Dear readers,
I have decided to start my explanation of the new Rules with the most talked about change that is not even a Rule, namely the Local Rule that will permit a drop in the vicinity of a lost or out-of-bounds ball for a two-stroke penalty.
You will not find this Local Rule in your rulebook. All of the authorized Local Rules appear only in the Official Guide to the Rules of Golf.
Please remember that this is a Local Rule. If your Committee does not adopt it, you must proceed under penalty of stroke and distance if your ball is lost or out of bounds.
I will do my best to explain this Local Rule, but you may find the easiest way to understand it is to watch this video (several times) that shows the relief procedure:
Here is Local Rule E-5:
If you cannot find your ball, or it is known or virtually certain to be out of bounds, your course may adopt this Local Rule that does not require you to play a ball under stroke and distance (although that is always an option). For two penalty strokes, you may take relief by dropping in a very large relief area that you will establish as follows:
1. Estimate the spot where your ball is lost or where it last crossed the edge of the course boundary when it went out of bounds. Imagine a line that starts at the hole and goes straight through this reference spot.
2. Walk over to the closest edge of the fairway and find the estimated spot that is equidistant from the hole. Imagine a line that starts at the hole and goes straight through this reference spot.
3. Imagine a curved line between the two estimated reference spots such that no point on that line is closer to the hole. You may not drop your ball closer to the hole than this imaginary line.
4. The relief area where you may drop and play your ball for two penalty strokes will be quite large, anywhere as much as two club-lengths outside of the two imaginary lines in #1 and #2 and between them, but not nearer the hole than the imaginary curved line in #3, going back as far as you wish.
You cannot use this Local Rule if your ball is lost in a penalty area or if you have played a provisional ball. However, if your provisional ball is also lost or out of bounds, you may use this Local Rule with respect to your provisional ball.
Click on either of these USGA and R&A links and scroll down to E-5 to learn the purpose of this Local Rule, view relief-procedure diagrams, and read the suggested wording for this Local Rule:
This Local Rule is not recommended for competitions limited to highly skilled players such as professionals and elite amateurs.
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
