Hi Ladies:
I’ve recently been asked to repeat a couple of my Rules e mails. I’ve changed them up a little so you don’t get bored, and I’ve also changed the dog in last time’s example to some ducks. Now you’re really wondering what this is all about so here we go with the first quiz.
- Which of the following is a stroke?
a) Backward and forward swing of the club, and the clubhead must make contact with the ball
b) One added to the player’s score when the player is in breach of certain Rules
c) Forward movement of the club made with the intention of striking and moving the ball
d) Forward movement of the club when the player checks their downswing voluntarily before the clubhead reaches the ball
Answer c) This is the Definition of a Stroke. The key to remember is:
“The intention to hit the ball with a forward movement of the club.”
- Kathy is on the teeing ground, puts her ball on a tee and makes a practice swing and whoops she accidentally strikes and moves her ball with her club. What is the consequence?
a) Her playing partners yell out in unison “ONE”.
b) She gets a one stroke penalty for moving her ball
c) Her stroke counts, but no penalty
d) There is no penalty
Answer d) As you can see from question #1 Mary Beth didn’t make a stroke as she had no INTENTION of hitting her ball.
A “ball is in play”as soon as a player has made a stroke on the teeing ground. As she had not put a ball in play there is no penalty.
- Kathy and her ball are now in the fairway laying two. She makes a practice stroke and again accidentally moves her ball. What are the consequences?
- Kathy plays her approach shot on hole #5 only to see that those poopy ducks are back again and are waddling across the green. After her ball lands about three feet from the pin, she sees the ducks scurrying away and then she sees her ball is now ten feet away. What happens now?
a) Her playing partners rename her Kathy Klutz
b) She has made a stroke at her ball and is now laying three
c) She has made a stroke at her ball, and gets a penalty stroke, so she’s laying four
d) She gets a one stroke penalty for moving her ball and is laying three
Answer is d).
Again, as in question #1, she didn’t make a stroke as she had no INTENTION of hitting her ball, BUT this time her ball is
“in play” so she gets a one stroke penalty for moving it.
She MUST replace it before she makes a stroke at her ball. If she doesn’t, you guessed it, she adds another one stroke penalty.
Now here come the ducks that you’ve been wondering about…………….quack,quack, quack.
a) Kathy runs after the ducks waving her 9 iron wildly in their direction
b) She plays her ball, without penalty, from the spot where it ended up 10 feet away from the hole
c) She replaces her ball, without penalty, three feet away from the hole where it was before it was moved
Answers
a) Is understandable, but not in the Spirit of the Game of Golf, even though whacking them with her club would maybe stop them pooping
b) Is correct, IF her ball was accidentally DEFLECTED by the ducks.
They would be an “Outside Agency” and it’s “the rub of the green”. Rule 19-1
c) Is correct, IF she saw one of the ducks PICK UP her ball and take it to that spot 10 feet away, maybe thinking it was an egg?
Under Rule 19-1a the duck would be an “animate Outside Agency” and she can replace her ball, without penalty, as near as possible to the spot where her ball came to rest when the duck picked it up.
Whatever really happened let’s hope Kathy makes her putt wherever it’s from.
I hope this helps you.
Hilary
dbwgc.com 