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Rules of the Game
Location, location, location!
By Troy Andrew, PNGA Senior Director of Rules & Competition
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| © Charles Crombie/courtesy USGA Archives |
Believe it or not, the Rules of Golf can be very simple. Rule 13, for example, "Play the Ball as it Lies."
However, when the Rules of Golf incorporated the word "relief," then golfers needed to pay closer attention.
Players get relief from many situations on the golf course, which include, but are not limited to, such conditions as Abnormal Ground Conditions and Movable and Immovable Obstructions. However, there is still one place on the golf course that offers very little relief ... Hazards!
The definition of "Hazard" is any bunker or water hazard. I can't think of any golf courses in the Northwest that doesn't have bunkers (if there is, sign me up!). However, we do know that living in the Great Northwest provides us with many Water Hazards.
I think I can speak for almost any rules official when I say we get nervous when we see a player entering a Hazard to play their ball. That's because we have witnessed numerous players carry their habits from outside the Hazard (through the green) to inside the Hazard.
For example, when a player's ball lies in the fairway, because the Rules permit, most players casually reach down toward their golf ball and remove loose impediments like twigs, acorns, and pinecones.
So, as creatures of habit, sometimes players take these habits into Hazards without thinking about the outcome, which is not good. You might not think you are making any improvements by removing a loose impediment in a Hazard, but the Rules of Golf clearly state that you may not "touch or move any loose impediment lying in or touching the same Hazard."
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