beings. There's your side, potentially including a partner and caddies. If your side moves your own ball, you get a penalty, and you have to put it back. There's your opponent, potentially including partners and their caddies. If your opponent moves your ball, in most cases THEY get a penalty, and you replace the ball. Then there's everybody else in the world. If they move your ball, you put it back, and nobody gets a penalty. In stroke play, there are only two categories of humans. There's your side, again potentially including your partner and your caddie(s). If your side moves your ball, you get a penalty, and you have to put it back. Then there's everyone else in the world, including your fellow-competitors. Your fellow-competitors have no more standing in relation to your ball than a spectator, a rules official, the guy mowing the greens, or a hot dog vendor. If any of them move your ball, you put it back, no penalty to anyone. Obvious the exception is a fellow-competitor maliciously moving your ball to intentionally put you at a disadvantage, as @DeadMan mentioned.

In stroke play, a fellow competitor fits the definition of an outside agency. If there was a penalty to be assessed to either player, it would be outlined in 18-4. In match play, there IS a penalty for moving your opponents ball, as @Rulesman pointed out. 18-3b is specifically for match play.

Or on the first tee. If the book violates the rule, confiscate it, let the player go on without any written notes.

This is one reason I carry a copy of the rules in my bag. When someone brings up a "rule" like the OB in the first post, I ask them to find the rule and show me. Similarly, if I tell someone else about a rule they don't know, I want to be able to back up my words with the actual written rule.

Depending on the yardages, and the terrain and vegetation around the green, its possible he could be virtually certain that the ball was in the hazard. I don't think we have enough information to make that judgement one way or the other.

Obviously I don't know your game, but I'd guess that you can probably perform just as well with the $40 Tour Edge as with the Vokey that costs $100 more. I know that @iacas highly recommends using lots of bounce, and these wedges don't appear to be available in anything more than 12 degrees.

I'm sure that the USGA and the state association understand that many courses aren't going to throw away perfectly usable scorecards simply because the course has been re-rated. They would rather not have wrong information printed on your scorecard. The ratings are required to be posted prominently in the club, along with the table showing course handicap as a function of the Slope Rating, you can determine your course handicaps when you're in the pro shop.

My father-in-law was a member at Cumberland CC in Cumberland MD. Both #1 and #10 are par-3 holes. #1 is about 220 yards and gently downhill, #10 is about 150 yards and steeply downhill. On each side the next hole is a par-5. I agree that its not ideal for tee intervals, but the par-5 following holes allow play to spread out pretty quickly after a slow start.