Hi Linda,
Once again I ask for your assistance.
My club introduced a local rule permitting relief for
plugged balls through the green. They have however omitted the cleaning of the
ball, as they do not want to allow this.
They say the wording in the rule is only a
"recommendation," and that they can therefore amend it to leave out
the word "clean.”
My view is that the recommended wording is simply to allow a
club to adopt the local rule without referring to the R&A, USGA. I believe
that they can't adopt any other wording without referring to the USGA, R&A,
as this would be modifying a rule of golf without authority.
I welcome your valued experience in this matter.
Kind regards,
Lou from England
Dear Lou,
My “valued experience” leads me to the same answer you
suggest.
Rule 25-2, which provides relief for an embedded ball,
limits that relief to balls embedded in closely-mown areas. It allows the
player to lift, clean, and drop the ball without penalty.
The purpose of Local Rule 3a in Appendix I is to extend the relief provided for an
embedded ball in Rule 25-2 to “through the green” (meaning to all areas of the
golf course except the teeing ground and putting green of the hole you are
playing and all hazards). When this Local Rule is adopted, the player must
still follow the instructions for taking relief from an embedded ball as
written in Rule 25-2; the only difference is that the restriction to
closely-mown areas is lifted.
If the player were taking relief for a ball embedded in the
rough, for example, the player, observing the procedure in Rule 25-2, would
lift his ball, clean it (if he so desired), and drop it as close as possible to
the spot where it was embedded, no closer to the hole.
The wording in the Local Rules is provided to save the
Committee the trouble of composing the Local Rule. It is “recommended” because
it is correct. The Committee may choose to use its own words, instead of the
recommended wording, but it may not change the contents of the Rule. In this case, the Committee may, for example,
include the meaning of “through the green” (the term used at the beginning of
this Local Rule) instead of using that specific term, but it may not change the
basic Rule itself, which allows the player to clean the ball.
Linda
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