Why you always need to play the course as you find it
For centuries, one of the most important principles of golf is to play the course as you find it. This means that you get some good breaks and some unfortunate breaks. If you are stuck behind a tree, there is no assistance from the Rules of Golf, as you are expected to play the course as you find it. Equally, if your wayward tee shot hits a tree and comes to rest in the middle of the fairway, then we accept that too.
Despite how important a principle it is, it is also one of the most subjective parts of the rules to interpret and apply. The rules stipulate both permitted and prohibited actions in regard to playing the course as you find it, all based on a series of conditions called the “conditions affecting the stroke”, more commonly referred to as the CATS.
The CATS are: the lie of the player’s ball at rest, the area of the player’s intended stance, the area of the player’s intended swing, the player’s line of play, and the relief area where the player will drop or place a ball.
These CATS are heavily protected, and the rules ensure that players do not take actions to improve any of the CATS; the key word being ‘improve’.
Actions that a player must not take if they improve the CATS include to move, bend or break any growing or attached natural object. This is most commonly seen when a player’s ball lies under a tree and they are restricted in their swing by branches. This important rule says you cannot break branches to allow yourself a free swing, as that is not playing the course as you found it.
You also cannot alter the surface of the ground, for example, by replacing divots in a divot hole which removes any interference for your intended swing, removing or pressing down divots that have already been replaced or other cut turf that is already in place, or creating or eliminating holes, indentations or uneven surfaces. When you are about to take a drop, you cannot smooth out the soil to remove holes and uneven surfaces in the relief area, even if your ball does not come to rest in an improved area.
If your ball lies just off the putting green and there is sand off the green on your line of play, you are not permitted to remove it.
While you cannot break all the branches to help with your ball under the tree, the rules do allow you to fairly take a stance by taking reasonable actions to get to the ball and take a stance, even if your actions improve the CATS. Although you are allowed to play in any direction, you are not entitled to a normal stance or swing and you must adapt to the situation and use the least intrusive course of action.
For example, you are not permitted to stand on tall grass or weeds in a way that pushes them down and to the side, so that they are out of the way of the area of intended stance or swing, when a stance could have been taken without doing so. You cannot hook one branch on another or braid two weeds to keep them away from the stance or swing. You cannot bend an interfering branch in taking a stance when a stance could have been taken without doing so.
While playing the course as you find it can be a subjective issue, if you take the least intrusive path to take your stance for your stroke, you will generally be OK.
Stuart McPhee is a referee for the PGA Tour of Australasia and co-host of the No.1 podcast in the world dedicated solely to discussing the Rules of Golf: The Golf Rules Questions Podcast.
Photograph: Ross Kinnaird/getty images
