Winter refresher

HAL LENOBEL
Contributing Columnist
golf@lbknews.com

Winters on Longboat Key provide us with ample time to brush up on the rules of the game. Courses are more crowded and play is slower. Get down to some serious reading and understanding of the rules. Here are a few more questions you might find interesting, if not amusing. Each and every incident has occurred in tournament play.

1. Which of the following acts constitutes advice in breach of Rule 8-1?

A. Asking a fellow competitor the distance to the middle of the green from a particular tree.

B.  Between rounds of a 36-hole match, asking another player to mhelp you with your sand play.

C.  While play is suspended asking a friend who has also notcompleted his round what clubs he suggests using on the par 3’s.

D. Between the play of 2 holes while waiting for the group mahead to clear the landing area, asking the caddie to demonstrate a chipping technique.

E.  None of the above.

2.  Which of the following would always require a ball to be re-dropped?

A.  The ball comes to rest in a hazard.

B.  The ball comes to rest on an obstruction.

C.  The ball comes to rest in ground under repair.

D. None of the above.

E.  All of the above (A,B,C)

3. A ball is half-buried in a water hazard and cannot be identified. After announcing his intention in advance to his opponent, the player touches his ball and rotates it. By doing so the player is able to identify his ball. What is the ruling?

A.  The player proceeded correctly; there is no penalty.

B.  The player incurs a penalty of one stroke.

C.  The player incurs a penalty of 2 strokes.

4. In stroke play, A’s ball lies near the hole in a position to assist B, a fellow competitor whose ball lies off the green. A states his intention to lift his ball under Rule 22. B savs he doesn’t want the ball lifted and plavs before A has the opportunity to lift?

A.  A is penalized 2 strokes and has to replace his ball.

B.  There is no penalty.

C.  B is penalized 2 strokes.

D. B is disqualified.

5. A player replaces his ball under a Rule and, in the act of removing the object marking its position, accidentally moves the ball. What is the ruling?

Answers:

1. E. Decisions 8-1/2, 1/15, 1-19 & 1/20.

2. D. (Rules 24 & 25). There are situations in which one may drop in a hazard, on an obstruction, or in ground under repair.

3. B. (Rule 12-2, Decision 12-2/3, Rule 18-2a). No rule permits touching a ball in a hazard for identification purposes.

4. D. Decision 3-4/1.

5. Removal of the ball-marker is a part of the replacement process. Accordingly, under Rule 20-3 a, no penalty is incurred, and the ball must be replaced. Decision 20-3a/l.

Definition of a double eagle: 3 strokes less than par for a given hole. This unusual achievement might be accomplished by, say, taking a advantage of a gale tailwind on a straight par-5 hole to get down in 2 strokes, scoring a hole in one on a short par-4 or just skipping entirely a difficult par-3 hole.

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I thought you might enjoy reading a few intellectual quotations:

Walter Kerr:  He had delusions of adequacy.

Clarence Darrow:  I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.

Moses Hadas:  Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it.

Mark Twain:  I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

Oscar Wilde:  He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.

Irvin S. Cobb:  I’ve just learned about his illness.  Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial.

Samuel Johnson:  He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.