Did you know?

                                                                                                                                          Sharma Fleming

Rules and Handicap Chair

 

September 28, 2024

The ‘Active Season’ for British Columbia golf is March 1 through November 15^th.  This means all scores from rounds played during that time must be posted for handicap purposes.   But what if you travel to Arizona, California or Mexico after November 15 or for the winter?  Your scores made at courses observing their ‘active season’ must be posted even if your course, Crown Isle, is observing their inactive season.

For example, if you go to Arizona (which observes a year-round active season) during January, any score(s) made in Arizona must be posted.   If you are also a member of a golf club in Arizona or any other State it is important to remember that all scores must be posted to both Golf Canada and the United States Golf Association.  The Golf Canada Score Center can help you link your Canadian and USGA accounts, so that a score posted to one account is automatically posted to the other.  For more information, or to set up this link, you can contact members@golfcanada.ca or phone 1-800-263-0009 extension 399.

It’s important to note that those of you travelling to other countries should confirm their active seasons to ensure all your scores are posted.   Golf Canada maintains a list of Active Seasons by Province and USGA maintains a list of active and inactive courses in the US by State

 

September 21, 2024

We all know we can clean our ball when it’s on the putting green but what about other places on the course?  There are 4 times when we cannot clean our ball: 1) to see if it’s cut or cracked, 2) to identify our ball – please note cleaning is allowed only enough to identify our ball, 3) because it interferes with play and 4) to see if it lies in a condition where relief is allowed – please note cleaning is only allowed if we take relief under a Rule.

There is one other time when we may be allowed to clean our ball.  If we are playing in an area that is observing their “inactive season”. (British Columbia’s inactive golf season is November 16^th through the end of February.)   Many of us refer to this as Winter Rules, the Rules of Golf call them preferred lies – and yes, we may be permitted to lift, clean and place our ball if the course puts the winter rules/preferred lies Local Rule into effect.  Most courses require our ball to be in the fairway to take advantage of the lift, clean and place. 

 

September 14, 2024

Did you know under Rule 16.1c you can get free relief in a bunker when you have interference from abnormal course conditions such as a drain or steps, temporary water or ground under repair.  If you want to take relief for an unplayable lie, you have the three standard one penalty stroke relief options of stroke and distance, back-on-the-line between the ball and the hole, or lateral relief within two club-lengths, please note that you must drop your ball in the bunker for options two and three. There is an additional fourth option, this time for two penalty strokes, you are allowed to get out of the bunker by going back-on-the line between the ball and the hole as far back as you’d like.

 

September 7, 2024

You just made the perfect putt, well almost, your ball is hanging over the edge of the hole…..how long can you wait for your ball to drop?   This video  explains the time you are allowed to wait for your to drop under Rule 13.3 before getting a 1 stroke penalty.

 

August 31, 2024

Rule 13.2  explains our options for dealing with the flagstick.  This Rule applies to a ball played from anywhere on the course, whether on or off the putting green.  We may leave the flagstick in the hole or have it removed (which includes having someone tending the flagstick and removing it after the ball is played), but we must decide before making a stroke. 

 

August 24, 2024

I think we all know we can only have a maximum of 14 clubs in our bag.  But did you know there is no restriction on the type of clubs we carry as long as they conform to  Rule 4.  We can carry multiple putters, multiple drivers, or some left-handed clubs and some right-handed clubs as long as we do not exceed the maximum 14 clubs.

 

August 17, 2024

Finally our ball is on the green.  Did you know there are actions we can take on the green that are not normally allowed on other parts of the course?    Rule 13 explains what we can and can’t do on the putting green.

 

August 10, 2024

While we still drop our ball when taking relief, the dropping procedure has changed in the last couple years as explained in Rule 14.3.  The big change is dropping the ball from our knees.   Depending on the situation when we take relief it's either 1 or 2 club lengths no nearer the hole.  The definition of a club-length is the longest club other than our putter.   Consider your relief options before picking up your ball, if you pick up your ball and then decide to play it from the original position it’s a 1 stroke penalty for touching your ball in play.  Carefully consider your nearest point of ‘complete relief’…. it could be in a bush or in Crown Isle’s thick rough.  Sadly, there are times when our best option may be to play our ball as it lies even if it’s on the cart path.  The USGA and R&A make the point that it's not the “nicest point” it’s the “nearest point”.

It is not a rule but I have found it's a good practice to let at least one of your playing partners know when you are taking a drop and why… this eliminates any confusion.  Again it's not a rule but I always mark my ball’s original position before lifting and making my drop and then I confirm with my playing partner(s) that they agree my ball is back in play.

 

August 3, 2024

What’s the ruling if you accidentally move your ball?  (Accidently moving your ball is different from accidentally moving your ball during your practice swing.  See Did You Know June 1, 2024).  Luckily, accidently moving your ball is one of the areas that has undergone a lot of player-friendly change.  For some of us there might still be a bit of confusion as to when there is a penalty, when there is not, when the ball must be replaced, or when the ball should be played from its new location.  Follow this link for a description of some of the most common ball at rest moved situations.  Please note we need to be careful around our ball because there are still numerous times when moving our ball will result in a penalty.

 

July 27, 2024

While we all love the game of golf the rules and terminology can be confusing.  What does “club length”, “dangerous animal condition” or “ground the club lightly” actually mean?  Follow this link to access the Internal Definitions from the Rules of Golf and the Official Guide to the Rules of Golf.

 

July 20, 2024

If you think your ball might be out of bounds or that you might not find it within 3 minutes you can play a provisional ball to save time. You must announce that you are playing a provisional ball before doing so. If you can’t find your original ball, or you find it out of bounds, your provisional ball is your ball in play under stroke and distance, and you don’t have to go back to the spot of your previous stroke.   There are only a few exceptions to this when it is known or virtually certain what happened to your ball.  There is also an optional Local Rule that is in effect at many courses including Crown Isle which provides an alternative to stroke and distance relief.   For two penalty strokes, you can estimate the spot where your ball is lost or went out of bounds and then find the nearest fairway edge that is not nearer the hole than the estimated spot. You can drop a ball in the fairway within two club-lengths of that fairway edge point, or anywhere between there and the estimated spot where your ball is lost or went out of bounds.

 

July 14, 2024

Sadly from time to time we all find ourselves having to play from a bunker.  Our ball is considered to be in a bunker when any part of it touches the sand. There are a few things we are not permitted to do when our ball is in a bunker. These include testing the condition of the bunker, touching the sand right around our ball, and making a practice swing that touches the sand.  We can remove natural and artificial objects (loose impediments and movable obstructions).  We can set our clubs down in the bunker and rake the sand before playing, so long as we aren’t testing the bunker or improving the conditions for our shot.

 

July 6, 2024

If you decide you don’t want to play your ball or don’t think you can play your ball, you always have the option of taking relief under the unplayable ball Rule. You are the only person who can decide that your ball is unplayable, and this can be done anywhere on the golf course except when your ball lies in a penalty area. If your ball is in a penalty area, your only relief option is to take relief under the penalty area Rule.

When you decide that your ball is unplayable, you have three relief options, all with one penalty stroke. Your first option is to go back to the spot of your previous stroke and play again (stroke and distance relief). Your second option is to go back as far as you’d like and drop on the line from the hole through the spot where the ball lies (back-on-the-line relief). Your third option is to drop anywhere within two club-lengths of where your ball lies, no closer to the hole (lateral relief).

If your ball lies in a bunker, you must remain inside the bunker under options two and three. You also have a fourth option for an extra penalty stroke (two penalty strokes total) which allows you to go back on the line and drop your ball outside the bunker.

 

June 29, 2024

White stakes are boundary objects and are considered ‘fixed’ even if you could easily move them. This means, if your ball is in bounds and a white stake interferes with the lie of your ball, your stance or swing, you are not allowed to move it and there is no free relief available. If you decide to take relief using one of the options for an unplayable ball in Rule 19 you would incur a 1 stroke penalty.

 

June 22, 2024

Do you know the difference between red and yellow penalty areas covered in Rule 17.1d?   When our ball comes to rest in a red penalty area we have  3 options , all with a 1 stroke penalty,  and 2 options, both with a 1 stroke penalty, when our ball comes to rest in a yellow penalty area.  You can remove a red or yellow stake if it interferes with your swing but you cannot remove a white out of bounds stake even if your ball is in bounds.

 

June 14, 2024

Rule 16 allows us to take free relief from abnormal course conditions including; holes made by animals, areas marked as ground under repair, immovable obstructions (such as an artificially surfaced cart path) and temporary water (such as puddles). Follow the link for a couple videos that help explain Rule 16.

 

June 7, 2024

Have you ever taken a good look at your scorecard?  There may be a lot of ads but there is some course information too.   Most if not all courses have ‘local rules’ listed on their scorecards.  Look for statements similar to: “The Rules of Golf Canada will Govern All Play – Except where modified by local rules.”   Many cards may just list Local Rules.  Crown Isle has their local rules under Course Information.   It’s wise to review these rules before teeing off especially if you are playing in a competition.   

 

June 1, 2024

Have you ever hit your ball accidentally when taking a practice swing?  The ruling is determined from what part of the course your ball was in: the teeing area, the general area, a bunker, a penalty area or the green.  This video has a great explanation of Rule 9.4B.

 

May 26, 2024

Keeping pace is not about rushing, it's about staying immediately behind the group in front of you.  There are a few ways to regain your position if your group falls behind. 

Most competitions allow for “ready golf”.   If you are ready and will not interfere with another player, hit your shot.

Keep your pre-shot routine short.

Plan your shot as you are going to your ball.

Help your playing partners by following their ball flight, locating their ball or offer to rake a bunker if they are falling behind.

You can line up your putt while others are putting without disturbing them.

When two of you have finished putting out, go to the next tee and tee off while the other two finish putting.

Do the scoring at the next tee so the group behind can hit their shots into the green.

Four hours 15 minutes is the expected playing time for a round of golf at Crown Isle.

 

May 16, 2024

This is a good opportunity to remind all of us how important scoring is for Ladies Club events and to avoid scoring discrepancies that result in disqualification.

We all know each group keeps an official paper score card and someone else inputs the scores into Golf Genius. While it is not required it is a good idea that all players keep score.  And more importantly all players should take part in the final review confirming the paper score card and Golf Genius agree.

A little reminder of when the maximum hole score is used.  The ‘maximum hole score’ is used of handicap purposes only, not for scoring.  There is no maximum score when playing in a Ladies Club event. For scoring purposes in all Ladies Club events our score is the number of strokes it takes to hole out our ball pus any penalty stokes.

 

May 10, 2024

Since the 2020 launch of The World Handicap System in Canada, we have seen many changes.  Please follow the links that explain a couple changes for this year.  One change is the treatment of holes not played and the other change is about 9-hole scores.