7 Rule Definitions In Golf
Neil Tapping talks about the 7 Rules Definitions
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00:00 Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club.
00:04 In this video looking at the seven rules definitions every golfer needs to know.
00:08 You'll spot them in the rule book. There are 68 different definitions in total and they're all italicized.
00:14 When you spot them, there's also an index at the back to give you all the information you need to know.
00:18 But in this video, we're going to take a look at what we think are the seven most
00:22 important and if you can improve your knowledge of these definitions, no two ways about it,
00:27 you'll have a better understanding for the rules of golf in general. Right, let's get started.
00:31 Okay, so the first definition to look at is areas of the golf course and there are five different ones to look out for in
00:43 the rule book and actually these are really important to know for anyone playing the game because the rules apply differently in those different areas,
00:50 don't they, James? What do people need to know here?
00:52 Well, you need to know there are five areas of the golf course. The general area, which is fairway, rough, woodland,
00:57 the vast majority of the course is now called the general area.
01:00 Then you've got the teeing area of the hole you're playing, the putting green of the hole you're playing and then all bunkers and
01:06 all penalty areas. Right, okay. So let me ask you a question then, James.
01:10 Can you give us an example of where the rules apply differently if the same thing happened in different areas?
01:15 Okay, so I mean what you would first need to know is that some of these
01:19 areas of the golf course have their own rules in the rule book. Right, okay.
01:22 So you'll find a lot about exactly what varies there.
01:25 But one specific example would be accidental movement of the ball. If you do that on the putting green,
01:30 accidentally move your ball at rest, there is no penalty and you must replace the ball.
01:34 If you accidentally move your ball in the general area, the ball at rest, then there is a penalty.
01:40 You still must replace the ball, but there is a penalty there. So
01:42 different areas of the course, you just have to be aware different scenarios result in different outcomes.
01:49 Yes, and it might sound like the rules are making it more complicated for people,
01:52 but those rules are there for a very good reason and that's why it's really important to know what the definitions are.
01:57 Okay, so this definition is known or virtually certain and Jez,
02:06 we've come to the 18th hole here on the west course at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club.
02:09 Because this little stream that you can see in front of you runs all the way down the left-hand side of this hole.
02:14 Yeah.
02:15 And you and I have played this hole a few times when a ball has gone a little bit left off the tee,
02:19 there's a few other things in the way. You can't be a hundred percent sure.
02:22 So what does known or virtually certain mean and how can it help people with the rules?
02:27 Well, known or virtually certain obviously means known. So you might come down here, see a ball down in the stream there,
02:33 you can see your identification marks on it, or
02:36 you've seen a splash or someone in the group ahead says your ball definitely went in.
02:41 Yeah, so that's fine, that's known. It's the virtually certain bit where the rules, the definitions of the rules talk about
02:48 all events suggesting it's at least 95% likely that the ball is in the penalty area.
02:54 That's interesting because that then becomes a bit of a judgment call, doesn't it?
02:58 Because in this scenario, if I've hit my tee shot, hopefully you can see the tee behind me,
03:02 if I've hit my tee shot down the left-hand side here, it may well be in the water,
03:05 but it might well also be in these ferns here, it might be in the thick rough over here.
03:10 The rough here is thick enough for you to potentially not find a ball in, so it could be in there.
03:14 Yeah. So in this scenario here,
03:17 my personal opinion would be that this, you couldn't be 95% certain.
03:22 No, I would say at best probably 60%.
03:25 Something like that. So then in that circumstance, when you're talking about a penalty area here, that known or virtually certain also
03:31 applies to things like whether or not your ball moved and what caused it to move. Right, okay.
03:37 But here, I don't think you could be 95% certain your ball was in there unless you had specifically seen it go in.
03:44 So in that circumstance, you would have to go back and play again from the tee rather than proceed under the penalty area.
03:50 Yes, with a lost ball penalty added to your score.
03:53 So there you have it, a known or virtually certain, a definition well worth knowing.
03:57 Okay, so we've already covered known or virtually certain,
04:06 which is handy because that brings us on to our next definition, which is club length.
04:09 Now, in this scenario, Jez, we would be virtually certain
04:13 the ball had gone in the stream because there's only a few bushes here.
04:16 And even then, you can have a little look into those bushes.
04:18 If it's not in one of those, it's in the stream.
04:20 Yeah, I think we'd be 95% certain.
04:23 I think in this area here, there's no real rough to speak of.
04:26 If it was in this little tuft here, you'd see it.
04:30 I think this would be a justifiable 95% certain.
04:33 Yes, at which point you'll need to take a drop.
04:35 And at which point you will also need to know what a club length refers to.
04:39 So club length is a newly defined term under the rules, and that is because
04:44 you're no longer able to use your putter to measure out a relief area
04:49 because they wanted to stop people with long putters gaining an advantage.
04:53 Yes, gaining an advantage of maybe a few inches,
04:56 which actually in a certain scenario could end up being crucial.
04:58 Might just get you clear of what you're taking relief from.
05:01 Exactly. So you are going to use the longest club in the bag, I would think.
05:05 So for most people, that would be driver.
05:07 Yeah, I mean, that is more about unplayable lies to the putter,
05:10 but it could be here where you're able to get a little bit further away
05:13 and open up the angle to get to green.
05:15 Yeah. So club length is now defined as the longest club in your bag
05:20 that you are carrying for that given round.
05:22 So typically driver.
05:23 But if you have chosen not to carry the driver for any reason,
05:26 you are sacrificing a little bit of relief area as well
05:29 whenever you have to measure.
05:30 Yes. So I think balls crossed about here.
05:33 We're going in that direction there.
05:35 So this is no nearer the hole. Is that fair?
05:37 Yeah. And with a penalty drop, it's two club lengths.
05:40 For free relief, it's typically one club length.
05:43 So you can now drop anywhere within that area.
05:46 And nearer the hole.
05:49 That has gone nearer the hole.
05:51 So you have to re-drop.
05:53 There we go.
05:55 And that is now within the two club length area, not nearer the hole.
05:58 So that ball is in play.
06:00 There you go.
06:01 Right. So for this one, you're going to need to use your imagination slightly.
06:09 So we've come out on a beautiful day in June.
06:11 There's no clouds in the sky. There's no rain.
06:13 But if it was raining hard, then there are going to be certain areas
06:16 on the golf course where the water gathers.
06:18 And let's just imagine that around my ball is a giant puddle.
06:22 Yes. Yeah. What is the definition,
06:25 the term within the rules that people need to look out for here?
06:28 Well, the definition is now temporary water.
06:30 It used to be called casual water,
06:32 but that got renamed temporary water in the 2019 rules of regimes.
06:36 It's basically any area where puddles gather or pools of water
06:40 gather where there shouldn't be water on the golf course.
06:42 So not in a penalty area. Yes.
06:45 But if there's heavy rainfall and this is filled out, this little hollow
06:49 with a puddle of water or an irrigation system has chucked too much water out
06:53 and caused a temporary accumulation, you would get relief from that.
06:56 You are entitled to a free drop. But how do you identify?
06:59 So there are often scenarios on the golf course
07:01 where the course is getting really quite wet. Yeah.
07:04 But it's kind of on the edge as to whether it's temporary water or not.
07:07 What are you allowed to do? What you're not allowed to do?
07:08 Well, what you're not allowed to do, which you see a lot of people doing,
07:11 is coming in here and really pressing down firmly with one foot
07:14 to try and get the water to come up.
07:15 Yes. It's only considered temporary water if it's visible
07:18 either before or after your stance is taken without pressing down
07:22 unnecessarily to get the water to come up around your shoe.
07:25 Right. Got it. And then when you take the drop. Yes.
07:28 You need to make sure that you're then completely free of the area
07:32 that you're taking the drop from. Right. That's right.
07:33 You need to find the nearest point where temporary water does not interfere
07:36 with the stance or where the ball is lying and take relief there.
07:40 Nearest area, not nearer the hole.
07:41 That becomes your nearest point of complete relief.
07:43 And then you can go from there and you drop from there.
07:45 Yeah. So it's just important to know that temporary water is not something
07:50 that comes up when you put all of your weight on one foot
07:52 and press down as hard as humanly possible.
07:55 Yeah. So it does happen this one on the golf course.
07:58 If you play more and more golf, you'll encounter it.
08:00 So it's well worth knowing exactly what temporary water is and what it isn't.
08:04 This definition is stroke and distance.
08:11 Now, Jez, why is it important for people to know what stroke and distance refers to?
08:15 Well, it's a very common
08:17 penalty and procedure referred to in the rulebook for rules
08:21 like rule 17, 18 and 19, which are the ones that cover unplayable balls
08:25 and penalty areas and lost balls and out of bounds.
08:28 Lost, but we all lose them from time to time.
08:30 And when you do, you'll need to know what stroke and distance is.
08:33 What is it?
08:34 Well, it's effectively exactly what it says on the tin, really.
08:37 You have a penalty stroke,
08:38 but you also lose the distance that you gained with the original stroke.
08:41 I think a lot of people think
08:44 if you play again from here, having lost a ball, it's a two shot penalty,
08:47 but it's not a two shot penalty.
08:49 It's a one shot penalty plus 200 yards.
08:52 Yes, it feels like a two shot.
08:54 Feels like a two shot penalty and you do effectively add two to your score.
08:56 Yes. So in this scenario, the general area of the golf course,
08:59 if I've blazed one right, lost it, we've gone up and had a look at it.
09:02 I've lost it.
09:02 I'm coming back to the same spot, hit the same, effectively the same shot again,
09:06 which would just be here.
09:08 Yeah, but again, it's important to know what the the sort of how the rules differ
09:12 for different areas of the golf course, isn't it?
09:13 Yeah, I mean, it is because your reference point must be within the same area
09:17 of the golf course if you played the original shot from the general area,
09:21 which is this fairway, a penalty area or a bunker.
09:24 Yes. So if your original shot was from a bunker, your reference point
09:27 then is that bunker for playing the the shot after you've taken stroke and distance.
09:32 What about from the tee?
09:33 From the tee, you have the advantage of being able to re-tee the ball
09:36 any way you like in the teeing area.
09:38 So if you clipped a tree, you weren't expecting to clip and it's sent it into oblivion.
09:42 You could then perhaps tee off a little bit further to the right or the left
09:46 to potentially eliminate the risk of repeating the mistake.
09:49 Yeah, so possibly a small advantage to be gained by knowing exactly
09:52 what stroke and distance refers to in different areas of the golf course.
09:56 But from this scenario, I'm playing exactly the same shot again.
09:59 Hopefully not exactly the same.
10:01 No, no, no. Exactly.
10:03 Try and keep it away from the right hand side.
10:04 That's going to catch the edge, I think, just above ground.
10:13 Oh, it came back a long way. Decent.
10:17 OK, so the next definition is hold.
10:23 When the ball is and when it is not hold.
10:26 Yes. What do people need to know here?
10:28 Well, I think people need to know that things have changed on this front,
10:30 although the definition in the rules in some ways hasn't changed.
10:34 It still says at the start of the definition, your ball is hold when all of it,
10:38 the whole of the ball rests below the surface of the putting green.
10:41 Right. So not all of that is below the surface of the putting green.
10:44 So is that hold or is that not?
10:45 Well, it wouldn't have been, but it is now under the 2019 rules of provisions
10:49 because there's now an exception called a special case,
10:52 which probably isn't that special because it happens all the time.
10:54 Yeah, especially with the COVID things that you've got in the hole.
10:57 But even without that being allowed to put with a flagstick in,
11:00 there is now this what it calls a special case of the ball
11:03 resting against the flagstick.
11:04 And when the ball is resting against the flagstick, it's considered hold
11:07 when any part of the ball is below the surface of the green.
11:10 Yes. Which clearly there is part of my ball here
11:13 that is below the surface of the green.
11:14 So this one is hold.
11:16 OK, so the last one on our list is the point of maximum available relief.
11:27 Jez, what do people need to know here?
11:28 OK, well, I think people know that nearest point of complete relief
11:32 is the normal term, and it is for taking relief from abnormal course conditions
11:35 or dropping off a cart path.
11:38 You have to have it such that that condition or obstruction
11:41 no longer interferes with your stance or where the ball is lying.
11:44 On the greens and in bunkers, there is a slight variation
11:47 where you are able to find the point of maximum available relief
11:50 if there is no point of complete relief.
11:52 Right. So imagine this green is completely saturated, covered in water,
11:56 or you're in a bunker and that bunker is completely filled with water.
11:59 You're going to need to find a spot to drop the ball on, no nearer the hole,
12:02 where that interference from the water is not quite so bad.
12:06 Yes, right. So on a green, you'd be looking for the shallowest point
12:09 between you and the flag that your ball would have to pass through,
12:11 the point where it least interferes.
12:13 And in bunkers, you might be trying to find a little bit round the edge
12:15 where your feet might still be in the water,
12:17 but you can actually drop your ball in the sand.
12:19 So there you have it.
12:20 The point of maximum available relief, a definition well worth knowing.
12:23 So there you have it.
12:24 That's our look at the seven rules definitions every golfer needs to know.
12:28 If you do have any questions, please post them below.
12:31 We'll get back to as many people as we possibly can.
12:34 But that's it for now from Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club.
12:36 It's goodbye.
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