The MGA s Top 25 (and then some) Questions and Answers about the New and Modernized Rules for 2019 1. You move your ball during search; is this a penalty? Answer: Not any longer. Under Rule 7.4, There is no penalty if the player s ball is accidentally moved by the player, opponent or anyone else while trying to find or identify it. 2. Your ball moved when searching for it, but you don t know where it was; do you play it from the new spot? Answer: No. Rule 14.2 tells us a ball that must be replaced must be put back on its original spot. But, if you don t know where that is, you must estimate it. You will then use your hand and place it there. 3. You cause your ball to move on the green; what do you do? Answer: It depends on why it moved. If you accidentally cause your ball to move, such as if you bump it with a club or drop your ball-marker on it, then there is no penalty if you, your opponent or another player in stroke play accidentally moves your ball on the putting green. And, you must replace the ball on its original spot. But, if you move your ball deliberately, you may incur a penalty. See Rule 9.4 or 9.5 to find out. 4. Your ball just moved, but you don t know why; what now? Answer: Rule 9.2b tells us we must decide what caused it to move. The Rules recognize four possible causes: 1. Natural Forces such as wind or water 2. The player or caddie 3. The opponent or caddie 4. An outside influence Unless it is virtually certain (95% chance or greater) that YOU caused it to move, there is no penalty. Unless it is virtually certain that anyone or thing caused it to move, then it is treated as though it was moved by NATURAL FORCES. If your ball was moved by NATURAL FORCES, then you play it from its new spot. Otherwise, you must replace the ball on its original spot.
5. Your ball hits your bag or cart after your shot; do you get to re-hit? Answer: Unfortunately, no. However, while your shot will count, there is not a penalty. You must play the ball where it came to rest. 6. You have to drop your ball; how do you drop it? Answer: Rule 14.3b tells us that the ball must be dropped by you (or your partner if you have one) from knee height. It also must fall straight down (no spinning or tossing allowed!) and cannot touch you or your equipment before it hits the ground. 7. You have to drop your ball; where do you drop it? Answer: No matter why you are dropping the ball, there is a relief area in which it must first land and come to rest. If the ball hits in the area and comes to rest outside of it, you must drop it again. If it fails to stay in the area a second time, you will place it where it first struck the course on the second drop. 8. You have to drop your ball; how big of an area do you have to drop it? Answer: In almost all cases, the size of the relief area is one club-length. If you are taking lateral relief from a penalty area or for an unplayable ball, then you are entitled to two club-lengths. A club-length is defined as the longest club in your bag except your putter. 9. You have to look for your ball; how long do you have? Answer: Three (3) minutes from the time someone on your side (partner, caddie, partner s caddie) begins looking for it. 10. Your ball embeds in its own pitch mark; do you have to play it? Answer: It depends where it is located. If it is in the general area (anywhere except a bunker, penalty area, teeing area, putting green or sandy area not cut to fairway height or less), then you get relief and DO NOT have to play it. You may drop it in the relief area right behind the ball. Remember, a ball is embedded when it is in its own pitch-mark made as a result of your previous stroke and part of the ball is below the level of the ground. 11. What is Back on the Line relief? Answer: Back on the Line relief is available when taking relief from a penalty area or for an unplayable ball. You will go back keeping the point where the ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area or where it lies in its unplayable position between you and the hole. You should place a tee or some other marker to identify that spot, and then you drop the ball into the one club-length relief area.
12. You mark, lift, clean and replace your ball on the putting green. Then the wind moves your ball, and it goes into the hole; can you count that? Answer: Sorry, but no. Rule 13.1d(2) tells us that once a ball has been lifted and replaced on the green, the ball owns that spot. In other words, it must be replaced at that spot. 13. There is damage between your ball and the hole on the green; do you have to putt over it? Answer: It depends on what type of damage. You may fix items such as spike marks, ball marks, old holes, scrapes or indentations (caused by equipment, the flagstick or maintenance tools), animal tracks or embedded objects. You are not allowed to repair damage such as normal maintenance (aerification holes), natural surface imperfections or natural wear of the hole. 14. Your caddie wants to show you where to hit your putt and touches the green; are you penalized? Answer: No. Rule 10.2b(2) allows your caddie to point out your line for putting by touching the green with her hand, foot or anything she is holding. But, she cannot improve your line or set an object down anywhere on or off the green to show the line, even if it is removed before you putt. 15. You putt, and your ball hits the flagstick in the hole and bounces away; do you get to count that putt as in? Answer: That is good news and bad news. You do not get to count your last shot as having gone in, but there is not a penalty for hitting the flagstick. You may leave the flagstick in the hole for any shot, even from the putting green. 16. You chip and the ball hits and comes to rest against the flagstick but not all of the ball is in the hole; do you get to count it as in? Answer: In this case, you DO get to count it as in the hole. Rule 13.2c says, If a player s ball comes to rest against the flagstick left in the hole if any part of the ball is in the hole below the surface of the putting green, the ball is treated as holed even if the entire ball is not below the surface. 17. No more Hazards? But they are still there. A Penalty Area? What now? Answer: Yes, the term hazard has gone away. There are bunkers and penalty areas. A penalty area may be any body of water on the course or any other part of the course the Committee defines as a penalty area, such as densely wooded areas or desert. If your ball comes to rest in a penalty area and you cannot or do not wish to play it, you may take relief for a one stroke-
penalty. Unless otherwise marked, penalty areas are treated as RED penalty areas with three relief options (stroke and distance, back on the line and lateral). A YELLOW penalty area has just two relief options (stroke and distance and back on the line). Of course 18. Your ball is knee deep in water in the Penalty Area, and you don t want to try to play it; where do you go? Answer: It depends on the colour of the penalty area. A YELLOW penalty area gives you two options: (1) stroke and distance and (2) back on the line. A RED penalty area gives you the same two options plus one more lateral relief. 19. There s a pine cone behind your ball in the Penalty Area; help!? Answer: Have I got the answer for you MOVE IT! Under the new Rules (15.1a), you may now move loose impediments even though your ball is in a penalty area. In fact, you may even touch the ground (and water) with your club or hand, take practice swings and ground the club lightly right in front of or right behind your ball. 20. There s a pine cone behind your ball in the Bunker; help!? Answer: Like the previous answer MOVE IT! The same Rule that allows you to move loose impediments in a penalty area allows you to move them in a bunker. You also may touch the sand by leaning on a club. However, you CANNOT ground your club right in front of or right behind the ball or touch the sand during the backswing or practice swing. 21. You drop your club in the Bunker; are you penalized? Answer: No. If you drop your club (with no intent to test the sand), there is no penalty. In fact, you may take extra clubs with you into the bunker and place or drop the ones you do not need on the sand. 22. Your ball is buried in the sand, and you cannot play it; what do you do? Answer: Rule 19 tells you what to do when you decide your ball is unplayable. There are three options for only a one-stroke penalty: (1) stroke and distance, (2) back on the line and (3) two club-lengths from the ball. But, these last two require you to drop the ball in the bunker. There is a new and fourth option, but it will cost you a two-stroke penalty. You may drop back on the line behind the bunker. And, you may go as far back as you wish. 23. You like having your caddie help you line up for your shot; is this okay? Answer: Yes, your caddie may help you to identify the direction you want your ball to go and select a target for aiming. But, once you begin to take your
stance, your caddie CANNOT be standing on the line of your shot to make sure you line up properly. For any shot other than on the putting green, you immediately get the general penalty (loss of hole or two strokes). In other words, you cannot undo this penalty by you or your caddie moving. However, if this happens on the putting green, you may get out of the penalty by moving away and having your caddie move before you take your stance again. 24. You have played your approach shot onto the putting green and stop at the beverage cart to get you and your caddie a drink. While doing so, your caddie marks, lifts and cleans your ball on the green without you asking him to do so. Are you penalized? Answer: No. Now the caddie may take these actions without you specifically giving him permission. 25. You double hit your chip into the bunker; does that count as one or two? Answer: Just one for the shot itself. There is no additional penalty. The rules makers figure the ball probably did not go where you wanted it to go after the second hit, so that is penalty enough. 26. You find your ball but are not sure if it is yours; what do you do? Answer: Since the Rules require you to play only your ball (in fact, they will penalize you if you play a ball that is not yours), you are permitted to identify your ball anywhere. Specifically, Rule 7.3 tells you that you may lift your ball (including by rotating it) but you MUST mark your ball before lifting (rotating) it and you MAY NOT clean it more than necessary to identify it. No longer are you required to tell someone what you are doing. 27. You break a tee marker with your club or bury the clubhead into the ground after a bad shot; what now? Answer: Aside from learning to behave properly on the course, the Committee may disqualify you if it has established a Code of Conduct that prohibits such action. 28. You like to take your time hitting a shot, and your group is often not right behind the group in front of you; is this a problem? Answer: YES! The Rules recommend a player take no more than 40 seconds to play a shot. A group always should maintain its position with the group in front of it and/or with respect to the pace of play policy (if one exists). By not being in position, you and/or your group may be subject to penalty under the policy. It is being disrespectful of others to play slowly.