New Year Quiz 1. In stroke play, Ross hits a poor tee shot which lands in the rough. After briefly searching for his ball Ross tells his fellow-competitors that he is going back to play a provisional ball. Ross plays another ball from the teeing ground and while walking up the fairway, his fellowcompetitors find his original ball within the five-minute search period. What is the ruling? A. Ross must continue with the original ball. B. Ross must continue with the second ball played from the tee C. Ross may choose whether to continue with the original ball or the second ball played from the tee. Answer: B Decision 27-1/1 2. In stroke play, Nikki s tee shot comes to rest right in front of a divot in the fairway which has folded over but not completely detached. Before playing her second shot, Nikki presses down the divot to flatten it taking care not to move her ball. She plays her ball to the green and takes two putts to hole out. What is the ruling? A. There is no penalty.
B. Nikki incurs a one-stroke penalty. C. Nikki incurs a two-stroke penalty. Answer: C Decision 13-2/5 3. Garth hits his drive into the semi-rough but when he finds his ball, it has come to rest next to a bird s nest. If Garth was to take his preferred stroke he would damage the nest. What is the ruling? A. Garth must play the ball as it lies. B. Garth may drop the ball, without penalty, within one club-length of the nearest point of relief where the stroke would not cause damage to the nest. C. Garth must declare the ball unplayable under penalty of one-stroke. Answer: B Decision 1-4/9 4. In stroke play, Nikki and Ross both have short pitches to the putting green. Nikki plays up close to the hole and Ross asks Nikki to mark the ball as it may interfere with his pitch shot. Instead of marking the position, Nikki removes the flagstick, holding it in one hand above the ground and holes out with her putter in the other hand. What is the ruling?
A. There is no penalty. B. Nikki incurs a one-stroke penalty. C. Nikki incurs a two-stroke penalty. Answer: A Decision 17-1/5 5. Ross has a short pitch shot up a slope to the green. He makes a stroke, but the ball fails to reach the green and starts rolling back down the slope towards him. Slightly frustrated, Ross makes another swing and takes a divot while the ball is still in motion. The divot deflects his ball while it is rolling down the slope. What is the ruling? A. There is no penalty and Ross must play the ball as it lies. B. Ross incurs a one-stroke penalty and the ball is played as it lies. C. Ross incurs a two-stroke penalty and the ball is played as it lies. Answer: B Decision 19-2/9 6. In stroke play, on the teeing ground Nikki swings at her ball but completely misses it. She adjusts the tee position by teeing the ball higher and plays the ball. What is the ruling?
A. Nikki incurs a two-stroke penalty. B. Nikki incurs a one-stroke penalty. C. There is no penalty. Answer: B Decision 18-2/1 7. In stroke play, Ross s tee shot comes to rest near a signpost which will interfere with his next stroke. Ross tries to remove the signpost but it can t be moved easily. With further effort he manages to break the signpost and as it no longer interferes with Ross s stroke he plays his ball onto the green. Ross takes two putts to hole out. How many strokes (including any penalty strokes) has Ross played? A. Four B. Five C. Six Answer: C Decision 13-2/16 8. In stroke play, Ross hits his ball into a lateral water hazard. He elects to take relief under penalty of one-stroke, and drops within two club-lengths of the point where the ball last
crossed the margin of the hazard, no nearer the hole. Ross drops the ball, but he realises it is going to roll back into the hazard so before it reaches the edge of the hazard, he stops and lifts the ball. What is ruling? A. Ross must re-drop the ball with no additional penalty. B. Ross incurs an additional one-stroke penalty and must place the ball at the point where the ball first struck the course when dropped. C. Ross incurs an additional two-stroke penalty and must replace the ball at the spot where it was stopped. Answer: C Decision 20-2c/4 9. In a match between Nikki and Ross, Ross s caddie concedes Nikki s next putt and lifts the ball. What is the ruling? A. There is no penalty. B. Ross incurs a one-stroke penalty. C. Ross loses the hole. Answer: B Decision 2-4/3.5
10. After a poor tee shot, Nikki s ball comes to rest behind a tree. Nikki is too close to the tree to play towards the green, so a sideways stroke is the only reasonable stroke for her. When taking her stance for the sideways stroke, Nikki s foot is in a burrowing animal hole. What is the ruling? A. Nikki is not entitled to free relief. B. Nikki may take free relief for the sideways stroke but must then play her stroke sideways. C. Nikki may take free relief for the sideways stroke and may then play her stroke in any direction she chooses. Answer: C Decision 25-1b/22 11. In stroke play, Nikki and her caddie cannot decide what club to play from the tee on the par 3, 11 th hole. She decides to change her caddie so she can ask a friend who is standing spectating nearby what he thinks. She discusses what club to play with her new caddie before selecting a club and playing her tee shot. Nikki re-joins her original caddie as she walks down the hole. What is the ruling?
A. There is no penalty. B. Nikki incurs a two-stroke penalty. C. Nikki is disqualified. Answer: B Decision 8-1/26 12. In stroke play, after hitting his drive at the 12 th hole, Ernie thinks his ball may be damaged. He goes through the required procedure to inspect the ball, and having noticed a crack on the surface, he substitutes another ball. Two holes later Ernie hits his tee shot out of bounds and the only ball he has left is the ball previously declared unfit for play. Ernie drops the ball and plays it. What is the penalty for using the ball which was previously declared unfit for play? A. There is no penalty. B. Ernie incurs a two-stroke penalty. C. Ernie is disqualified. Answer: A Decision 5-3/2 13. In stroke play, Ross hits a wayward tee shot on a par 3 which lands in a bunker. As Ross approaches the bunker, he accidentally kicks a pine cone which comes to rest next to his ball. Ross removes the pine cone before playing his shot onto the green and takes one putt to hole out. What is Ross s score for the hole?
A. 3 B. 4 C. 5 Answer: C Decision 13-4/14 14. In stroke play, due to the heavy rain, Rickie wraps a towel around the grip of his club to prevent it from slipping out of his hands. He makes a stroke at the ball with the towel around the grip. What is the ruling? A. There is no penalty. B. Rickie incurs a two-stroke penalty. C. Rickie is disqualified. Answer: A Rule 14-3c
15. In stroke play, Ross starts his round with 14 clubs in his bag. After finishing the 15 th hole and before walking to the 16 th tee, Ross borrows another player s putter and makes several practice putts on the putting green of the last hole played. What is the ruling? A. There is no penalty. B. Ross incurs a two-stroke penalty. C. Ross incurs a four-stroke penalty. Answer: A Decision 4-4a/13 16. In stroke play, Ross s ball is lying in casual water in the middle of a bunker, however there is plenty of room for him to drop away from the casual water inside the bunker. If he decides to drop out of the casual water, which one of the following options is not true? A. He may drop within one club-length of his nearest point of relief, no nearer the hole in the bunker, without penalty. B. He may drop outside the bunker, keeping the point where the ball lay between him and the hole, without penalty. C. He may drop outside the bunker, keeping the point where the ball lay between him and the hole, for a one-stroke penalty. Answer: B Rule 25-1b
17. Nikki s ball is lying on a bridge inside the margins of a water hazard. There is a leaf and a tee lying close to her ball that are also inside the water hazard. Which one of the following statements is true? A. Nikki may remove the leaf and the tee without penalty. B. Nikki may remove the leaf and she may ground her club on the bridge, without penalty. C. Nikki may remove the tee and she may ground her club on the bridge, without penalty. Answer: C Decision 13-4/30 and Rule 13-4c 18. In a Stableford competition against a fixed score of par, Nikki s marker marks down her gross score for the 18th hole as a 7 when in fact she took 8 strokes on the hole. The 18th hole is a par 4 at which Nikki receives no handicap strokes. At the end of the round, they both sign the card and return it to the Committee. What is the ruling? A. Nikki is disqualified for signing for a lower gross score than she actually scored. B. Nikki is deducted two points from her total points scored for the round. C. There is no penalty. Answer: C Decision 32-2a/4