I’ve been playing golf for 40 years and in that time I’ve pretty much seen it all.

  I’ve played with pros, legends, duffers, buddies and people who should have (and some have) served time.

   I’ve seen people pick up their ball from a horrible lie in the rough and move it two feet onto the fairway. I’ve played with guys who have never in their entire lives had to hit a shot from behind a tree or have never lost a ball. I’ve seen people put their coin down ahead the ball when they mark it on the green and then replace it in front of the coin.

  Many people continually violate the rules of golf and then when it’s pointed out they respond as though you’ve just questioned their mother’s virtue.

   One of the most common responses is the always popular, “This ain’t the PGA Tour pal.”

  No it isn’t and nowhere in the book will you find a rule that says, “Only to be applied during a PGA Tour event.”

  Now my colleague over there to the left is trying to argue that there are too many rules in the game of golf, but what does he know? His most common shot begins with an S and ends with a K and he has managed to transform a 3-putt green into an art form.

  The rules of golf, first instituted by the Royal & Ancient and then added to and refined over the years by both the R&A and the USGA, are the result of situations that have arisen over the course of golf’s long history.

  Don’t forget, golf was first played before Columbus found the “New World” and the first round ever played on the Olde Course at St. Andrews occurred when Abraham Lincoln was moving into the White House.

  The rules have evolved over time. There is a reason for each and every one of them and while some may seem very silly to those of us who only play for fun, they prove to become necessary from time to time when the game actually becomes serious (like any form of competition, be it a major tournament or a $5.00 Nassau at you local club).

  I will admit that the rules could be worded better and at times can be confusing, but anyone who plays golf regularly should understand the basics and so many of the rules are actually beneficial.

  Rule 25-2, the embedded ball rule is just such an example.

  It reads; “A ball embedded in its own pitch-mark in the ground in any closely mown area through the green may be lifted, cleaned and dropped, without penalty, as near as possible to the spot where it lay but not nearer the hole. The ball when dropped must first strike a part of the course through the green.”

  “Closely mown area” means any area of the course, including paths through the rough, cut to fairway height or less.

  Take that rule away and our 14^th club becomes a shovel.

  That’s a rule I like. Where I have problem is with the wording; “Dropped as near as possible to the spot.” That needs to be refined. Just what is as near as possible? One inch, an eighth of an inch, one thousandth of a millimeter?

  I understand why golfers get frustrated when they read a rulebook because too often the terminology is vague and confusing to those of us who have not attended a rules seminar in Far Hills, NJ. “Through the green?”

  But all of the rules are in place for a reason. Strange situations occur in golf and since the game has been around for over 600 years there have been thousands of situations that have emerged and each and every one of them needed to be addressed.

  Many of the regulations never come into play in our lifetime and often there are local rules that can ease the stern structure of the rule book, rules that have evolved because of circumstances unique to a particular course.

  The rules of golf are in place to give the game order. Each one has been carefully thought out before being added to the book.

  I would suggest that the USGA and Royal & Ancient get together and work on changing some of the language but other than that keep everything the way it is.

  (Tim Geary is a Rhode Island-based freelance writer. He doesn’t claim to be a rules expert but he knows there’s no foot wedge allowed in golf).

About Tim Geary

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Related posts:

1. Are there too many rules in the game of golf?
2. Rounds played under “winter rules” Count
3. Please Obey Course Rules

   Yes. We know the United States Golf Association is made up of a bunch of sadistic bastards because every June they conduct a contest called the US Open, in which the best pros in the world struggle to break 80.

   This year the USGA got their annual cheap thrill by making all the greens at Pebble Beach like greased lightning, grew the rough to 10 inches & narrowed the fairways to the width of a cart-path, just to see what the guys could do. As Gomer Pyle from “Mayberry RFD” used to say, “golly, what’ya do that for?”  

   When Mike Weir, ranked #82 in the world, pumps out a 12-over 83, in round 3 at Pebble, you know the average Joe is going to shoot a buck-fifty! Since the mystery-men from the Royal & Ancient and the USGA hate to see golfers have a good time, they also publish a complex book of rules.

  These bunch of fussbudget country club WASPs obviously specialize in torture, agony and mental anguish, since they require us to understand a 182-page book called, “The Rules of Golf.” Sure, the purpose of rules is to establish a universal standard of fair play and sportsmanship for golfers of varying skills anywhere in the world. The problem I have with the book is that there are 182-brain numbing pages filled with batty commandments, nitpicking definitions, idiotic distinctions, blatant contradictions, which taken as a whole, are not relevant to the game of golf that most people play.

   When you have plenty of time, like three months studying nights and weekends, you can plow through the 182-pages. Although, “The Rules of Golf” offer 34 designated rules titles and a gazillion subsections, you’ll need a PGA Tour rules official on-call to answer most categories. If you hold a PhD or law degree, you’ll know the rules, but of course, don’t expect them to apply to you!

   “Interpreting the rules of golf almost on a daily basis is an interesting career,” states Ron Green, the New England PGA’s Director of Rules & Competition. “Most pros don’t know all the rules and amateur knowledge is miniscule. Understanding and interpreting the rule book can be challenging for veteran players and beginners. It is not an easy read and the terminology can be confusing. Are there too many rules? You’ll have to ask the USGA that question? My job is to interpret when questions arise.”

   This happened to me last week. In a friendly $2 nassau my opponent accidently drives his cart over his ball in the rough on a par-3 hole. He asks me for relief and a free drop. I tell him “no way” that we must play by the rules, except I don’t know the exact rule that applies. He plays the ball from the buried lie and makes bogey. Was this a breach?

   According to Green, this is a frequent question. The correct ruling is the player is subject to a one-shot penalty and he must take a drop. If the player plays the ball without taking a drop, then he is assessed a two-shot penalty. Got it?

   Since local club pros are the authority when a rules question comes up in competition, we asked a few what are the most common rules requests. The list includes: where to get relief from a ball in a hazard; how many club lengths from an obstruction or unplayable lie; ground under repair areas; what is a scuffed ball and the most “abused” rule according to Green is failing to declare a provisional ball from the tee. That is what some refer to as a “mulligan.”

  I’d like to see the USGA and R & A add one new rule to the 34 existing titles: Did you search unsuccessfully for your ball in the fairway? Don’t panic. All you have to do is declare that it’s a “Ball Missing in Fairway but Obviously Not Lost” and drop another ball into the appropriate spot that the original ball must have come to rest.       

   No other sport has as many rules of play and codes of conduct (etiquette) as the game of golf – and no other sport’s rules are so complicated, making it very easy for players to run into trouble and unintentionally fall foul of the regulations. Yes, golf has too many rules but if you don’t like take up tennis!

 (Tom Gorman, a member of the Golf Writers Association of America, International Network of Golf and Golf Travel Writers of America, is a Boston-based freelance golf writer.)

About Tom Gorman

I am a Boston based freelance golf writer.

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Related posts:

1. Rounds played under “winter rules” Count
2. Please Obey Course Rules