• 2 days ago
In this video, Neil Tappin is joined by rules guru Jeremy Ellwood to look at some of the most surprising golf rules. For one reason or another these are all rules that golfers sometimes get wrong or don't fully understand. Neil and Jeremy explain exactly what they are and how to proceed in each of these scenarios. Whether you're a regular golfer or just getting started these 7 rules are all well worth knowing.
Transcript
00:00Hello everyone Neil Taplin here from Golf Monthly and welcome to the London Club and this video on
00:04the seven most surprising golf rules that could could potentially catch you out. Now these are
00:09all rules of golf that you will encounter during the course of a normal 18 holes that there is a
00:15little bit of confusion around and we're going to try to make sure that we clarify the situation so
00:19that you don't incur any penalty shots. Now the advice in this video comes courtesy of Jez Elwood
00:24he's a qualified rules official he'll explain everything you need to know. Right as I mentioned
00:29we're here at the London Club let's get started. Oh that's nice that looks about the right club.
00:46Okay so this one is all about the information that you are allowed and are not allowed to gather
00:52before you play. Now Jez I believe you've not broken the rules here but there's a fine line
00:58isn't there between doing something that you're allowed to do and then breaking the rules what is
01:01it? Well the fine line is that I can't ask you what club you've just hit unless you were my
01:06partner in a pairs match. Yes. I can look in your bag to try and work out what club you've just hit.
01:12Right so you can see that I've hit a four iron. Yeah I was having any club that's missing. I was
01:15having a good look there to try and work out what you're hitting obviously a shot like this is quite
01:19important. What I can't do is actually let's say your head cover was lying across the clubs or a
01:24towel or you had the bag cover on I'm not allowed to touch your equipment. Right. And that is
01:28prohibited under rule 10.2 which is the rule that covers advice. If I were to touch your equipment
01:34I would be penalized under that rule and the penalty would be the general penalty so if this
01:38was a match I've just lost the hole. If this was a stroke play competition I've just incurred a two
01:43shot penalty. So it's a fine line just be very careful on that one. Now something that you are
01:46allowed to do you are allowed to ask what the yardage is so if I've already got my laser out
01:51exactly yardage you're able to say to me so what is that. I don't have to tell you. You don't have
01:54to tell me. I probably would otherwise that might be seen as being a bit rude. I guess that sort of
01:58thing helps speed up play doesn't it. It would do yes and I personally at the moment don't have a
02:03laser and sometimes that can just help a little bit but you're obviously not obliged to tell me
02:08I may have to sit there and work it all out for myself. Yeah so there you go that's what you are
02:11and are not allowed to do when it comes to gathering information before you play.
02:15Backstopping
02:20Okay so this one is all about something called backstopping and backstopping is a term that
02:24came to prominence I think probably a couple of years ago through a few incidents that took place
02:28on tour. Jez what is backstopping? Well it's effectively as it implies leaving a ball there
02:34that could act as a backstop to a shot played from off the green to stop it going as far past the
02:39hole as it otherwise might. Okay so this ball here let's say you've chipped up and you've left your
02:44ball there. I'm off the green chipping on. Yes. You're about to mark that and I say to you just
02:49leave that there Jez that might come in handy stop my ball from you know drifting off to about here.
02:54That's not allowed. That is not allowed as you see in the clip there I could at that point have said
02:58no I am going to mark it and then the situation was dealt with but in that clip you'll see that
03:03I agree to leave that in there so the two of us have agreed between us to leave that ball there
03:07as a backstop potentially help you. So the question is who gets the penalty and how bad is that?
03:13Okay well in this scenario both players that have agreed to leave the ball there as a backstop get
03:18a two-shot penalty. So you get a two-shot penalty as well. Yeah so it really isn't worth it and it's
03:25only in stroke play so this is a rule it's 15.3a in the book and it's only in stroke play. Yeah I
03:30can see how it doesn't necessarily need to apply in match play because you would always mark that
03:34in match play. Yeah you wouldn't want to help your opponent. But there is also an important
03:39distinction here to make between if my ball was on the green versus if it's off the green. If it's
03:44off the green this becomes rule 15.3a but if my ball's on the green in this sort of scenario.
03:50So if both balls are on the green and your ball strikes mine then you are penalised two shots
03:56for striking another ball at rest on the green from a shot played on the green and that's rule
04:0011.1a but I wouldn't get a penalty in that scenario. So there you have it backstopping
04:05it's a little bit complicated it is a little bit fiddly but it's one well worth remembering
04:10because it could potentially catch you out out on the golf course.
04:17Okay so as you can see my ball has come to rest and right on the line is a sprinkler head. Now
04:23anyone's played golf with me before will know that I would be desperate to putt this avoiding using
04:28my wedge to chip it at all costs but Jez I think the surprising thing about the rules of golf here
04:33is that you don't automatically get relief in a scenario like this. You don't automatically get
04:38to drop away from the sprinkler head do you? Explain what people need to look out for. Okay
04:42well there's a difference here between the sprinkler head actually interfering with where
04:46your ball is lying, where your stance is or the area of your intended swing. So if your foot was
04:52on that or your ball was on that then yes you do get relief. So if I'm stood here lying or the ball's
04:57on it. Yeah but for a sprinkler head near the green that is simply on your line you don't get
05:02automatic relief. You need to check that there's a local rule in force. Yeah back of the scorecard
05:07have a look to see and usually the rule the local rule will be whether this sprinkler head is within
05:13two club lengths of the green. Is that right? Within two club lengths of the green and your
05:17ball is within two club lengths of the sprinkler head which must be directly on your line. Right
05:22so if my ball was here I wouldn't get relief if it was slightly off. Yeah yeah you would be hard
05:27pushed to justify that. Yes so I think the advice here is always check the back of the scorecard
05:32in a situation like this. Don't just proceed under what you think is the rules of golf because it
05:36could potentially catch you out. I'm gonna have to chip this am I Jez? Well we need to check if
05:41there's a local rule there which I'm hoping there won't be so I can witness you uh witness you
05:45chipping. Let me have a go with the chip. Safety first. Actually making a bit of a fuss about
05:52nothing but um there we are. I think I'd have done better with the putter but as I say this
05:56one's one to keep an eye out from uh be careful with it could potentially catch you out.
06:05This one is about what happens if you hit a shot and the ball ricochets back and hits you and I
06:10think there are two most likely scenarios where that would happen. Fitting one into the face of
06:15the bunker ball comes back and hits you or maybe you're trying to chip out through the trees again
06:20you know going for a risky shot and the ball comes back and hits you. Yeah. And Jez the surprising
06:25here is what? Well the surprising thing is that from 2019 onwards there is no penalty for that
06:30scenario. Yes. As long as it's accidental so if the ball comes back towards you and you do a bit
06:34of nifty footwork to nudge it forward. You can't do that. Then that's not accidental but if it's a
06:38genuine hits the tree comes back at you hits you there is no penalty. Now people might be surprised
06:43by that because way back when I say way back when not that long ago this used to be a two-shot
06:48penalty didn't it? Two-shot penalty until 2008 and some viewers may remember Jeff Maggott incurring
06:55that two-shot penalty when he was when he was vying for the masters in 2003. Came back off a
07:02bunker face and hit him so from 2008 it was downgraded to one shot and then from 2019 no
07:09penalty if the ball ricochets or something comes back and hits you accidentally. Yeah so in this
07:14scenario if one of your playing partners tries to add a penalty shot to your score just be sure
07:19to tell them actually there is no penalty in this scenario. I'm gonna have a go at this Jez.
07:22Try not to thin it into the face. Well it's a long bunker shot so there is potential.
07:33Sit. So you've just wasted one of your finest shots ever for a video. Damn it.
07:38Right so we've all been in the following scenario where you're preparing to hit a
07:42tee shot Jez and you're about to go waggling the club and then suddenly you nip the ball
07:47off the tee. Now what happens in this scenario in terms of the rules? Well after someone has
07:53inevitably said one what happens in the rules is you do exactly what you've done you put the
07:58ball back on the tee and then play it no penalty because the ball isn't in play at that point and
08:03I think we've seen Zach Johnson become a bit of a master at snicking the ball on his practice swings
08:08yes and there is no penalty for that. There is no penalty on the tee because the ball is not yet
08:14in play but I think the confusion here and the surprising thing here is that you do get penalized
08:19for doing exactly this thing if you did it on the fairway in the raft bunker penalty area. Yeah.
08:25Because your ball is in play. Yeah your ball is in play and if you accidentally or accidentally
08:31Your ball is in play and if you accidentally or anyway move your ball in play you are penalized
08:36and I think a lot of people think you're not partly because of the tee thing partly because
08:41as we'll come on into a minute the putting green and partly because they know that you're not
08:45penalized if you stand on your ball when searching for it now I think they've kind of extrapolated
08:50from that and thought there's no penalty for accidental movement but there is. So if you
08:54accidentally move your ball on the fairway with a practice swing or when you're setting the club
08:57down behind the ball you will be penalized and you must then replace the ball to where it was
09:03before playing your next shot. And as Jez has mentioned there is another exception and that
09:07relates to when you're on the putting green and I think in in this scenario it's because the greens
09:12are so closely mown they're so fast in a lot of places often you're getting situations especially
09:17on tour I think where players were taking their stance getting set up ready to play the ball
09:22and then the ball would move and they would get previously under the rules they would have been
09:25penalized in that scenario but not anymore. No I think there was a Harrington incident in the
09:29Masters wasn't there a few years ago that kind of triggered a call for change and that change did
09:34come into effect and now rather than splitting hairs they've just decided any accidental movement
09:40on the putting green is no penalty whether that's through putting your club down behind the ball and
09:45the ball moving or through catching it on a practice swing. Accidentally hitting it with a practice swing.
09:50And what you must do is replace the ball where it was and then carry on penalty free. Yes so there
09:56you have it that's hopefully all you need to know when it comes to accidentally moving your ball
10:00on the golf course.
10:01All right so in match play right now Jez we would have quite an interesting scenario I think because I would be tempted to come along and just sort of try and tap that in but you've not given me the putt
10:27have you? I haven't because it's over three feet. Yeah and I'm likely to miss it. Yeah so what's why is this a
10:33sort of slightly iffy scenario? Well you could go ahead and tap that in if that is a tap in
10:40and you're not allowed to do that in match play because you'll be playing out of turn
10:44because my ball is lying farther from the hole. Yeah and I think the important thing to say here
10:48is that in match play there's so many different elements to the sort of tactics that go on
10:52the sort of pressure that you're able to put your opponent under if you just go up and straight up
10:56and hit that you're sort of taking a little bit of the pressure off your own shoulders because if you
11:01make that Jez my putt suddenly becomes more difficult doesn't it? I would think so and that
11:05is the whole point of the rule you know there's that psychological element to match play you've
11:09got a three footer you think you're going to make it eight times out of ten nine times out of ten
11:14if I make that that might come down to six times out of ten yeah because suddenly you have to make it.
11:18Of course in truth in this scenario can create a bit of a sort of frosty atmosphere between
11:23players my feeling is that it's really down to the player who's just hit the putt i.e me in this
11:28scenario to make sure that I don't put you in an awkward position because if I do hole it Jez
11:32you have a difficult decision to make don't you? Well yeah as you say it depends on a lot of
11:38factors but I could just say I'm sorry you've played out of turn there's no penalty for doing
11:42so other than that I could ask you to play the putt again and then if I hole mine and you miss
11:48yours suddenly you've lost a hole and that's a completely different complexion going to the next
11:54two. Yeah exactly so just one to be wary of try to avoid finding yourself in that situation in match play.
12:04This one is all about identifying your ball on the golf course now Jez there's certain things
12:08here that players may have taken for granted that they are or are not allowed to do that they get
12:13wrong in my experience. My ball is just here I can't see any identifying marks I can't see the
12:18logo and I can't see my mark on the ball so I'm going to need to find out whether that is actually
12:22my ball yes what am I allowed to do what am I not allowed to do? Okay well rule 7.3 allows you in
12:28this scenario to lift the ball to make a positive identification okay but what you must do and this
12:33is what people I play with all the time don't do in competitions as well as in friendlies is mark
12:41the position of the ball first. I'm gonna use a t-peg so what you can't do pick it up oh that's
12:45mine and then put it back down again you need to use a t-peg do you have to call over your playing
12:49partner to watch you go through that process? You don't anymore you used to have to now you don't
12:54so that that part of the rule is gone but the marking it's positioned first before you lift it
12:59remains and if you fail to do that you will get a one-shot penalty. Yeah ouch so remember if you're
13:04identifying your ball always use some form of marker to mark the position of the ball then you
13:09won't go wrong. So there you have it that's our look at the seven goal falls that are surprising
13:14that could potentially catch you out I hope you found that video interesting if you do have any
13:19questions please leave them below we'll try and get back to as many people as we can but that's
13:23it for now from the London Club thanks for watching we'll see you next time.