“Give Thanks” for “Local Rules” Quiz: Now & Then #10

Here’s a quiz for you to work on while you are munching on the last of your Thanksgiving leftovers.  Whether you realize it or not, you should give thanks to the USGA for allowing, and your local PGA professional for adopting, a virtual cornucopia of Local Rules to help you in golfing your ball around the course.  Like “Now” Rule 33-8 [Local Rules], “Then” Rule 1.3a [Meaning of “Rules”; Terms of Conditions] authorizes the Committee, i.e., your PGA professional in
most cases, to establish Local Rules so long as those Local Rules do not compromise the basic principles of the Rules of Golf.  Information on allowable Local Rules for 2019 may be found in Section 5C [Local Rules …] and Section 8 [Model Local Rules] of the Committee Procedures portion of the Rules.

In this quiz, your knowledge of allowable Local Rules as of January 1, 2019 will be tested as you try to determine whether the following statements are “True” or “False.”

1. By Local Rule, the Committee may use a physical feature, e.g., a trench or a ditch, instead of white stakes, to define a course boundary.

2. There needs to be a Local Rule in order to allow relief on the opposite side of a red penalty area (currently known as a lateral water hazard).

3. The Committee may not adopt a Local Rule that permits the player to play a provisional ball for a ball that may be in a penalty area.

4. It is possible to have a Local Rule that prohibits relief from a wrong putting green when the only interference is to the player’s stance.The Committee may also adopt a Local Rule to prohibit play from the fringe of a wrong putting green.

5. There needs to be a Local Rule if the Committee wants to permit the removal of stones from bunkers without penalty.

6. The Committee may not adopt a Local Rule that establishes a dropping zone as an additional relief option for an unplayable ball.

7. The Committee must adopt a Local Rule in order to establish a no play zone.

8. The Committee must adopt a Local Rule in order to allow the repair of damage to a putting green caused by deer hoofs.

9. It is permissible to adopt a Local Rule that allows a player to drop a ball in the fairway in the vicinity of where his or her ball went out of bounds, rather than require the player to proceed under penalty of stroke and distance.

10. The Committee must adopt a Local Rule if it wishes to prohibit players in a stroke play competition from practicing on the course after completing play of their final round for that day.

ANSWERS

1. True   See new Model Local Rule A-1 Defining Boundaries.

2. True   See new Model Local Rule B-2 Relief on Opposite Side of Red Penalty Area.  No such relief option is available in new Rule 17.1 [Options for Your Ball in Penalty Area].

3. False   See new Model Local Rule B-3 Provisional Ball for Ball in a Penalty Area.

4. True   See new Model Local Rule D-3 Prohibiting Relief from Wrong Green When Only Stance Interference Exists and new Model Local Rule D-4 Prohibiting Play from Fringe of Wrong Green.

5. False   See new Rule 12.2a [Removing Loose Impediments and Movable Obstructions] which states, in part, “Before playing a ball in a bunker, a player may remove loose impediments under Rule 15.1 ….”  New Rule 15.1a [Removal of Loose Impediments] points out, “Without penalty, a player may remove a loose impediment anywhere on or off the course ….”

6. False   See new Model Local Rule E-1 Dropping Zones.

7. True   See new Model Local Rule E-8 Defining No Play Zones

8. False   No such Local Rule is required because new Rule 13.1c [Improvements Allowed on Putting Green] specifically authorizes the repair of animal tracks and hoof indentations on the putting green.

9. True   See new Model Local Rule E-5 Alternative to Stroke and Distance for Lost Ball or Ball Out of Bounds

10. True   See new Model Local Rule I-1 Practising Before Rounds, as well as new Rule 5.2 [Practising on Course Before or Between Rounds].