After a Rules presentation yesterday
for Walnut Creek Men’s Club, one of the members asked me a general question
about philosophy behind the Rules. He
was trying to figure out why if any part of the ball touches a hazard, it’s in
the hazard, yet the ball must be completely out of bounds in order to be out of
bounds. So I re-framed his view: if any part of the ball touches the course,
it is on the course. After that it all
became clear.
It made what I had already known
even clearer, that the fundamental principle “like things are treated alike,”
does not just apply to equity, but it applies throughout the Rules of Golf. It led me to a general principle that I will
elaborate on – the ball rests on the smallest part of the course that it
touches.
The Rules of Golf word this
philosophy differently depending on which Definition you are reading, so let’s
go through the applicable definitions or Rules one by one.
The Teeing Ground
A ball is outside the teeing
ground when all of it lies outside the teeing ground.
You
could also word it this way: “A ball is inside the teeing ground when any part
of it touches the teeing ground.” Just
like a ball out of bounds, the Rules tell us when a ball is inside an area by
describing when it is outside the area.
This also fits with the general principle stated above because the
teeing ground is the smaller of two parts of the course the ball could be
touching. If the ball is half in and
half out of the teeing ground, it is touching the teeing ground and through the
green. Through the green is the larger
of the two parts of the course. Since
the ball touches both, it lies on the smaller of the two parts of the course.
Out of Bounds
A ball is out of bounds when all
of it lies out of bounds.
The
phrase makes more sense when worded: “A ball is on the course when any part of
it touches the course.” Considering that
the entire world is off the course, and only the defined boundaries are the area
of the course, when the ball is touching both out of bounds and the course, it
is lying on the smaller of the two areas – the course.
Bunker
A ball is in a bunker when it
lies in or any part of it touches the bunker.
With
rare exceptions as seen below, if a ball is touching a bunker and another part
of the course, the bunker is the smaller part of the course and therefore the
ball lies in the bunker.
The Putting Green
A ball is on the putting green
when any part of it touches the putting green.
This
phrasing makes sense, especially in the context of our new principle. If a ball is touching both the putting green
and another part of the course, the other part of the course is likely to be
through the green. Through the green is
a much larger area than the putting green, therefore the ball lies on the
smaller of the two areas – the putting green.
Water Hazard and Lateral Water
Hazard
A ball is in a [lateral] water
hazard when it lies in or any part of it touches the water hazard.
There
will be two exceptions to this later, but if a ball is touching both a water
hazard and another part of the course, the other part of the course is likely
to be through the green. Through the
green is a larger area than an individual water hazard, therefore the ball lies
in the smaller of the two areas – the water hazard.
Casual Water and Ground Under
Repair
A ball is in casual water [ground
under repair] when it lies in or any part of it touches the casual water
[ground under repair].
These
are two conditions that can occur on various part of the course, but with rare
exceptions they are always smaller than the part of the course on which they
lie. For example, a ball that touches
both a bunker and casual water is in the casual water, the smaller of the two
areas. In this case, however, the ball
still also lies in the bunker and a specific Rule governs the player’s options
(Rule 25-1b(ii)).
The EXCEPTIONS
Decision
26/1.5 - When a
ball touches both a water hazard and another part of the course, it lies in the
water hazard. In this case, the putting
green or bunker may be smaller than the water hazard, but in this case the ball
touches the water hazard so it lies in the water hazard.
Large
Water Hazards –
Occasionally, a water hazard will actually be larger than the other part of the
course the ball is touching (like the Pacific Ocean at Pebble Beach). In this case the ball is still lying in the
water hazard even though the other part of the course may be smaller.
A
Ball Above the Lip of the Hole
– Perhaps this is an exception because the Hole is not technically a “part of
the course" (teeing ground, through the green, hazards, putting green), but it
is worth mention here anyway. A ball
that is within the circumference of the hole, but all of it is not below the
level of the hole is not holed. So
even though the ball is touching the hole which is smaller than the putting
green, it is not considered holed.
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