• Ball-Marker (new Definition)
No surprises here – it’s an artificial object, such as a tee, coin, an object made to be a ball-marker, or other small piece of equipment to mark the spot of your ball when you lift it.
• Mark (new Definition)
You may mark your ball by placing your ball-marker right behind or to the side of your ball. You may also mark the ball by holding a club right behind or to the side of it.
• Marker (expanded Definition)
Your partner may not serve as your marker (the person responsible for recording your score). The Committee either appoints your marker or tells you how to choose one.
• Conditions Affecting the Stroke (new Definition)
The lie of the ball, the area of intended stance and swing, the line of play, and the relief area where a player will drop or place a ball are all conditions affecting the stroke, and they all have their own Definition:
1. Lie– the spot where your ball is at rest, including various objects that touch the ball or are right next to it
2. Stance– the position of your feet and body when you prepare for and make a stroke
3. Line of Play– the line (whether straight or curved) where you intend to hit your ball, including your putt, plus a reasonable distance above that line and to either side. The term “line of putt” is no longer in use.
4. Relief Area– The area where you must drop the ball when taking relief under a Rule. There is a specific reference point, a measured size, and limits on the location that I will explain in a future column.
5. Drop– You must drop the ball in from knee height (the height of your knee when it is perpendicular to the ground, meaning you cannot bend your ankle to shorten the distance). The ball must fall straight down and must hit and come to rest in the relief area. The ball must not touch your body or equipment before it hits the ground.
If the ball touches the player (or anyone else) or anyone’s equipment after it hits the ground, but comes to rest in the relief area, there is no penalty to anyone and the ball will be played as it lies. This last sentence does not appear in the Definition. It is a Rule [14.3] I will discuss at a later date, but I thought you might want to know about this now.
• Equipment
Objects, such as rakes, that are used to care for the course, are equipment when they are being held or carried by you or your caddie; otherwise, they are movable obstructions.
• Four-Ball
The official term for what is more commonly called “better ball.”
• Foursomes
The official term for what is more commonly called “alternate shot.” (Please, please, please remember to refer to a player in your group, as “one of the players in my group” and not “one of my foursome.”)
• General Penalty (new Definition)
The general penalty is loss of hole in match play; two strokes in stroke play. In future columns, when I let you know the penalty, it will be either “one stroke” or the “general penalty.”
• Holed
The following change is not included in this Definition, but I feel this is a good time to present the new Rule 13.2c to you:
If your ball rests against the flagstick, and part of the ball is below the surface of the green, it is holed (no need to jiggle the flagstick to try to get the ball to drop into the hole). However, if no part of the ball is below the surface, the ball is not holed. You must play the ball as it lies. If it falls into the hole when you remove the flagstick, you will have to replace the ball on the lip of the hole and hit it into the hole.
• Integral Object (new Definition)
When the Committee defines any artificial object as “integral,” you are not entitled to free relief from that object. An integral object is not an obstruction, and is immovable. However, if it has a movable part (such as a gate), you may move that part.
• Boundary Objects (new Definition)
It is important to remember that there is no free relief from boundary objects (walls, fences, stakes, etc.); they are not obstructions. Boundary objects are treated as immovable, even though you might physically be able to move them (e.g., stakes).
• Obstruction
Players are reminded that neither integral objects nor boundary objects are obstructions, meaning there is no free relief available for interference by either.
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
