Dear Linda,
There are two temporary greens on our golf course. Are we allowed to have a Local Rule that says as soon as your ball is on the temporary green you have an automatic two-putt unless your first putt goes in the hole?
Lulu
Dear Lulu,
Making a Local Rule to give players an automatic two-putt on a temporary green is not permissible. Such a rule would violate the very first rule in the book, Rule 1-1, which states that “the Game of Golf consists of playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.” In stroke play, if you fail to hole out you are disqualified. In match play, you may pick the ball up before holing out if the putt is conceded.
If you are playing in a tournament, the Committee may decide to shorten the stipulated round from the customary 18 and delete the holes with the temporary greens from the competition.
There is a bit of confusion out there in the golf world about Local Rules. Some people believe that golf course personnel can make up any rules they wish and label them “Local Rules.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Committee is limited to the Local Rules published in the back of the rule book in Appendix I. This is a complete list of all the permissible Local Rules. If conditions are so unusual that the Committee feels it’s necessary to waive a rule of golf, it has to present it’s case to the USGA and get special permission to impose such a Local Rule.
Here are a few examples of other “illegal” Local Rules I have encountered:
1. Establishing a ball drop on the green side of a hazard for balls that fail to clear the hazard
2. Permitting opponents to play a second ball in match play when they are uncertain of their rights
3. Providing free relief if a player’s stroke is interfered with by exposed tree roots
4. Allowing players to smooth footprints in a sand bunker and then replace the ball
5. Allowing players to replay a stroke if their ball strikes a sprinkler head
6. Allowing free relief from a fence surrounding a driving range that is deemed to be out of bounds
None of the above-listed rules is permissible.
Local Rules that are permissible deal with such things as playing a provisional for a ball in a water hazard, preserving environmentally sensitive areas, protection of young trees, poor course conditions, stones in bunkers, immovable obstructions close to the putting green, temporary obstructions, dropping zones, and distance measuring devices. If you take the time to familiarize yourself with the Local Rules in Appendix I that are approved by the USGA, it will be easy for you to recognize unacceptable Local Rules when you encounter them.
Linda
Copyright © 2008 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
