Australian Golf Digest
Results for "Rules Review"
Rules of Golf Review: He pumped two OB, picked up and wants a 6 for the hole. What should his real score be?
Do you know a golfer who picks his or her ball up a lot? Does that player also want you to put down scores on the card that don’t seem quite right for handicap purposes? If so, it might be time for a quick review of the Rules of Handicapping and how to record scores Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: Is it OK to stop a dropped ball to keep it from rolling into a lake?
Think you know how to take a drop in golf? Rule 14.3 has plenty of twists. Learn when it’s allowed and when it could cost you a stroke.
Rules of Golf Review: Understanding ‘backstopping’ and when it’s a penalty
Back in 2019, the LPGA Tour found itself in the spotlight for a curious ruling involving two tour players and a practice called “backstopping.” If you’ve never heard the term, tour pros commonly use it to describe purposely leaving a ball in place on the putting green instead of marking it. The thought is that Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: My ball ricochets off a new flagsitck and never drops. Don’t they have to be softer?
Golf is hard enough that introducing “stingy” flagsticks at a golf course seems just plain cruel. Granted, if you’re putting, you should always pull the flagstick out as you gain virtually no advantage when leaving it in. Golf Digest ran tests on the value of leaving the pin in and found that other than perhaps Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: There’s a 50-50 chance my ball is in a penalty area or down a drain. Can I get free relief?
There is a phrase in the Rules of Golf that is important to remember and apply when you can’t see where your ball came to rest—it’s “known or virtually certain.” The phrase is the benchmark that must be met to proceed as if you know where your ball is, even when you might not. A Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: I shot an 84 but it posted like I shot an 81. What gives?
You left the golf course with an 84 and when you woke up the next day, the Golf Handicap Information Network (GHIN) treated it like an 81. How is that possible? When the World Handicap System was introduced in 2020, you might have missed in the fine print that your score for any given round Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: Your drive hits a tee marker and lands behind you. Can you re-tee?
You’ve probably seen video replays of pro golfers smashing tee markers after hitting poor shots. Brooks Koepka’s assault on one at the LIV Golf Dallas tournament in late June comes to mind. So does Rory McIlroy’s treatment of one during the U.S. Open at Oakmont. What doesn’t happen as often (though it certainly does happen!) Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: The ball moved! Or did it? Understanding the real definition
In a rare hot-mic moment on the PGA Tour, we got to watch and listen as Justin Thomas tried to avoid a penalty for accidentally moving his ball in a waste area during the third round of the RBC Heritage in April. He eventually won, but only after getting a one-stroke penatly for telling a Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: Is pushing down the top of a sprinkler head on your line a penalty?
There are things you can do to make your next shot easier as found in the Rules of Golf, but there are a lot of things you can’t do. Rule 8.1 covers actions players can’t do to because they would improve conditions affecting the stroke. You probably know a lot of them even if you’ve Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: I hit the wrong green with my approach shot. What do I do next?
OK, let’s get the explanation for this image (above) out of the way. No, Gary Woodland is not seen here hitting a shot from the wrong green. This was his infamous chip on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach during the final round of the 2019 U.S. Open—a tournament he won, if you recall. We Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: Can you take a free drop from a paved road? Not always!
Chances are you recognize that the aerial photo above is of the first and 18th holes at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. As you take a look, you can see spectators walking across those two fairways on a paved road. You might wonder what happens when a ball comes to rest on Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: I knocked it stiff on a par 3 and didn’t putt it. What score do I put down for my handicap?
You might know some golfers at your club or course who have a habit of raking putts that are not “gimmes.” They might even pick up their ball after a hole has been decided in match play, even though they still had some work to do to earn the bogey they want to put down Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: My opponent’s ball is in my peripheral vision. Can I ask him to move it?
You probably know that if a ball is on you line of putt, you can not only ask the owner to mark the ball, you also can have the marker moved off your line. It happens all the time. The last thing you want is a poker chip deflecting your ball away from the only Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: My ball was on a slope and a gust of wind rolled it on the green. Am I putting now?
What happens when a natural force—and we’re not talking the explosion in “CaddyShack”—moves your ball? This is a situation that comes into play quite often, especially on seaside courses where winds can be howling. And there is a Rule that determines what should happen next. To clarify, “natural forces” does not mean shading a golf Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: I stepped on the fairway after it rained and water came up around my ball. Do I get relief?
Among the countless changes to the Rules of Golf in the past five or six years is the terminology used to describe certain things or situations. For example, using the term “all square” in match play when describing a situation when neither side is up. That is soooo pre-2019. The term is now simply “tied.” Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: My ball went into a tree and never came down. Now what?
If you play golf on a course with a lot of trees, what we’re about to describe might sound a little too familar: It’s not uncommon to hit a golf ball toward the tree line only to see it disappear into the branches, needles or leaves and never come down. Palm trees are especially stingy Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: I’ve got a blind shot and my partner is helping me aim. Where can he stand when I hit?
Back in 2019, shortly after the USGA and R&A enacted major revisions to the Rules of Golf, there were a few instances on the professional tours when players faced penalties for violating Rule 10.2b(4). In short, there was a lot of confusion about when golfers should be penalized for having their caddie stand in the Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: I was looking for my ball and broke several branches of a bush trying to locate it. Is that a penalty?
You’ve hit your ball into the rough, fescue, gorse, anywhere but the fairway and are anxious to go see just where it wound up. Can’t blame you; there’s only three minutes of search time before the ball is considered lost (Rule 18.2). That said, some golfers don’t even bother to look, presuming they’ll be better Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: It was only a tap-in, but my opponent raked his putt into the hole. Is that legal?
Before we get into the rule that explains what constitues a putting stroke and what doesn’t, let’s watch this perfectly legal way to six-putt. This has happened many times in pro golf, but this effort by Thomas Detry at the Cognizant Classic in March pretty much sums up how golf can devour your soul. OK, Read more…
Rules of Golf Review: You’re playing a course at altitude and need to adjust your distances. Can you use a calculator or smart phone during a round?
The BMW Championship, the second leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoff, is being held this week at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colo. Aside from being among Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses in America, the Jack Nicklaus-designed course is notable for being at 6,400 feet above sea level. If you’ve Read more…
