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Ian Poulter’s Rules Blunder in China
 

Dropping and Placing under the Rules 

Luke Donald’s Penalty at 2014 Masters

I am pleased to report that, unlike last year, the 2014 Masters passed without any controversial Rules incidents. One Rules infraction that was not widely reported, probably because it had no significant impact on the leaderboard, was incurred by Luke Donald, resulting in his first round score of 79, instead of the 77 that he thought he had scored. The facts of the penalty were that in making a stroke from a bunker, Donald hit his ball fat and it failed to clear the bunker lip rolling back into the sand. His instinctive reaction was to smack his club into the sand in disgust. I expect there are many of us that can relate to this instinctive act of frustration. However, in doing so, he breached  Rule 13-4b, which states that a player may not touch the ground in a hazard with his hand or a club. Of course, there is nothing to stop a player venting their frustration in this way if they have succeeded in extricating their ball from the bunker first.

Although Luke Donald failed to call the penalty on himself, he was suitably contrite when his penalty was explained to him by a Rules Official, before he signed his card. This is what he said about the incident on his Twitter account; There was another interesting Rules incident at Augusta, but it had nothing to do with the Rules of Golf. Having worn the obligatory tennis shoes during a practice round, the caddie of English amateur, Matthew Fitzpatrick, realised that, due to a long-term foot condition, he would not be able to continue to caddie for his player if he had to wear tennis shoes again. He politely requested that the Augusta National authorities excuse him and allow him to wear his special sandals. His legitimate, and most would think reasonable, request was swiftly turned down, leaving him less than impressed with Augusta officialdom. Here are the reported comments of Fred Ridley, Chairman of the Masters Competition Committee;

"Duncan was told he had to wear tennis shoes like all caddies. We are not treating him any different. I am sure whatever reasons he raised were considered."

Oh dear!
 I am delighted that the Masters has brought a flood of new subscribers to my two free, weekly email lists. If you are already a ‘Rhodes Rules School’ subscriber don’t forget that you can move from the original photo series of 99 issues to the ‘How Many Strokes?’ series of 99 issues by purchasing the complete set at this link. Similarly, you can advance from the ‘How Many Strokes?’ series to the current ‘9 Questions About’ series, by purchasing that complete set at this link. 

Rakes in Bunkers

This week’s blog concerns a question that has little to do with the Rules of Golf, but can be a controversial subject amongst those that play the game.

Where should you place the rake after raking a bunker?

I have studiously avoided this subject during my four years of blogging, but have been persuaded to write about it now, following a false assertion that was communicated to me that the R&A recently ruled that bunker rakes must be left within the margin of bunkers. There is no truth to this, but you may be surprised to read that there is a Decision on the subject, right at the end of the book, Decision misc./2.

Q. Should rakes be placed in or outside bunkers?

Ultimately, it is a matter for the Committee to decide where it wishes rakes to be placed. (My bolding.)

Personally, I disagree with the Ruling Bodies on this question. My main argument is that a player is more likely to suffer a detrimental rub of the green when rakes are left alongside the bunker, in that a ball may then be deflected into the bunker by a rake. Of course, it is almost as likely that a ball may be deflected from coming to rest in a bunker by a rake that is lying in the bunker; however, I guess that most amateur players would prefer this consequence! My preference is for the rakes to be left inside a flat part of the bunker with their handles resting against the side, to make it easy to pick-up the rake. I think that the use of the type of rake in the photo above, with a curved handle, is a particularly good solution. I do not like to see rakes left in the middle of the sand, as this necessitates players having to walk into the bunker to retrieve them, which a consequent delay in play, as they smooth over the footsteps that they have made by doing so; or worse, leaving their footprints in the sand to the annoyance and possible inconvenience of those following.

Here are some related Rules points to understand;
Whilst I have given my opinion on the subject of placing rakes in bunkers, I do accept that there are many who disagree. I have found it to be a contentious issue and so I will not be entering into any communication on the matter, as there is no definitive answer and it would lead nowhere.
 I was at my first match practice yesterday and I guess many players in the Norther Heisphere are also preparing for Club or inter-Club match play. Here is a link to my eDocument, 'So You Are Going to Play Match Play'.
 

Did Matt Every’s Caddie Breach Rule 14-3? Last Sunday week, 30-year old Matt Every was a first-time PGA Tour winner at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Orlando, Florida, less than an hour’s drive from his home town of Daytona Beach. His caddie, Derek Mason, had golf’s armchair referees on the edge of their seats, during the final round, as they spotted him looking intently at a handheld device. There is no Local Rule permitting distance measuring devices on PGA Tour events. It transpired that he was consulting a compass, which would have been a breach of the Rules, incurring disqualification, just 3 months ago, but is now permitted. Decision 14-3/4 was revised from 1st January this year;

Q. A player uses a compass during a stipulated round to help determine the direction of the wind or the direction of the grain in the greens. Is the player in breach of Rule 14-3?

A. No. A compass only provides directional information and does not gauge or measure variable conditions or assist the player in his play. (Revised).

This seemingly minor amendment to the Decisions has more widespread implications than is at first apparent. Those of you that have been following my blogs for some time may remember that because iPhones have an inbuilt compass that cannot be uninstalled, they could not be used during a competitive round, even if there was a Local Rule operating that permitted the use of distance measuring devices (DMDs). If there is such a Local Rule, the amendment now means that, like Android smart phones, iPhones with a distance measuring application installed may now be used during competitions, providing the application is not capable of measuring conditions, or supplying information about conditions (e.g. wind speed, temperature, or gradient). I recommend that anyone who may be confused about which measuring devices are permitted and which are not, check out the R&A’s recently updated and comprehensive Q&As on DMDs, with an accompanying flowchart, at this link.
