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Rules of the Game
There are Rules to help with Rules
RULE 23: Ball Played as it Lies
The ball must be played as it lies, except as otherwise provided
in the Rules.
RULE 1: The Game
If any point in dispute is not covered by the Rules, the decision
should be made in accordance with equity.
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| © Charles Crombie/courtesy USGA Archives |
Playing the ball as it lies is one of the basic tenets of the game.
As we all know, though, that isn’t always possible – thus
the need for many of the other Rules.
The number of different scenarios one might encounter that would prohibit
him or her from playing the ball as it lies is simply beyond the scope
of The Rules of Golf. As such, Rule 1-4 allows for disputes to be
settled in a manner that is both fair for all players and in keeping
with the spirit of the Rules when the situation at hand is not covered
by the Rules.
An example of Rule 1-4 being applied occurred during play in the 1997
PNGA Men’s Amateur Public Links Championship. On the fifth hole,
several players hit into a position that made it prohibitively difficult
for them to proceed in accordance with Rule 13. The players’
balls came to rest, through the green, in close proximity to an underground
bee’s nest. It would have been unreasonable to expect them to
play from such a dangerous position and unfair to require them to
incur penalties under Rule 28 (Ball Unplayable). Decision 1-4/10 in
the Decisions on The Rules of Golf allowed the players, in equity,
to drop without penalty on the nearest spot not nearer the hole that
avoided the danger.
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