Hi Linda,
All sorts of things are happening in my area – many golfers assume that the local rule re: lost or out of bounds ball was in affect and proceeded with dropping and taking a 2-stroke penalty; one golfer told his fellow golfers that he was entitled to free relief from a divot because his ball was embedded – his definition was his ball was “below the surface of the ground” therefore his ball was embedded. Don’t know where he got that from. Others have told me they are entitled to ground their club in a bunker. No. One of the courses in our area has turned everything in the general area (bar the fairway, tees, bunkers, and greens) into red penalty areas. Some of the members think they have to take a 2-stroke penalty when dropping from that penalty area. Some members have complained. I suggested to my club that, initially, the least they change the better.
My question is about holding the flagstick. Previously I could hold the flagstick with one hand (flag out of the hole of course) and putt with the other. Can I hold the flagstick with one hand – leaving the flag in the hole – and putt with the other hand? The reason I ask is – it’s quite a mixed bag with some players wanting the flag left in, some wanting it out, and depending on the distance. I like it left in. I was going to pull the flag out for the next player after my tap-in putt.
Kindest Regards,
Lulu from Queenstown, New Zealand
Dear Lulu,
In case some readers are confused about the same Rules that are confounding players in your area, I will briefly address each of the issues you raise.
• Local Rule E-5 (page 468 in my edition of the Official Guide), which allows players to drop in the vicinity of where their ball was lost or out of bounds for a two-stroke penalty, is a Local Rule. It must be adopted by your Committee to be in effect. Please read the column I wrote explaining this Local Rule: http://lindamillergolf.blogspot.com/2018/12/2019local-rule-e-5-alternative-to.html
• A ball is embedded only if it is partially below the ground in its own pitch mark. Picture your ball flying through the air after a shot and diving into the ground. It is possible for a ball to be embedded in a divot hole if it plunged below the ground in the divot hole. However, a ball lying on the surface of the ground in a divot hole is not an embedded ball; no part of the ball is below the surface of the ground. Please review Rule 16.3a and the accompanying diagram.
• There are new Rules regarding what you may do in a bunker (e.g., remove loose impediments, lean on a club, strike the sand in anger), but grounding your club behind the ball is not one of them. Rule 12.2b (1) states that a player will get the general penalty for touching the sand with a club in the area right in front of or right behind the ball.
• The Committee has basically been given carte blanche to define areas where a ball is often lost or difficult to play from as penalty areas. Labeling every area outside the fairways, teeing locations, bunkers, and putting greens is a bit absurd; perhaps the Committee will eventually come to its senses. The penalty for taking relief from a penalty area is only one stroke [Rule 17.1d].
Now to your question. You may not hold the flagstick for the purpose of steadying yourself, but you are allowed to make a one-handed stroke while holding the flagstick with the other hand. You may hold the flagstick in or out of the hole. In other words, you may attend your own flagstick. If you hold it in the hole, you may remove the flagstick while making the one-handed stroke. You must not deliberately allow the ball in motion to hit the flagstick [Interpretation 13.2b(1)/2 and Rule 13.2b(2)].
Linda
Copyright © 2019 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
