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3. Hitting a provisional - You HAVE to say, "I am hitting a provisional ball" to SOMEONE in your group. And you have to make the decision to play a provisional ball BEFORE you walk forward from the spot of your original shot

4. Drops - In most cases, a drop may not end up closer to the hole than where the original ball was

5. Unplayable lie - You can call for an unplayable lie (and take a stroke penalty) anywhere except in a water hazard. Drop within two club-lengths, no nearer the hole

6. Ball in a water hazard?- If you think your ball is lost in a water hazard, you can't play a provisional ball. If you hit another from the original spot, you just abandoned your original ball and added a penalty stroke to your score

7. Drop outside a water hazard - Red stakes means you may drop laterally within two club-lengths of where the ball entered the hazard. Yellow stakes means you can drop only on the side of the hazard that is farthest from the hole, and anywhere on a line from the cup through the point where the ball entered the hazard

8. Your ball is plugged - If the ball plugs in its pitch mark on the fairway, it may be lifted, cleaned, and dropped by the mark. But don't lift a plugged ball from the rough or a hazard

9. Playing a wrong ball - There is no penalty for hitting a wrong ball in a hazard (replay the shot hitting the correct ball). Elsewhere, add two to your score in stroke play, and correct the error before starting another hole or you're DQ'd. Loss of hole in match play

10. Boundaries - If any part of your ball touches a hazard line, it's in the hazard. Same goes for the putting green and teeing area. Conversely, a ball must be completely out-of-bounds or it's still in bounds

Relief From Cartpaths (As Printed in Golf Digest, February 2007)

Do you drop left or right on the path? Read this to find out.

Definition:

A cartpath is considered an obstruction (see definitions, Rules of Golf) if any foreign material has been used to construct it.

Examples:

Paths made of cement, tar, wood chips, planks or gravel are obstructions. A dirt or sand path is not, so you're not entitled to move the ball off these paths without penalty.

When can I get relief? If the cartpath interferes with your ball, stance or swing, you can drop the ball (without penalty) within one club-length of the nearest point where you can stand and swing without interference from the path, as long as it's not any closer to the hole. You can play your next shot from the path it you wish. However, if you want to move the ball, you have to play from a spot where you're totally clear of the path, not from a spot where you are still touching the path.

So Where do I drop? It depends on the club you need for the next shot, whether you're making a left-handed or right-handed swing and low close the ball is to one side of the path or the other. In most cases, if a ball is closer to one side of the path, the nearest point of relief will be on that side, too. Look at your ball in relation to the hole and its position on the path. Determine the nearest point that allows you to stand and make the swing you need for your next shot. If it's a right-handed shot, you can't pretend your next shot would have been made left-handed to get a better drop.

You cannot re-drop if you don't like where the ball landed. However, if the ball rolls closer to the hole, back on the path or more than two club-lengths from where you dropped it, you can re-drop. After the second drop, you are allowed to place the ball where it struck the course on the second drop.

Consult Rule 24 for more details.

Rules Of Golf Changes For 2008 Set By USGA And R&A

Principal Changes

General

The changes to the Rules generally fall into two broad categories: (1) those that improve the clarity of the Rules and (2) those that reduce the penalties in certain circumstances to ensure that they are proportionate.

Definitions

Advice -- Amended to allow the exchange of information on distance, as it is not considered to be "advice."

Lost Ball -- Amended to clarify substituted ball issues and to include the concept of "stroke-and-distance" (see corresponding changes to Rules 18-1, 24-3, 25-1c, 26 and 27-1).

Matches -- Definition withdrawn and replaced by two new Definitions, "Forms of Match Play" and "Forms of Stroke Play."

Rules

Rule 1-2. Exerting Influence on Ball -- Note added to clarify what constitutes a serious breach of Rule 1-2.

Rule 4-1. Form and Make of Clubs -- Amended to reduce the penalty for carrying, but not using, a non-conforming club or a club in breach of Rule 4-2, from disqualification to the same as carrying more than 14 clubs.

Rule 12-1. Searching for Ball; Seeing Ball -- Amended to include searching for a ball in an obstruction.

Rule 12-2. Identifying Ball -- Amended to allow a player to lift his ball for identification in a hazard (see corresponding change to Rule 15-3, removing the exemption from penalty for playing a wrong ball in a hazard).

Rule 13-4. Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions -- Exception 1 amended for clarification; Exception 2 amended to refer to Rule 13-2; Exception 3 added to exempt a player from penalty under Rule 13-4a (testing the condition of the hazard) in certain circumstances.

Rule 14-3. Artificial Devices, Unusual Equipment and Unusual Use of Equipment -- Amended to refer to the unusual use of equipment (see also new Exception on use of equipment in a traditionally accepted manner) and new Exception added for players with a legitimate medical reason to use an artificial device or unusual equipment.

Note added to clarify that a Local Rule may be introduced allowing the use of distance-measuring devices; previously authorized by Decision only.

Rule 15-2. Substituted Ball -- Exception added to avoid a "double penalty" when the player incorrectly substitutes a ball and plays from a wrong place (see corresponding change to Rule 20-7c).

Rule 15-3. Wrong Ball -- Amended to remove the exemption from penalty for playing a wrong ball in a hazard (see corresponding change to Rule 12-2, allowing the player to lift a ball for identification in a hazard).

Rule 16-1e. Standing Astride or on Line of Putt -- Exception added to apply no penalty if the act was inadvertent or to avoid standing on another player's line of putt; previously authorized by Decision only.

Rule 18. Ball at Rest Moved -- Penalty statement amended to avoid a "double penalty" when the player lifts a ball without authority and incorrectly substitutes a ball (see related changes to Rules 15-2 and 20-7c).

Rule 18-1. Ball at Rest Moved; By Outside Agency -- Note added to clarify the procedure when a ball might have been moved by an outside agency.

Rule 19-2. Ball in Motion Deflected or Stopped By Player, Partner, Caddie or Equipment -- Amended to reduce the penalty in both match play and stroke play to one stroke.

Rule 20-3a. Placing and Replacing; By Whom and Where -- Amended to reduce the penalty for having the wrong person place or replace a ball to one stroke.

Rule 20-7c. Playing from Wrong Place; Stroke Play -- Note added to avoid a "double penalty" when the player plays from a wrong place and incorrectly substitutes a ball (see corresponding change to Rule 15-2).

Rule 24-1. Movable Obstruction -- Amended to allow a flagstick, whether attended, removed or held up, to be moved when a ball is in motion.

Rule 24-3. Ball in Obstruction Not Found;

Rule 25-1c. Ball in Abnormal Ground Condition Not Found;

Rule 26-1. Water Hazards (Including Lateral Water Hazards);

Rule 27-1. Stroke and Distance; Ball Out of Bounds; Ball Not Found Within Five Minutes --

In the above four Rules, the term "reasonable evidence" has been replaced by "known or virtually certain" when determining whether a ball that has not been found may be treated as lost in an obstruction (Rule 24-3), an abnormal ground condition (Rule 25-1) or a water hazard (Rule 26-1). See corresponding change to Definition of "Lost Ball" and Rule 18-1.

Appendix I

Seams of Cut Turf -- New Specimen Local Rule added.

Temporary Immovable Obstruction -- Clause II of the Specimen Local Rule amended to include an additional requirement that, for intervention relief to be granted, the temporary immovable obstruction must be on the player's line of play.

Appendix II

Design of Clubs

Adjustability -- Amended to allow forms of adjustability other than weight adjustment, subject to evaluation by the USGA.

Clubhead; Plain in Shape -- Amended to clarify meaning of "plain in shape" and list some of the features that are not permitted; previously detailed in guidelines on equipment Rules.

Clubhead; Dimensions, Volume and Moment of Inertia -- Sections added on moment of inertia and putter head dimensions; previously detailed in guidelines on equipment Rules and test protocols.

Clubhead; Spring Effect and Dynamic Properties -- New section added on spring effect. The limit, as detailed in the Pendulum Test Protocol, now applies to all clubs (except putters) and in all forms of the game; previously covered by condition of competition.

Rules of Amateur Status

Rule 3-2a -- Exception amended to clarify a cash prize for a hole-in-one made while playing golf is permissible.

Rule 4-2b -- Note added regarding the rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Rule 4-2c -- Note added regarding the rules of the NCAA.

Rule 6-2 -- Exception added for a player promoting (a) his national, state or county union or association, (b) certain types of golf competitions or events or (c) a recognized charity.

As printed in Golf Magazine, February 2007

Question - You take your stance in a greenside bunker and dig in your feet. You then change your mind about the type of shot to play and leave the bunker to switch clubs. You return to the bunker, smooth over your original footprints and take a new stance. Under the rules, rule 13-4a, your actions are subject to a two-stroke penalty, in stroke play; loss of hole in match play.

While the Rules allow you to take your stance in a bunker more than once, the Rules do not allow you to smooth the sand over your original prints. This unnecessary step is considered testing the conditions of the hazard, which violates Rule 13-4a. You should have taken your new stance by placing without smoothing the first prints.

Exception - if you take your stance over the ball without a club, dig your feet in, then leave the bunker to get your club, and swing from the same spot, it is NOT a violation.

Remember, it is a one-stroke penalty if your club contacts the sand on any practice stroke.

Compliments of Decisions on the Rules of Golf, 2008-2009

What is meant by "test the condition of the hazard" in Rule 13-4a?

The term covers all actions by which the player could gain more information about the hazard than could be gained from taking his stance for the stroke to be made, bearing in mind that a certain amount of digging in with the feet in the sand or soil is permitted when taking the stance for a stroke.

Examples of actions that would constitute testing the condition of the hazard in breach of Rule 13-4a, include the following:

digging in with the feet in excess of what would be done for a stance for a stroke or a practice swing

filling in footprints from a previous stance

intentionally sticking an object, such as a rake, into sand or soil in the hazard or water in a water hazard (see Rule 12-1)

smoothing a bunker with a rake, a club or otherwise (but, see Exception 2 to Rule 13-4)

Exception 2 - After making the stroke, if the ball is still in the hazard or has been lifted from the hazard and may be dropped or placed in the hazard, the player may smooth sand or soil in the hazard, provided nothing is done to breach Rule 13-2 with respect to his next stroke. If the ball is outside the hazard after the stroke, the player may smooth sand or soil in the hazard without restriction.

kicking the ground in the hazard or water in a water hazard

touching the sand with a club when making a practice swing in the hazard or in a similar hazard (but, see Exception 3 to Rule 13-4). (new)

Exception 3 - If the player makes a stroke from a hazard and the ball comes to rest in another hazard, Rule 13-4a does not apply to any subsequent action taken in the hazard from which the stroke was made.

Under the rules, your actions are subject to a two-stroke penalty, in stroke play; loss of hole in match play

Compliments of Decisions on the Rules of Golf, 2008-2009 - Pace of Play

Question . Do you know the penalty for slow play?

Answer - Under Rule 6-7

The player must play without undue delay and in accordance with any pace of play guidelines that the Committee may establish. Between completion of a hole and playing from the next teeing ground, the player must not unduly delay play.

Penalty for Breach of Rule 6-7:
Match play - Loss of hole; Stroke play - Two strokes.
Bogey and par competitions - See Note 2 to Rule 32-1a.
Stableford competitions - See Note 2 to Rule 32-1b.
For subsequent offense - Disqualification.

Note 1: If the player unduly delays play between holes, he is delaying the play of the next hole and, except for bogey, par and Stableford competitions (see Rule 32), the penalty applies to that hole.

Note 2: For the purpose of preventing slow play, the Committee may, in the conditions of a competition (Rule 33-1), establish pace of play guidelines including maximum periods of time allowed to complete a stipulated round, a hole or a stroke.

In stroke play only, the Committee may, in such a condition, modify the penalty for a breach of this Rule as follows:
First offense - One stroke; Second offense - Two strokes.
For subsequent offense - Disqualification.

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Last updated: November 17, 2008.