Golf Rules and Etiquette

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Out Of Bounds Post Interfering With My Golf Swing? What To Do

My golf ball is lying just in bounds very close to an out of bounds post. The post interfers with my back swing.  Do I get a free drop in this case?  Good question and thanks for sending it in.  Let’s take a look at what the Rules of Golf say on this one.

6Nov2010 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Why Do We Cheat At Golf?

The recent post I made about the rules of golf got me to thinking about how golfers bend the rules.  Then I saw a small article in Golf Magazine about this as well.  So it really made me think about why golfers will cheat at golf.

1Sep2010 | | 9 comments | Continued
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The Rules of Golf?

I am almost tired, no I am tired, of the hammering that the rules of golf are taking from the talking heads on ESPN about what happened at the PGA this past week.   Not that I disagree with all that they are saying, but they sure can beat something to death.  So now I am [...]

18Aug2010 | | 3 comments | Continued
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Free Drop Of My Golf Ball When It’s Embedded?

A rules question for you Golf Nut.  I was playing recently and my partner’s golf ball was embedded in a soft part of the fairway. It was really plugged and made a shot really difficult.  Can he get relief in this situation?

20Jul2010 | | 5 comments | Continued
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Golf Shot Hits A Post In The Fairway, Out Of Luck?

A recent question from a reader:  My second shot on a par 5 was a great five-wood stinger straight toward the flag. But about 50 yards before the green my golf ball hit a short wooden stake that was temporarily marking some sort of construction (some digging in the fairway). As a result my ball [...]

1Apr2010 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Out Of Bounds Stake Intefering With My Golf Swing

Golf Nut,  this happened in a recent round.  My golf ball came to rest next to a white out of bounds marker.  My ball was still in play, but the marker interfered with my backswing.  Can I get relief in this situation?

20Mar2010 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Can My Practice Golf Swing Cost Me A Stroke

Dear Golf Nut I have a question about taking a practice swing.  If you are taking a practice swing on a shot other than a tee shot, and accidentally hit your ball, what is the correct ruling?  Do you play it as it lies or are you allowed to replace it and hit again without [...]

6Mar2010 | | 3 comments | Continued
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What’s The Golf Ruling On A Plugged Ball On A Sloped Green?

Dear Golf Nut,  A playing partner hit a ball into the green. The ball plugged on the slope of the green. He marked the position of the ball and repaired the plug hole. However when he replaced his ball it kept moving closer to the hole because of the slope. What relief or rules would [...]

23Dec2009 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Golf Ruling On This Out Of Bounds Shot

Dear Golf Nut, please help me with this situation.  I hit a tee shot on a hole that had out of bounds stakes down the right side of the fairway.  Just outside of these stakes, in the out of bounds area, were a number of trees.  My shot sliced towards the out of bounds area [...]

7Sep2009 | | 5 comments | Continued
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Can I Use My Bent Golf Club For The Rest Of My Round?

Dear Golf Nut,  I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I bent my 3 iron in anger early in a round of golf recently.  I was able to straighten it back enough to keep it usable.  So I finished my round and then I thought that maybe I had broken the rules.  Was I [...]

23Aug2009 | | 2 comments | Continued
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Golf Nut, I Have A Question For You About Debris Around Your Golf Ball

I think this is ok, but wanted to see what the rules say about this. If you golf ball ends up in a pile of junk like leaves, pine straw, twigs, small branches, it’s ok to move all of that stuff out before you hit your next shot isn’t it?

19Jun2009 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Do I Have To Take A Drop On This Golf Shot

Golf Nut, on a par 4 I hit my second shot over a water hazard (yellow stakes) onto the green side of the hazard but off to the left, well clear of the hazard and playable. In trying to chip my third shot onto the green I shanked it back into the water. Do I [...]

10Apr2009 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Warming Your Golf Balls During A Round

Hey Golf Nut, I have what may seem like a strange rules question for you. Is carrying an extra golf ball in your pocket during a round considered illegal for artificially warming the golf ball?

25Mar2009 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Is this a one golf stroke penalty situation?

Dear Golf Nut, I have a golf rules question for you. Recently, during a friendly round of golf with my usual foursome something unusual happened with my golf ball. We were about half way through the round when I noticed that I was playing the wrong golf ball. It was one like mine but had [...]

4Feb2009 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Is my golf buddy entitled to a free drop on this one?

Dear Golf Nut, My golf partner is a right hander. He recently had his backswing obstructed by a tree. So he changed to a left handed swing, but at that point, his stance was on the cart path. He claimed relief and took a drop, then he hit the golf ball right handed. Can he [...]

29Jan2009 | | 6 comments | Continued
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Playing With The Wrong Golf Ball

Golf Nut, I was playing a round of golf with my regular foursome last week when we hit a situation that we didn’t know how the golf rules handle. About halfway through the round, one of our group realized that he was playing the wrong golf ball. It was the exact same brand that he [...]

13Sep2008 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Is Using A Golf Club This Way Legal?

Dear Golf Nut, I play in a men’s league and one golfer I play with always lays a club down on the tee box and uses it to line up toward the tee before he actually hits the golf ball with his driver. After teeing off he picks up the club and puts it back [...]

29Jul2008 | | 2 comments | Continued
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Golf Shot Ends Up Right Next To Cart Path

Dear Golf Nut, if my golf ball ends up one inch from the cart path, am I allowed relief? In this situation, if I took my normal golf swing, my club would hit the concrete path. What am I allowed to do in this case?

25Jul2008 | | 1 comment | Continued
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A Strange Golf Rules Question

Golf Nut, I have a really strange golf rules question. This really just happened to me and I want to check what the correct thing to do would have been. I was teeing off on a par three when I hit a real low golf shot. I hit it thin and it was a real [...]

29May2008 | | 3 comments | Continued
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How High A Golf Score Can I Take On A Hole?

Golf Nut I was recently playing a round of golf with a foursome. We got to hole #12 a par 5. Three golfers all hit in the water on their 2nd stroke, then 2 of those golfers hit in the water on their fourth stroke. They both pick up their balls and head to the [...]

5Apr2008 | | 9 comments | Continued
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Golf Rule Question On Unplayable Golf Ball

Golf Nut, I can think of two circumstances where, after a shot, the golf ball can land farther away from the hole: 1) In the woods, you hit a tree, the ball bounces behind you farther into the woods. 2) Around the green, you catch the ball thin and hit it over the green into [...]

13Mar2008 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Golf Ball Moved On Green By Wind

Hey Golf Nut, before marking my golf ball on the green where it had come to rest, I helped my golf partner look for his ball. While we were looking, the wind gusted and my ball moved slightly closer to the hole. Where should the golf ball be played from and do I incur any [...]

28Nov2007 | | 3 comments | Continued
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Golf Rule Changes for 2008 Set By USGA and R&A

Well, it’s that time of year golfers. The golf rule changes for the upcoming year have been announced. Like we always do, we will summarize the major changes here. Thank you for all the rules questions that we have received this year. More and more golfers appear to be learning or attempting to learn the [...]

26Nov2007 | | 5 comments | Continued
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Is this golfer entitled to a free drop?

Golf Nut, one foot inside a red staked hazard is a permanent fence. The golfer’s ball lays one foot outside this hazard. The golfer wants to take a drop because he says that the fence interferes with his backswing. Is he entitled to the drop or is it only if the obstruction interferes with his [...]

24Sep2007 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Does a golfer have to look for a lost golf ball?

Dear Golfers, I have gotten a ton of questions on golf rules the last few weeks. I know that the last post was also on a ruling, so just bear with us as I am trying to respond to as many of the questions that come in in the order received. During a match play [...]

10Sep2007 | | 9 comments | Continued
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