Hello Linda,
I tell all my golfing friends to subscribe. You have a
following near Vancouver, B.C.
We have a water hazard - a drainage ditch with grassy
sloping banks. The margin of the hazard is where the ground begins to slope
downward. A player's ball lies in the grassy part of the hazard. She enters the
hazard, takes a few practice swings near her ball (but not in the area of
intended swing), touching the grass but not touching the ground in the hazard. After
the practice swings in the hazard, she decides to take relief from the hazard. One
of her fellow competitors says she should be penalized for testing the
condition of the hazard while her ball was in the hazard and before she decided
to take relief.
Question: With respect to the timing of the decision to take
relief - Did the player breach Rule 13-4 by entering the hazard and taking
swings that gave her information about the hazard before she decided to take
relief? If the player had touched the ground in the hazard while taking a
practice swing away from the ball but while her ball was still in the hazard
and then decided to take relief, would the total penalty be 3 strokes - 2 for
breach of 13-4 and one for penalty under 26?
Sometimes we overthink the Rules of Golf.
Best wishes to you,
Lulu from British Columbia
Dear Lulu,
These are excellent questions. I don’t believe you’re
overthinking the Rules at all.
The player is permitted to touch the grass when she takes
her practice swings in the hazard, provided she does not touch the ground and
does not improve her the area of her intended swing. The player in your
narrative did not violate any Rule of Golf. She will not incur a penalty if she
decides to take relief from the hazard after her practice swings.
The answer is not the same for a player who touches the
ground (or moves a loose impediment) in a hazard. She incurs the two-stroke penalty
(loss of hole in match play) for a violation of Rule 13-4 regardless of a
future decision to take relief [Decision 13-4/17]. She violated the Rule while
her ball was in play in the hazard. In stroke play, after she adds the
two-stroke penalty, she may either play from the hazard with no additional
penalty, or choose one of the relief options in Rule 26-1, adding another
penalty stroke to her score.
If the player were to declare, prior to entering the hazard,
that she was going to take relief, she would not incur a penalty for any
subsequent violations in the hazard.
Linda
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