In this video Neil Tappin is joined by rules expert Jeremy Ellwood to look at the 6 rules golfers find confusing. They cover everything from when to practice on the course to your dropping options when faced with a bunker filled with water. Jeremy's clear explanations should help you avoid any unwanted penalty shots in these scenarios.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappin here from Golf Monthly and welcome to Prince's Golf Club
00:03and this video on the six rules that golfers find confusing. Now what you're going to watch
00:07is a conversation between myself and Jez Elwood where we've picked out six scenarios out here on
00:12the golf course where certain rules will come into play that you will need to know. Right, let's get
00:17started. That ball's moving, oh no. Uh oh. Right, I thought it was fairly solidly placed there but
00:31it was obviously a critical blade of grass that I've just disturbed. You've accidentally caused
00:36your ball to move. Yes, indeed. And Jez, in this video we are covering scenarios that golfers find
00:40confusing. Where do you think the confusion arises here? Well, I think the confusion arises because
00:45people want to believe they won't be penalised for anything accidental on the golf course but that's
00:50not always the case and in the general area where we are here, if you cause your ball to move you are
00:55still penalised. Right. So you do need to tread carefully. There are scenarios where you aren't
01:00penalised on the putting green. Accidental movement is no longer a penalty and when you're searching for
01:06your ball, if you're treading it by mistake there's no longer a penalty there. In all those circumstances
01:11and even in this circumstance you must replace the ball where it was before playing
01:15on. Yeah, but in this scenario there's a penalty shot to add. There is. And then what about,
01:20what I was going to ask you about, what about on the tee? So let's say you're about to hit your tee
01:23shot and you accidentally just dink your ball off the tee. Yeah. Somebody in the group says one.
01:28Yes, amusingly. Everyone has a good laugh but do you get a penalty shot in that scenario? You don't
01:31because at that point on that hole the ball is not in play. So it's only when your ball is in play as it
01:36is here, you know, close to the green on this hole on the general area, that is a penalty on the teeing area
01:42before you've played your tee shot, you can knock it off at the toe of your club and it's not a problem.
01:46So I think the advice here is to be careful. If your ball is perched on a tuft like Jez was here,
01:51tread carefully around the ball because if you are deemed to have caused it to move, unfortunately,
01:56you've broken the rules.
01:57Right Jez, so I'm confused and the reason I'm confused is my ball has come to rest, I hope you think you can
02:07see on the camera in the bunker here, in the temporary water. And I know that I'm allowed to
02:12take a drop here but I can't see anywhere I can drop that means that I won't still be stood in
02:17the water. So what am I allowed to do? What am I not allowed to do in this scenario?
02:21Okay, well I think golfers, a lot of golfers know that when you're taking relief from something,
02:25you have to take complete relief. So typically elsewhere on the course, you can't have your feet
02:30still in the in the water, temporary water. However, in bunkers and also on the puttergreen,
02:35we'll come on to in a minute, you can take what is called point of maximum available relief. So
02:40the point where you get as much relief as possible from there, but your feet might still be in the
02:46water or the ball might still be in a bit of shallower water.
02:48Right, okay, so I have the option then to drop it just to the side there, I'll still be stood in
02:52the water or under penalty, I've still got the options taken unplayable here.
02:59Yeah, I mean that is the shot you're trying to save yourself is by still being able to play without
03:04taking the penalty that it would cost you to drop outside the bunker. So by being able to play that
03:10still, you may get up and down and save par. Going outside to drop, you're trying to get up and down
03:16for bogey. Okay, so clarify for us what you were just referring to about the green.
03:20On the putting, it's a similar thing on the putting green and you have to remember that
03:24with an abnormal course condition, which typically on the putting green and in a bunker would be temporary
03:31water. You normally only get relief from it. On the putting green, you get relief if it's lying
03:37between you and the hole, if it's on your line of play as well. Right, okay.
03:41But again, on a really flooded green, there might be nowhere where you can get complete relief,
03:45but again, on the putting green, you can take point of maximum available relief where you might
03:49have to putt through shallower water. So there you have it, maximum available relief, well worth knowing.
03:54Okay, so the next one on our list of rules that golfers find confusing relates to practicing on
04:04the golf course. Now, Jez, what do people need to know here?
04:07Well, I mean, basically there's not a lot of practice you can do during a competition round
04:12and that's stroke play or match play, but it's not completely restricted. You can putt and chip on or
04:19around the green that you've just played or on or around the tee of the hole you're just about to
04:24play, but chipping and putting only, no bunker shots, no other shots, but you can do that as
04:29long as you're not delaying play by doing so. Okay, that's clear. So then that begs the question,
04:34is there anything else that you can't do when it comes to practicing on the course?
04:36Well, in a match play competition ahead of a match play around, you can go and play the golf
04:40course beforehand if you want to. In a stroke play competition, you can't go on the golf course at all.
04:45So if the 18th green is clear and you fancy just going out and having a quick putt to see what
04:50pace the greens are rolling out that day, you can't do that. You're going to have to restrict
04:53that to the practice putting green, but not any of the greens you're going to be playing during that
04:57round. So there you have it. Those are the keys that you need to know when it comes to practicing
05:01on the golf course. Oh, that's not very good. Now, hold on. Before you go ahead there,
05:17what's that? Two and a half, three feet. You've not been that good from that range there. We're
05:21playing in a match and you don't have the right in a match to go ahead and tap in and finish the hole.
05:27Right. The order comes into play in match play more than in stroke play where there's the drive
05:32towards ready golf. In match play, there's a different dynamic. If I now make mine,
05:36because it's my turn to play, your putt potentially becomes a lot harder. Yes.
05:41So for that reason, the order is more important in match play.
05:44So let me ask you a question, Jess. What happens if I do go up and just tap it in from here and I make
05:48the putt? What happens next? Have I broken the rules? Well, you've broken a rule, but there's no
05:53penalty only if I decide to make you take the ball back out, put it back where it was
05:58and play the shot again in the correct order. Right. So effectively that putt gets cancelled
06:02and I get another go. You would get another go if I decided that you'd effectively gained
06:06an advantage by getting to go at your shorter putt first. Yes. And it's just one of those things,
06:11that would be pretty awkward, wouldn't it? It would be. I mean, you and I have played enough golf
06:14together over the years that I don't think it would be awkward between us. But I think if you're playing
06:18in a match against somebody, you don't want to be left in that situation. So my advice would be,
06:23in this particular scenario, just go up and mark the ball. If the player wants to give it to you,
06:27fine. But if not, just put the marker down and avoid any of this kind of awkwardness that can
06:32surround this particular scenario.
06:39Okay. So in the scenario we're faced with here, we've got a golf ball here on the fringe. We've got
06:43a clump of sand also on the fringe and another bit of sand on the green. And there are certain
06:49things you can do and certain things you can't do. I think a lot of golfers, myself included,
06:53would find this particular scenario slightly confusing. Jez, clear it up for us. What can you
06:57do? Okay. Well, I think the important thing to say is that under the definitions, sand and loose soil
07:04are not classed as loose impediments. Right. So here, you can't move this on the fringe. However,
07:10there is within the rules, special dispensation, if you like, to remove sand and loose soil on the
07:15putting green only. So you could brush that away there, but you can't touch this slightly more
07:20prominent clump of sand here off the green. So there you have it. If your instinct would be
07:25to brush away this sand here, as mine would probably be, then beware. Don't do it. Otherwise,
07:30you'll run into trouble with the rules. Hold on. Can I just stop you there, Tavis? You're not about
07:41to play that, are you? Yeah, I was about to play that, yeah. Right. But this is not the putting
07:45green of the hole you're playing, is it? No, but there's, you know, it's a links course. There's not
07:50much thick grass between me and the green. I reckon I can get this quite close by putting it. And you
07:55possibly could, but sadly, you're not allowed to even attempt to do so because you cannot play
08:00from a wrong green. You must take relief. Okay. Right. So even if there was only three feet of
08:07fringe grass between me and the right green, I still wouldn't be able to pump this. You wouldn't,
08:10no. The only time you could play from what appears to be the green of a wrong hole to the correct hole
08:15is when it's a double green, a shared green. Right. Okay. So what do I need to do? Where do I go?
08:19Well, here, your nearest point of relief is probably over that way and it does make the
08:23shot a little bit tougher, but unfortunately, the rules don't allow you any leeway. You must take
08:28relief from the wrong green and you cannot play the ball as it lies. Right. There we go.
08:35So there you have it. That's our look at six rules golfers find. Confusing. I hope you found
08:39that helpful. If you have, please do hit the like button. Also, please do leave some comments below.
08:43Is there anything that we've missed? We're always looking for ideas for future content,
08:47so we'd be interested to hear your thoughts. But that's it for now. Thanks for watching.
08:50We'll see you next time.