We saw last week, that the Committee may designate an area as a No Play Zone to protect flower beds and also as a safety measure for players.
Answers to last week questions:
What is the ruling when a player plays his ball when it lies in the following areas?
– The ball is played from a flower bed. It is determined to be a No Play Zone with a free relief.
– A stroke is made from a No Play Zone defined as a penalty area.
– The ball lies on a wrong green and the player makes a stroke.
ANSWER: The player made a stroke at his ball from a wrong place. The penalty is 2 strokes and he does not need to correct the mistake, except if it involves a serious Breach….in that case if he does not correct, he will be disqualified.
– The player makes a stroke on his ball lying Out of Bounds.
ANSWER: This is not playing from a wrong place; it is considered as a wrong ball. The player must correct the breach, or he will be Disqualified.
DEFINITION OF A SERIOUS BREACH
In stroke play, when playing from a wrong place could give the player a significant advantage compared to the stroke to be made from the right place.
In making this comparison to decide if there is a serious breach, the factors to be taken into account include:
· The difficulty of the stroke,
· The distance of the ball from the hole,
· The effect of obstacles on the line of play, and
· The conditions affecting the stroke.
The concept of a serious breach does not apply in match play, because a player loses the hole if he or she plays from a wrong place.
Another question was given to you last week:
What is the ruling when a player enters a No Play Zone when a sign says: Do not Enter?
The Rules of Golf does not cover that type of breach unless the Committee has put the information on a local rule. When this is the case and a player breaches that local rule, he will receive a WARNING.
NEXT WEEK:
– Cart paths made of bare earth, crushed shells or sand…
– Out of Bounds near houses or Condos…
– Penalty areas without yellow or red lines…
– Penalty areas adjacent to an Out of Bounds…
