USGA and R&A Announce Position on Raking a Similar Hazard The following is a joint statement that the USGA and the R&A, the two Rule-making bodies for Golf, have issued this morning. Please refrain from REPLY TO All responses to this email. This information is posted on the USGA's Web site - see http://www.usga.org/news/2008/april/JRCAnnouncement.html . Golf associations may link to this page from their web site, and may forward this text verbatim to Rules Committee or Tournament Committee members as appropriate. The following is the statement: The Joint Rules Committee (JRC), consisting of representatives of the Rules of Golf Committees of The R&A and the United States Golf Association, have issued an interpretation of Rule 13-4a with respect to testing the condition of a similar hazard (whether a bunker or a water hazard). At its customary April meeting, the JRC reviewed several issues relating to Rule 13-4 (Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions), including some that were carried over for resolution from the previous quadrennial Rules revision cycle. One such question was whether a player whose ball lies in a bunker may smooth sand to tidy up another bunker, even though he had not made a stroke from that other bunker. After discussion, the JRC agreed on the following position, effective immediately: Rule 13-4a prohibits a player from testing the condition of the hazard in which his ball lies or a similar hazard. Yet Exception 3 to the Rule, which was introduced in 2008, allows a player to test the condition of one hazard after playing from that hazard into a similar hazard. Although Decision 13-4/0.5 lists smoothing a bunker with a rake, club or otherwise as an example of testing the condition of the hazard, the Etiquette Section of the Rules of Golf provides that “Before leaving a bunker, players should carefully fill up and smooth over all holes and footprints made by them and any nearby made by others.” It is not the intent of Rule 13-4a to prohibit players from practicing the proper etiquette of the game when more than one bunker is involved. Therefore, when the player’s ball lies in a bunker, it would not be a breach of the Rules if the player were to smooth the sand in another bunker, provided (a) the smoothing is for the purpose of tidying up the bunker, (b) the smoothing does not breach Rule 13-2 (Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play) with respect to his next stroke and (c) there is not a reasonable possibility that the smoothing could affect a subsequent stroke by the player. If the player were to smooth sand in the bunker in which his ball lies prior to making his first stroke in that bunker, he would be in breach of Rule 13-4a. While the JRC does not normally make public the results of its deliberations outside the updates of the Decisions on the Rules of Golf every two years and the Rules of Golf every four years, The R&A and the USGA do informally answer questions about the Rules of Golf as those questions arise. Questions have arisen in connection with a recent ruling involving Stewart Cink at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In that situation, the player incurred a penalty for smoothing sand in a bunker from which he had not made a stroke, when his ball lay in another bunker -- a ruling that followed the USGA’s Rules of Golf Committee’s position at that time. To avoid such an act being a breach of the Rules in the future, the JRC has decided to make public its agreed position on smoothing a similar hazard. |
Want to be up on the Rules of Golf? The following is a link to the part of the USGA site that deals specifically with rules..... The 2008 Women's Amateur Public Links Championship and (men's) Amateur Public Links Championship entry blanks have been posted to the USGA's web site - see http://www.usga.org/championships/apply_to_play/apply_to_play.html where you can download and save a copy of the entry blank. Important - also see http://www.usga.org/playing/handicaps/clublicensing/jim_hyler_letter.html for information about handicap eligibility for all 2008 USGA amateur championships.
As I stated before, the USGA is not distributing paper entry blanks this year. I suggest you download and save a copy of the entry blank to your local computer. Of special note this year is entry eligibility information that is part of the WAPL or APL entry blank download. It appears as the first page of the online entry blank. A copy of that first page is also attached as a plain text "TXT" document. Please examine this document closely as it clearly defines who is eligible to enter the WAPL and APL championships. This Q&A information should help a player determine his/her eligibility to enter. James A. Farrell Director, New England Regional Affairs The USGA Museum Curator announced last week that construction of the USGA Museum - Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History at USGA headquarters in Far Hills, NJ, is proceeding at a great pace. The base building project was completed in January, and in March the Museum staff started to move staff offices and collections into the building. The USGA is comfortably on schedule to open the Museum to the public in mid-May (TBA), with the Grand Opening celebration scheduled for Tuesday, June 3rd, at 2:00 p.m. (Arnold Palmer will be at Golf House to help celebrate the day.)
An exciting addition to the project has been recently approved and will be started very soon. On the lawn behind the Museum at Golf House, the USGA will be constructing a 16,000-square-foot putting green that will become part of a visit to the USGA Museum. The putting green is loosely modeled on the Himalayas Putting Course that sits adjacent to the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. Like the original Himalayas, the USGA's version of this putting green will feature some dramatic contours – humps and swales – that will make it both challenging and fun to play. In addition to modern clubs and balls, the USGA will be providing a variety of replica equipment so that visitors can experience a little bit of the game as it was played in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The USGA will charge a small green fee to play the nine-hole putting course. If Mother Nature cooperates, the green will be ready for play around Labor Day.
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