Written by: Darin Green, Senior Director of Rules & Competitions
I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving last week; and hopefully you were able to get out on the course for a round or two. The Florida High School Championships concluded in early November and we encountered several interesting rulings. Below are some interesting rulings from the tournament.
1) A player was on the putting green and made a stroke. While his ball was in motion, it struck another ball on the putting green that was marked by another player, but not lifted. The player that made the stroke from the putting green received a two-stroke penalty. See the Exception to Rule 11.1a
2) A player made a stroke from the putting green and his ball struck someone’s equipment that was lying on the putting green. The player asked an Official what to do and the Official told him, because it was accidental, he must cancel the stroke and replay without penalty. See Exception 2 to Rule 11.1b
3) A player’s ball was in a bunker. The player took two practice swings touching the sand on both swings. She then grounded her club behind the ball touching the sand for the third time. Officials determined that all of the acts of touching the sand were related and she was penalized two strokes. See Rule 12.2b, Rule 1.3c(4) and Interpretation 1.3c(4)/3
Correction on 12/28/20 - The act of grounding the club behind the ball is considered a separate act the player was penalized two two-stroke penalties. This ruling was confirmed with the USGA.
4) A player on their final hole played a wrong ball. The player finished the hole with the wrong ball, came to the scoring area and told the Officials. The Officials took the player back to the hole and had him complete the hole with the correct ball. The strokes with the wrong ball do not count towards his score for the whole; however, he was assessed a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball.
Prior to the 2019 Rules changes, the player would have been disqualified the moment he left the final green. The rules now allow the player correct a wrong ball played on the final hole up until the time the player returns their scorecard. See Rule 6.3c
5) A player claimed to double-hit a chip shot. The other players in the group claimed that the player actually stubbed the chip and quickly made a second stroke. The evidence was sufficient to determine that the player made two separate strokes. If it was clear it was a double-hit then the entire action would have counted as just one stroke. See Rule 10.1a
6) A player made a stroke from the putting green and his putt just missed the hole. The player quickly tapped the ball into the hole. Another player in the group claimed that the ball was still moving when the player tapped it in. After interviewing everyone involved it was determined that the ball was at rest when the player tapped it in. See Committee Procedure 6C(7) in Committee Procedures (How to Resolve Questions of Fact)
I hope you enjoyed reading about some interesting rulings from November. We look forward to seeing you on the course!
