And we’ve made it to double digits (Rule 10) after 2 years. What an accomplishment…
Seriously, I hope some of this helps to anchor your understanding of the guiding principles and thoughts behind why the Rules of Golf are in place and why they change. Rule 10 is an interesting one, and there’s a sentence in the “Purpose of Rule” paragraph that starts Rule 10 that is really important – “The underlying principle (of the Rule) is that game is a game of skill and personal (emphasizing the singular here) challenge.” The title of the Rule is “Preparing for and Making a Stroke; Advice and Help; Caddies.”
We don’t have caddies in REGL. I even think there is a specific rule in REGL that states you can’t have one (true for 2022). I’ve never hired one and I’ve never been required to have one, and won’t discuss the third portion of Rule 10 that specifically addresses their actions in this blog. There are other people with you on the golf course during a league match, and that’s where you can have problems living up to the spirit of the advice portions of Rule #10…
Section 1a. of the rule deals with “scooping or raking” a ball – by definition, the contact with the ball must be momentary – you can’t scoop, rake or carry the ball during the stroke. Thus, you can’t push the ball into the hole, lift the ball onto your clubface and carry it where you want it to end up, etc. The USGA and the R&A used this rule early last century to ban a player from using a cue stick instead of a putter – it’s specifically banned. The rule also deals with the “double hit” which USED TO be a penalty – no so now under the current rules – if you hit the ball twice in the same stroke you just have to accept where it comes to rest (in the hole would be good…).
Section 1b. deals with anchoring. You probably remember the long putter craze that went through golf in recent history. Adam Scott and Berhard Langer were two that come to my mind. They would anchor their putter against their chin or chest with one hand and their other would take the putter back and through the putt. This ruffled a lot of traditionalists who didn’t like what it looked like, as well as fellow competitors who thought the anchoring was an advantage. Subsequently the “anchoring ban” went into effect and it’s part of our current rules. Rather than go into detail in explaining what’s in the anchoring prohibition, I will quote the rule directly here:
“In making a stroke, the player must not anchor the club, either:
· Directly, by holding the club or a gripping hand against any part of the body (except that the player may hold the club or a gripping hand against a hand or forearm), or
· Indirectly, through use of an “anchor point,” by holding a forearm against any part of the body to use a gripping hand as a stable point around which the other hand may swing the club.
If the player’s club, gripping hand or forearm merely touches his or her body or clothing during the stroke, without being held against the body, there is no breach of this Rule.
For the purposes of this Rule, “forearm” means the part of the arm below the elbow joint and includes the wrist.”
In all of my years playing in our league I can’t recall anyone using a long putter, and I’ve never seen anyone anchoring the end of the putter to the body. There are a couple of tour players that still use a long putter but they only anchor against their forward forearm.
The way golf looks, especially while putting has been a subject of rule adoption through the last two centuries. There have been some famous deviations from the “standard” swing – especially on the putting green. In 1966 (my birth year) Sam Sneed (probably a little past his prime) was having such a hard time putting that he went to swinging his putter like a croquet mallet (with decent effectiveness apparently). (For those of you who have never played croquet, you generally straddle the ball with a foot on either side and swing the mallet back between your legs and through). The USGA and R&A were not amused, and in 1968 changed the rules of golf to state you could not straddle the putt. Sam changed his technique, putting his feet close together on one side of the ball, pointing his feet at the hole and putting “side saddle”. I remember there was one guy in our league a few years ago who used to putt the same way. It looked distinctly unnatural, but the guy bludgeoned me repeatedly, and was living up to the rules in section 1c. – “The player must not make a stroke from a stance with a foot deliberately placed on each side of, or with either foot deliberately touching, the line of play or an extension of that line behind the ball.” There is an exception that would allow straddling or a foot on the extension of the line behind the ball if you’re trying not to get in the way of someone else’s ball mark or line of play on the green as you tap the ball in. You see this exception used quite a lot for tour players who putt out – they contort their bodies to avoid standing in someone’s line. Personally, I tend to mark my own putt and wait my turn unless I’m in a rush.
Section 1d. is interesting, because we addressed a lot of it in last week’s entry on “playing the ball as it lies”. It’s a prohibition against making a stroke at a moving ball. It’s common to see in a “friendly” round. Someone makes a putt and as the ball misses the cup and starts to wander away the player whacks it back into the hole while it’s still moving. In competitive events, that’s a penalty. The most famous (and to me one of the most egregious violations of this rule) happened when Phil Michelson missed a short bogie putt from above a hole in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock on Saturday and (seeing that the putt was going to race all the way off the green) tapped it back toward the hole (missing again but having a makeable short uphill putt). I have a whole blog entry on that one. Phil had to take two penalty strokes for violating the rule and had to count his three putts as well. As I pointed out then, for the price of ONE stroke, he could have declared his first putt unplayable and made a better stroke, holed the putt and walked off the green two strokes better on his scorecard, and still in contention.
There are a few defined exceptions for hitting a moving ball – we talked about one last week – when the ball moves as you make your backswing – there is no penalty if you proceed to hit the ball, but you must accept where it ends up. If the ball falls off the tee on the tee box you’re covered by a different rule, but you can still make a stroke at the ball without penalty (you have better options in this case – you can retee the ball even if you’ve started your swing). You can also hit a ball that’s moving in water if you wish without penalty, but you must not delay play (say you want to wait until the ball gets a good distance downstream before you attempt to hit it). If the ball’s in water – you probably have better options available to you within the rules. If it’s moving in the water? Good luck!
Section 2 of the 10th rule is all about Advice. There in the prelude to the rule is the intention – “A fundamental challenge for the player is deciding the strategy and tactics for his or her play. So there are limits to the advice and other help the player may get during a round.” Giving and getting advice are much more critical in stroke play competitions – each competitor is supposed to be protecting the field. If a player gives advice to a playing competitor, it’s an unfair advantage – the advice has not been given equally to each competitor in the field. However, even in match play there is a penalty for giving or asking for advice from someone outside you or your caddy or your team captain – it’s loss of hole!
Lots of people want to be helpful, and lots of people want to help people who they play with play better. Better play means rounds finish faster, scores are lower, competitors are happier. I get that. When I’m playing a friendly round with my kids or my friends, I often dispense advice if I can and it’s appropriate and wanted. Both of my boys have reached a point in their adult lives where they see golf as a game they could enjoy, and they want to improve. I can show them lots of things on the range, but the lessons seem to sink in better when they’re out playing on the course. However, in a competitive stroke-play environment, save the advice and tips until after all the holes have been completed.
Now, I’ve addressed this issue before when it comes to REGL. You are only supposed to get or give advice from or to your caddie or partner in match play. We don’t have caddies, so the issue I’ve brought up is that in REGL we use STROKE play rules (even though we have lots of match play elements). All competitors in stroke play are “fellow competitors”. By the book, we’re not supposed to give advice to the other guy on your team that you’re playing with. What we should have in our REGL rules is a stipulation that even though we use stroke play rules, we can give advice to partners in league play. I’ll be honest – I violate the advice rule in every league match when I help my partner, and I’ve never encountered a team of two players that hasn’t done the same thing. I keep forgetting to bring this up at Captain’s meetings.
So, when I say “keep advice to yourself”, in my mind for REGL, I guess I’m talking about the other team, but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense – you’re playing against them. The only area that advice may really benefit a team would be in winning Team Net for the night amongst the division teams. Each night for each division, you can win money for being the team with the lowest number of net strokes. Maybe your tip on the golf course results in that team winning money – but that’s a stretch.
What’s considered advice? Again, right to the rule book:
“Any verbal comment or action (such as showing what club was just used to make a stroke) that is intended to influence a player in:
· Choosing a club,
· Making a stroke, or
· Deciding how to play during a hole or round.
But advice does not include public information, such as:
· The location of things on the course such as the hole, the putting green, the fairway, penalty areas, bunkers, or another player’s ball,
· The distance from one point to another, or
· The Rules.”
So, showing someone the procedure for hitting a flop shot, or saying “I wouldn’t use that club for that shot”, or giving someone an aimpoint for a tee shot are all taboo and in stroke play competitions would force you to add a 2-stroke penalty to your score. Asking for advice (“what club did you just hit?”) would also be taboo and earn the asker a 2-stroke penalty. Letting someone know the output of your laser distance device or GPS or letting someone know what options are available to them under a rule is perfectly fine. Even though REGL is a fun league, I think it’s good practice to keep the advice for the post-round beer at the clubhouse.
Let’s talk about a few catch-all provisions of the “Advice” section of Rule 10. You can use someone or something (a towel, your golf bag, etc.) to stand at a certain place to line up your shot, but as soon as you start to take your stance to play that shot, that person or thing has to be removed. This also applies to someone (your partner for example) placed at a specific point behind you on the line of play – they must move before the stroke is made. Then there’s a similar situation on the putting green. You or your caddie may point out the aimpoint or line of play of a putt with anything you’re holding and touch the green with it (a putter or a flagpole are probably the most common), but don’t put anything down on the green (a tee or a coin) to show the line or aimpoint. Even if that item is removed before the stroke, it’s still a penalty. While the stroke is being made, the caddy (or partner) must not indicate the line of play or position himself (or any part of himself) to indicate the line of play. The only exception has to do with tending the flagstick – he’s allowed to stand on or near the intended line of play. And here’s a good one a lot of people don’t know. You cannot lay a club or any other device down where you intend to take a stance to align your feet to the line of play. Alignment sticks are fine on the driving range or during practice – but in competition, they’ll early you the dreaded general penalty (2 strokes in stroke play, loss of hole in match play). Even backing away and removing the club before you make the stroke does not free you from the penalty.
The final portion of the rule has to do with protection from the elements. A player should not make a stroke if he is receiving physical help from anyone. This includes holding an umbrella or any other object to block rain, wind or sunlight. All of that can be done prior to making the stroke, but the help must be removed prior to executing the stroke. Now, the player himself may hold an umbrella over his head or any other item for protection while making a stroke, but I don’t know about you, I generally want two hands on my club. I have at some points cradled an umbrella handle between my neck and shoulder while I putted, and that’s allowed under the rule – just don’t have anyone else hold it.
Rules can be quirky. I remember when Craig “The Walrus” Stadler knelt to swing at a ball under some tree limbs at the ’87 Andy Williams Open at Torrey Pines. He got the ball out, completed his Saturday round in 2nd place, and was disqualified on Sunday when someone called in to point out that Craig had built a better stance by placing the towel under his knees to keep his pants clean. Craig could have called a 2-stroke penalty on himself on Saturday before signing his scorecard but was unaware he’d broken a rule. 2 strokes to DQ in less than 24 hours. Dirt is not one of the elements you’re allowed to protect yourself from. Craig did exact the final vengeance, as he was allowed to cut the tree down with a chain saw after it died a few years later.