Hello Linda,
We are having an argument with my friends, caused by the
situation when we played on a golf course, last week. The course was not in
perfect conditions. It was wet, and not properly cut on some fairways. Owing to
these conditions, the Committee has announced that the Preferred Lies rule is
applicable anywhere on fairways.
It happened to me on the back nine, that my ball ended up in
a divot, on the fairway. I have chosen to apply the rule of preferred lies. I
have announced my intention to my other players of my flight, marked my ball,
picked up ball, cleaned it, and then I placed it a scorecard width, outside the
divot.
And now the argument about this situation.
My friend believes that I made a mistake, when I have chosen
to pick up my ball, which lied in a divot. His argument is based on the general
rule, and basic principle of golf, that the ball is played as it lies, and
relief from a divot is not allowed.
I am saying that the situation I was in is different,
because the rule of preferred lies does not disqualify divots from taking the
relief.
I would really appreciate if you could be a judge in this
situation. Ideally, if you could send me a reference to a precedent to such
situation, or any other source, which would document who was right in the
described situation.
Thanks,
Lou from the Czech Republic
Dear Lou,
Rule 33-8 allows Committees to establish Local Rules for
abnormal conditions on the golf course. When a course is so wet that the mowers
have not been able to cut, the Local Rule for Preferred Lies is reasonable –
uncut fairways certainly qualify as an abnormal condition.
Local Rules change the standard Rules of Golf. In the case
of preferred lies, Rule 13-1, which requires that the player play the ball as
it lies, is not in effect for those areas specified by the Committee. I imagine
the Local Rule in place for the day you played went something like this:
“A ball lying on a closely mown area through the green may
be lifted without penalty and cleaned. Before lifting the ball, the player must
mark its position. Having lifted the ball, he must place it on a spot within one
scorecard-length of and not nearer the hole than where it originally lay, that
is not in a hazard and not on a putting green.”
I copied the above wording from the Local Rule in Appendix
I, Part A, #3b. If you and your friends look closely at the wording, you will
see that there are no exceptions to this Rule for divots. It states quite
clearly that the ball may be lifted if
it lies on “a closely mown area through the green” (which means fairways,
aprons, paths mowed through the rough – anywhere the grass is customarily mowed
to fairway height).
You were within your rights to lift a ball that was lying in
a divot on the fairway. The reference you are looking for is right in the first sentence of Rule 13-1: "The ball must be played as it lies, except as otherwise provided in the Rules." A Local Rule becomes a Rule when it is adopted by the Committee.
Linda
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