Questions asked this weeks includes what to do when your ball rolls into a footprint and is the dropping zone part of the fairway.
Question: My drive landed in a large bunker close to the green. I played my stroke onto the bank of the bunker but after a few seconds, the ball rolled back into the bunker and bounced against my foot. As I moved my foot, the ball rolled into my footprint. What is the applicable rule under such unusual circumstances?
Answer: What an unfortunate experience! In match play, you would have lost the hole. In stroke play, you would have incurred a penalty of two strokes and you would have had to play the ball from the spot at which it had come to rest.
Question: At a par-three short hole, I hit my drive into water and then dropped my ball in the required drop zone. Is this area considered fairway and if so, was I then allowed to put the ball on a high tuft within one club’s length in the adjoining rough?
Answer: No, the dropping zone is an integral part of the course and is not part of the fairway. After you dropped your ball in the zone as required, you had to play it as it lay and you were not allowed to touch it in any other way.
Question: My line of play on the putting green was affected by a pitch mark made by my partner’s ball. Was I entitled to relief?
Answer: It depends. If the pitch mark was there before your ball came to rest, you would not have been entitled to relief. If the pitch mark was created after your ball had come to rest, you would have been free to repair it without penalty. – George Nicholas
E-mail your inquiry to [email protected] or post to Box 12444, Clubview, 0014. |fw
