Please print a copy and store it in your golf bag.
1. Accidental Movement of a Ball on the Putting Green
When a player’s ball lies on the putting green, there is no
penalty if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved by the player, his
partner, his opponent, or any of their equipment. The moved ball or ball-marker
must be replaced.
This Local Rule
applies only when the player’s ball or ball-marker lies on the putting green
and any movement is accidental.
Note: If it is determined that a player’s ball on the putting
green was moved as a result of wind, water or some other natural cause such as
the effects of gravity, the ball must be played as it lies from its new
location. A ball-marker moved in such circumstances is replaced.
2. Relief for Embedded Ball
Through the green, a ball that is embedded in its own
pitch-mark in the ground, other than sand, may be lifted without penalty,
cleaned and dropped as near as possible to where it lay but not nearer the
hole. (“Through the green” is the whole area of the course except the teeing
ground and putting green of the hole being played and all hazards on the
course.)
3. Preferred Lies
When “preferred lies” are in effect, if a player’s ball lies
on a closely-mown area through the green the player may mark, lift and clean
his ball without penalty. The player must then place the ball on a spot within
one foot of and not nearer the hole than where it originally lay, that is not
in a hazard or on a putting green. (Note: “Closely-mown areas” include
fairways, aprons around the green, and dew paths. The “first cut” of rough is
NOT a “closely-mown area.”)
4. Aeration Holes
When a course has been aerated, a ball that comes to rest in
or on an aeration hole may be lifted without penalty, cleaned and dropped,
as near as possible to the spot where it lay but not nearer the hole. On the
putting green, the ball may be placed.
5. Stones in Bunkers
Stones in bunkers are movable obstructions. Rule 24–1
applies. The stones may be removed. If the ball moves, it must be replaced, and
there is no penalty provided that the movement of the ball is directly
attributable to the removal of the stones.
6. Immovable Obstructions Close to Putting Green
If a ball lies off the putting green but not in a hazard and
an immovable obstruction (such as a sprinkler head) within two club-lengths of
the putting green and within two club-lengths of the ball intervenes on the
line of play between the ball and the hole, the player may lift the ball and
drop it at the nearest point to where the ball lay that (a) is not nearer the
hole, (b) avoids intervention, and (c) is not in a hazard or on a putting
green. The ball may be cleaned when lifted.
7. Cell Phones
Cell phone usage is prohibited on the golf course (except
for Rules questions or emergencies). Please add my name and number to your list
of contacts: Linda Miller, 609-784-2550
8. Hazard Boundaries
If the margins of water hazards and lateral water hazards
are not marked by lines or stakes, then if there is a question as to whether
your ball lies in a hazard, or as to where to begin marking your two
club-lengths relief from a lateral hazard, you will have to make this decision
with the concurrence of your fellow competitors. To help guide you in
establishing these margins, here are the USGA guidelines for where to place
lines or stakes defining the margin of a water hazard:
“Lines and stakes defining the margins of a water hazard
should be placed as nearly as possible along the natural limits of the hazard,
i.e., where the ground breaks down to form the depression containing the
water.”
You may consider the cut line (where there is a mowed area
adjacent to the high grasses in the lateral hazard) to be the hazard boundary
line from which to measure your two club-length relief.
9. Ground Under Repair
If a player suspects that his ball may lie in ground under
repair that is unmarked, he should play his ball as it lies. He is entitled to
play a second ball under Rule 3-3; he must report the situation to the
tournament director prior to signing his scorecard.
