Conference 7.286::golf

    Situation 1
    
       Playing in a stroke play competition, Bob pushed his drive into
    heavy rough. After taking several practice swings about a foot to
    the side of the ball, he took his stance and touched the grass behind
    the ball but without grounding his club. At that point the ball moved.
    Bob played it as it lay, and the ball struck a tree and bounced into 
    a fairway bunker. As he approached the bunker, a branch from an
    overhanging tree fell and came to rest behing the ball. Bob concluded
    he was entitled to the lie his stroke had given him, so he removed the
    branch and played his third shot.
    
       Next the ball came to rest behind a shallow bunker to the right of
    the green. He tested the condition of the bunker (but not on his line
    of play) to determine whether it was feasable to putt through it,
    found it was firm, and then putted onto the green. Sizing up his putt,
    he found a small pebble in his line, and since it was not embedded, he
    removed it and repaired the small depression it had created. Then Bob
    putted, and his ball came to rest overhanging the hole. He walked up to
    the hole, waited 30 seconds, and the ball fell into the hole. Bob 
    concluded that he had holed out, so he did not replace the ball on the 
    lip of the hole and hole out. What score did he have, if indeed he had 
    a score?
            

    Situation 1 Answers
    
    Strokes   Commentary
    
    	1	Tee shot into the rough
    	2	Two stroke penalty because ball
    		moved and was not replaced
    		(Decision 18-2a/30)
    	1	Second shot into bunker
    	2	Two stroke penalty for removing
    		branch in bunker
    		(Decision 13-4/18.5)
    	1	Third shot
    	0	Not penalty for testing 
    		condition of bunker
    		(Decision 13-2/30)
    	1	Fourth shot onto green
    	2	Two stroke penalty for
    		repairing depression on
    		line of putt.
    		(Decision 16-1a/7)
    	1	First putt
    	1	One stroke penalty when ball fell
    		into hole
    		(Decision 16-2/1)
    
    		Score: 12

    Shouldn't there be another penalty stroke be assesed under rule
    18-2 a. (i) "the player,...causes it to move..." by touching the grass?
    Even though Bob was not at address.

    
    
       He was assesed a 2 stroke penalty for not replacing the ball.
    I do not know if there is a penalty moving the ball when not attempting
    to strike it. 
    
    Dave

    Regarding the penalty stroke for the putt, if the player had stood
    from where he putted and the putt fell in after 30 seconds, would
    there still be a penalty stroke?
    
    It's not clear to me why the player incurred this penalty.
    
    

    The rule states that a reasonable amount of time is allowed for
    the player to get to the ball, then the player has ten seconds to
    hole it. If the putt was about 5 feet in length, I would say that
    penalty stroke would apply as described in .5. If it was a fifty
    footer and the golfer took thirty seconds to walk (normally) the 
    fifty feet,
    then the golfer has another ten seconds left before the penalty
    stroke is assesed. 

    Situation 2 
    
    	In another stroke play tournament, Tim drove into the rough, and
    accidentally kicked his ball as he searched for it. Since he couldn't
    determine where his ball lay originally, he placed it as near as
    possible to where it had lain, then played his second shot. His ball
    came to rest in an area of ground under repair shot of the green, he
    dropped it properly, under Rule 25-1b(i), and then it rolled back
    towards the ground under repair. While it didn't roll all the way back
    in, it was so close Tim had to take his stance in the ground under
    repair. He played the ball from that spot and skulled it over the green
    onto the concrete base of a boundary fence post. Tim treated the
    concrete base as an unmovable obstruction with Rule 24-2b(i) and played
    a shot just shot of the green. 
    	A ball mark on the green was on his line of play, so he repaired
    it, chipped onto the green, marked the position of his ball, and
    replaced it. The ball wouldn't remain in place, so Tim pressed it into
    the green, then putted.
    	The putt was a little off line but it struck a beetle crawling
    across the green and deflected into the hole. Tim considered he had
    holed out and didn't replay the stroke. His score, if any?
    
    
    
    dave

    Solution to situation 2
    
    strokes
    
    1	Tee shot into the rough.
    2	Two penalty strokes for accidentally moving his ball
    	and improper proceedure thereafter (Decision 18-2a/21.5)
    1	Second shot short of green.
    2	Two penalty strokes for not redropping ball dropped
    	from ground under repair (Decision 20-2c/0.5).
    1	Third shot over green.
    2	Two penalty strokes for dropping from concrete base 
    	without authority in Rulesto do so and playing ball
    	(Decisions 24/3 and 18-2a/3).
    1	Fourth shot short of green.
    0	No penalty for repairing ball mark.
    1	Chip onto green.
    2	Two penalty strokes for pressing ball into green
    	(Decision 18-2a/6).
    1	Putt.
    0	Ball deflected by beetle is not replayed.
    
    	Score: 14
    
    
    dave

    re: tim
    
    why doesn't he just give up golf!1
    
    Dalip

    Tim is probably paid to come up with strange rules violations.
    
    Dave