Testing the Condition of a Hazard

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At the RR Donnelly LPGA Founders Cup, Stacy Lewis was penalized two strokes when her caddie tested the condition of a hazard. USGA Manager, Rules Communication John Van der Borght explains the thought process behind this infraction. ...

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Building A Stance In A Tree

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At the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, Sergion Garcia hit a ball from a tree while bracing himself against a tree. USGA Rules Of Golf Associate Mike Charrie explains why this action was not building a tree. ...

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Snow at Accenture Match Play Championship

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Snow halted play at the WGC-Accenture Match Play earlier this week. USGA Rules of Golf Associate Mike Charrie explains your options when you encounter snow or natural ice on the course during a round.   ...

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Embedded Ball In Sand Costs Tiger Woods

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John Van der Borght, Manager Rules Communications Why was Tiger Woods penalized two strokes for an embedded ball in the sand during the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championshp? Sand and the Rules of Golf again made headlines on Jan. 18 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.  Last year, Rory McIlroy had a r ...

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Wind Causes Cancellation Of Play

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John Van Der Borght, Manager, Rules Communications Can you explain why first-round scores were nullified when play was postponed due to high winds at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Maui? Weather conditions frequently interrupt play at golf tournaments, but this past weekend saw extreme weather conditio ...

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Proper Method Of Taking A Drop

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Rob Ockenfuss, Manager, Rules Inquiries What is the proper method of taking a drop during the course of a round? Dropping a ball during a round of golf is not uncommon. Whether taking free relief from a cart path or under penalty after hitting into a water hazard or deeming a ball unplayable, dropping is frequ ...

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Pettersson’s Penalty During PGA Championship

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Mike Charrie, Rules of Golf Associate In the final round of the 2012 PGA Championship, Carl Pettersson’s ball went in a lateral water hazard on the first hole. Before he played the stroke from the hazard, Pettersson asked the referee, who was walking with the group, if he could brush the grass with his club during ...

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Why No Bunkers At The PGA Championship

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Elizabeth Carl, USGA In the battle for the PGA’s Wanamaker trophy last weekend at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, ranked No. 1 on “Golf Digest’s Toughest Courses in America,” players didn’t have to worry about one difficulty found on most courses. Even though there was plenty of sand to deal with, there we ...

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How Would You Approach This Bunker Shot?

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By Mike Charrie, Rules of Golf Associate During the final round of the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Tiger Woods found himself in an unfavorable position in a bunker on the sixth hole. Many players would likely have thought about deeming their ball unplayable, taking the one-stroke penalt ...

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Experts Explain: Playing From A Wrong Place

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John Van der Borght, Manager, Rules Communications Why was Zach Johnson penalized two strokes on the 18th green at Colonial at this past weekend's PGA Tour event? On the 18th hole of the final round of the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Zach Johnson’s third shot came to rest 5 feet from the hole, where ...

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Na's Drop On 18 At Players

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John Van der Borght, Manager, Rules Communications Why was Kevin Na allowed to play from the cart path on the 18th hole in Sunday's final round of The Players Championship? During the final round of The Players Championship, Kevin Na’s tee shot came to rest on an awkward slope just to the right of the cart pat ...

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Experts Explain: Match Play Vs. Stroke Play

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John Van der Borght What are the differences between match play and stroke play? One thing which makes golf a unique game is that it is played in two very different forms. Match play, which involves two golfers or two pairs of golfers competing directly against each other, was the first form of the game that d ...

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Experts Explain: Wrong Kind Of Sandy

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Rob Ockenfuss, Manager of Rules Inquiries Why was Rory McIlroy penalized two strokes at the Abu Dhabi Championship for brushing away and removing sand in his line of play? During the second round of this year’s Abu Dhabi Championship, U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy was penalized two strokes for brushing away ...

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Violations That Require Correction

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John Van der Borght Rule 1-1 of the Rules of Golf tells you the objective of the game is that “The Game of Golf consists of playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.”   And Rule 3-1 explains, “A stroke-play competition con ...

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Experts Explain: A Visit To The Beach

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Wendy Wooley, John Van der Borght, USGA Typically during a round a golfer is likely to find himself in a bunker. A bunker is a hazard and Rule 13-4 (Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions) tells us what a player is prohibited from doing when his ball is in a hazard (bunker or water hazard).   Rule 12-1 (S ...

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Experts Explain: Ball Moving After Address

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John Van der Borght On Jan. 1, 2012, the Rules of Golf will change. One change that has received significant interest is to Rule 18-2b (Ball Moving After Address) regarding a ball that moves after address. Rule 18-2b states:   If a player’s ball in play moves after he has addressed it (other than as a res ...

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I Am Standing On A Cart Path: Do I Get Relief?

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By Shannon Rouillard, USGA The USGA receives a fair number of calls and e-mails each year regarding whether a player may take relief from an obstruction (i.e cart path, sprinkler head or something similar) if the interference occurs through the use of an abnormal stance, swing or direction of play. Picture the f ...

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When Is A Swing Not A Stroke?

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John Van der Borght During the third round of the 2011 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nev., Kevin Na was playing the par-4 15th hole. As he started the downswing for his tee shot, he felt something was amiss. He continued the swing, but purposely missed his ba ...

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Our Experts Explain: A Credible Resource

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Rules Question: During the recent Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) conference and show several of my fellow superintendents from the Midwest were discussing the possibility of an abnormally hot, dry summer season. Can the USGA point me in the direction of a credible source of long-range ...

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Ball At Rest Moved: Exact Location Not Known

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John Van der Borght During the third round of the 2011 WGC Bridgestone Invitational, Adam Scott’s ball in the fairway was struck and moved by fellow-competitor Ryan Moore’s tee shot. After consulting with an official, Scott lifted his ball, cleaned it and dropped it. During the third round of the 2011 WGC ...

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Provisional Balls: How Do They Work?

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John Van der Borght, USGA We all hate it when we can’t find our ball, or when we do find it – just out of bounds. When your ball goes out of bounds or is lost outside a water hazard, Rule 27-1 requires you to return to the spot from which the original ball was last played, and under penalty of one stroke, put anot ...

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Yellow-Staked Water Hazard – No Two Club-Length Relief

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Yellow-Staked Water Hazard – No Two Club-Length Relief Have you ever struck your ball into a water hazard? We all have. However, did you know that not all water hazards are treated the same? Have you ever struck your ball into a water hazard? Of course you have. We all have. However, did you know that not a ...

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Staying Put

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Have you ever played on a windy day when, on a relatively fast or sloping putting green after marking, lifting and perhaps giving your golf ball a good cleaning, you attempt to replace it, but it won’t stay in place? ...

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Railroad Ties

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Railroad ties are popular in many golf course designs. They are man made wooden objects and often times are found in bunkers or serve as bulkheads in water hazards. So what do you do when you find your golf ball... ...

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Lifting and Replacing the Ball

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There are several common occurrences during a round of golf where a player is going to lift their ball and in some of these cases they will need to put the ball back to where it was lifted from. Perhaps the ... ...

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Club Used in Determining Nearest Point of Relief

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If you play golf, you’ve had interference from an obstruction, abnormal ground condition or wrong putting green.If you play golf, you’ve had interference from an obstruction, abnormal ground condition or wrong putting green. You know that you must find the... ...

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