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00:00 - Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly
00:02 and welcome to Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club.
00:04 In this video, looking at the seven rules definitions
00:07 every golfer needs to know.
00:09 You'll spot them in the rule book.
00:10 There are 68 different definitions in total
00:13 and they're all italicized.
00:14 When you spot them, there's also an index at the back
00:17 to give you all the information you need to know.
00:18 But in this video, we're gonna take a look
00:20 at what we think are the seven most important.
00:23 And if you can improve your knowledge of these definitions,
00:26 know two ways about it, you'll have a better understanding
00:28 for the rules of golf in general.
00:29 Right, let's get started.
00:31 (upbeat music)
00:33 Okay, so the first definition to look at
00:38 is areas of the golf course.
00:40 And there are five different ones
00:42 to look out for in the rule book.
00:43 And actually, these are really important to know
00:45 for anyone playing the game
00:47 because the rules apply differently
00:48 in those different areas, don't they, Jez?
00:50 - They do. - What do people
00:51 need to know here?
00:52 - Well, you need to know there are five areas
00:53 of the golf course.
00:54 The general area, which is fairway, rough, woodland,
00:57 the vast majority of the course
00:59 is now called the general area.
01:00 Then you've got the teeing area of the hole you're playing,
01:03 the putting green of the hole you're playing,
01:05 and then all bunkers and all penalty areas.
01:08 - Right, okay, so let me ask you a question then, Jez.
01:10 Can you give us an example
01:11 of where the rules apply differently
01:13 if the same thing happened in different areas?
01:15 - Okay, so I mean, what you would first need to know
01:17 is that some of these areas of the golf course
01:20 have their own rules in the rule book.
01:22 So you'll find a lot about exactly what varies there.
01:25 But one specific example would be
01:27 accidental movement of the ball.
01:29 If you do that on the putting green,
01:31 accidentally move your ball at rest,
01:32 there is no penalty, and you must replace the ball.
01:35 If you accidentally move your ball in the general area,
01:38 the ball at rest, then there is a penalty.
01:40 You still must replace the ball,
01:41 but there is a penalty there.
01:42 So different areas of the course,
01:45 you just have to be aware different scenarios
01:47 result in different outcomes.
01:49 - Yes, and it might sound like the rules
01:50 are making it more complicated for people,
01:52 but those rules are there for a very good reason.
01:54 And that's why it's really important
01:55 to know what the definitions are.
01:57 Okay, so this definition is known or virtually certain.
02:05 And Jez, we've come to the 18th hole here
02:07 on the west course at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club,
02:10 because this little stream that you can see in front of you
02:12 runs all the way down the left-hand side of this hole.
02:15 And you and I have played this hole a few times
02:16 when a ball has gone a little bit left off the tee,
02:19 there's a few other things in the way.
02:20 You can't be 100% sure.
02:22 So what does known or virtually certain mean,
02:24 and how can it help people with the rules?
02:27 - Well, known or virtually certain obviously means known.
02:30 So you might come down here,
02:31 see a ball down in the stream there,
02:34 you can see your identification marks on it,
02:36 or you've seen a splash,
02:38 or someone in the group ahead says,
02:40 "Your ball definitely went in."
02:40 - "Your ball's in the water."
02:41 - Yeah, so that's fine, that's known.
02:43 There's the virtually certain bit where the rules,
02:46 the definitions of the rules talk about
02:48 all events suggesting it's at least 95% likely
02:53 that the ball is in the penalty area.
02:54 - That's interesting, 'cause that then becomes
02:57 a bit of a judgment call, doesn't it?
02:58 Because in this scenario, if I've hit my tee shot,
03:01 hopefully you can see the tee behind me,
03:02 if I've hit my tee shot down the left-hand side here,
03:04 it may well be in the water,
03:05 but it might well also be in these ferns here,
03:08 it might be in the thick rough over here.
03:10 - The rough here is thick enough for you
03:12 to potentially not find a ball in,
03:13 so it could be in there.
03:15 So in this scenario here,
03:17 my personal opinion would be that this,
03:20 you couldn't be 95% certain.
03:22 - No, I would say--
03:22 - Unless you'd seen a splash.
03:24 - At best, probably 60%.
03:25 - Something like that.
03:26 So then in that circumstance,
03:28 when you're talking about a penalty area here,
03:29 the known or virtually certain also applies
03:32 to things like whether or not your ball moved
03:34 and what caused it to move.
03:35 - Right, okay.
03:36 - But here, I don't think you could be 95% certain
03:41 your ball was in there unless you'd specifically
03:43 seen it go in, so in that circumstance,
03:46 you would have to go back and play again from the tee
03:48 rather than proceed under the penalty area rules.
03:50 - Yes, with a lost ball penalty added to your score.
03:52 So there you have it.
03:53 Known or virtually certain, a definition well worth knowing.
03:57 (upbeat music)
03:59 - Okay, so we've already covered known or virtually certain,
04:05 which is handy because that brings us on
04:07 to our next definition, which is club length.
04:09 Now, in this scenario, Jez, we would be virtually certain
04:13 that the ball had gone in the stream
04:14 because there's only a few bushes here,
04:16 and even then, you can have a little look into those bushes.
04:18 If it's not in one of those, it's in the stream.
04:20 So I think we'd be 95% certain that the ball was in there.
04:23 - I think in this area here,
04:24 there's no real rough to speak of.
04:26 If it was in this little tuft here, you'd see it.
04:30 I think this would be a justifiable 95% certain.
04:33 - Yes, at which point, you'll need to take a drop,
04:35 and at which point, you will also need to know
04:38 what a club length refers to.
04:39 - Yes, so club length is a newly defined term
04:43 under the rules, and that is because you're no longer able
04:46 to use your putter to measure out a relief area
04:49 because they wanted to stop people with long putters
04:51 gaining an advantage.
04:52 - Yes, gaining an advantage of maybe a few inches,
04:55 which actually, in a certain scenario,
04:57 could end up being crucial.
04:58 - Might just get you clear of what you're taking relief from.
05:00 - Exactly, so you are gonna use the longest club in the bag,
05:05 I would think, so for most people, that would be driver.
05:07 - Yeah, I mean, that is more about unplayable lies
05:10 to the putter, but it could be here,
05:11 where you're able to get a little bit further away
05:13 and open up the angle to get to green.
05:16 So club length is now defined as the longest club
05:19 in your bag that you are carrying for that given round.
05:21 So typically driver, but if you have chosen
05:24 not to carry the driver for any reason,
05:27 you are sacrificing a little bit of relief area as well
05:29 whenever you have to measure.
05:30 - Yes, so I think, ball's crossed about here,
05:33 we're going in that direction there,
05:35 so this is no nearer the hole, is that fair?
05:36 - Yep, and with a penalty drop, it's two club lengths.
05:41 For free relief, it's typically one club length.
05:44 So you can now drop anywhere within that area.
05:46 And-- - Nearer the hole.
05:49 - That has gone nearer the hole,
05:50 so you have to re-drop. - Drop again.
05:52 There we go. - And that is now
05:56 within the two club length area, not nearer the hole,
05:58 so that ball is in play.
06:00 - There you go.
06:01 (upbeat music)
06:03 Right, so for this one, you're gonna need
06:07 to use your imagination slightly.
06:09 So we've come out on a beautiful day in June,
06:11 there's no clouds in the sky, there's no rain,
06:13 but if it was raining hard, then there were gonna be
06:16 certain areas on the golf course where the water gathers.
06:18 And let's just imagine that around my ball
06:21 is a giant puddle, Jez.
06:23 - Yeah. - What is the definition,
06:25 the term within the rules that people
06:26 need to look out for here?
06:28 - Well, the definition is now temporary water,
06:30 it used to be called casual water,
06:32 but that got renamed temporary water
06:34 in the 2019 rules versions.
06:36 It's basically any area where puddles gather
06:39 or pools of water gather where there shouldn't be water
06:41 on the golf course, so not in a penalty area.
06:45 - Yes. - But if there's
06:46 heavy rainfall and this has filled out this little hollow
06:49 with a puddle of water or an irrigation system
06:51 has chucked too much water out
06:53 and caused a temporary accumulation,
06:55 you would get relief from that.
06:56 - You are entitled to a free drop,
06:58 but how do you identify?
06:59 So there are often scenarios on the golf course
07:01 where the course is getting really quite wet.
07:02 - Yeah.
07:04 - But it's kind of on the edge as to whether
07:05 it's temporary water or not. - Yeah.
07:07 - What are you allowed to do, what you're not allowed to do?
07:08 - Well, what you're not allowed to do,
07:09 which you see a lot of people doing,
07:10 is coming in here and really pressing down firmly
07:13 with one foot to try and get the water to come up.
07:15 It's only considered temporary water if it's visible
07:19 either before or after your stance is taken
07:21 without pressing down unnecessarily
07:23 to get the water to come up around your shoe.
07:25 - Right, got it.
07:26 And then when you take the drop,
07:28 - Yes. - you need to make sure
07:29 that you're then completely free of the area
07:32 that you're taking the drop from, right?
07:32 - Yeah, that's right, so you need to find
07:34 the nearest point where temporary water
07:35 does not interfere with the stance
07:37 or where the ball is lying and take relief there.
07:39 Nearest area, not nearer the hole.
07:41 - That becomes your nearest point of complete relief
07:43 and then you can go from there.
07:44 - And you drop from there, yeah.
07:46 So it's just important to know that temporary water
07:49 is not something that comes up
07:50 when you put all of your weight on one foot
07:52 and press down as hard as humanly possible.
07:55 - Yeah, so it does happen, this one, on the golf course.
07:58 If you're playing more and more golf, you'll encounter it.
08:00 So it's well worth knowing exactly what temporary water is
08:03 and what it isn't.
08:04 (upbeat music)
08:06 This definition is stroke and distance.
08:11 Now, Jez, why is it important for people to know
08:13 what stroke and distance refers to?
08:15 - Well, it's a very common penalty and procedure
08:18 referred to in the rule book for rules like
08:21 rules 17, 18, and 19, which are the ones
08:24 that cover unplayable balls and penalty areas
08:26 and lost balls and out of bounds.
08:28 - Lost, but we all lose them from time to time
08:30 and when you do, you'll need to know
08:32 what stroke and distance is, what is it?
08:34 - Well, it's effectively exactly what it says
08:36 on the tin, really.
08:36 You have a penalty stroke, but you also lose the distance
08:40 that you gained with the original stroke.
08:41 I think a lot of people think if you play again from here,
08:45 having lost a ball, it's a two-shot penalty,
08:47 but it's not a two-shot penalty.
08:48 It's a one-shot penalty plus 200 yards of distance.
08:52 - Yes, it feels like a two-shot penalty.
08:53 - It feels like a two-shot penalty,
08:54 and you do effectively add two to your score.
08:56 - Yes, so in this scenario, the general area
08:58 of the golf course, if I've blazed one right, lost it,
09:00 we've gone up and had a look at it, I've lost it,
09:02 I'm coming back to the same spot to hit the same,
09:05 effectively the same shot again, which would just be here.
09:08 But again, it's important to know
09:09 how the rules differ for different areas
09:12 of the golf course, isn't it?
09:13 - Yeah, I mean, it is because your reference point
09:16 must be within the same area of the golf course.
09:18 If you played the original shot from the general area,
09:20 which is this fairway, a penalty area, or a bunker.
09:24 - Yes.
09:25 - So if your original shot was from a bunker,
09:26 your reference point then is that bunker
09:28 for playing the shot after you've taken stroke and distance.
09:32 - What about from the tee?
09:33 - From the tee, you have the advantage
09:34 of being able to re-tee the ball any way you like
09:37 in the teeing area.
09:38 So if you clipped a tree you weren't expecting to clip
09:40 and it's sent it into oblivion,
09:43 you could then perhaps tee off a little bit further
09:44 to the right or the left to potentially eliminate
09:47 the risk of repeating the mistake.
09:49 - Yeah, so possibly a small advantage to be gained
09:51 by knowing exactly what stroke and distance refers to
09:54 in different areas of the golf course.
09:56 But for this scenario, I'm playing
09:58 exactly the same shot again.
10:00 - Hopefully not exactly the same shot.
10:01 - No, no, exactly.
10:02 Try and keep it away from the right-hand side.
10:06 (ball clacks)
10:08 That's gonna catch the edge I think, just above ground.
10:12 Oh, it came back a long way, decent.
10:15 (upbeat music)
10:18 - Okay, so the next definition is hold.
10:23 When the ball is and when it is not hold,
10:26 Jez, what do people need to know here?
10:28 - Well I think people need to know
10:29 that things have changed on this front,
10:30 although the definition in the rules
10:32 in some ways hasn't changed.
10:34 It still says at the start of the definition,
10:36 your ball is hold when all of it,
10:38 the whole of the ball rests below
10:39 the surface of the putting green.
10:41 - Right, so not all of that is below
10:43 the surface of the putting green.
10:43 So is that hold or is that not hold?
10:45 - Well, it wouldn't have been,
10:46 but it is now under the 2019 rules of provisions
10:48 'cause there's now an exception,
10:50 calls a special case, which probably isn't that special
10:52 'cause it happens all the time.
10:54 - Yeah, especially with the COVID things
10:56 that you've got in the hole.
10:57 - But even without that, being allowed to put
10:59 with a flagstick in, there is now this,
11:01 what it calls a special case of the ball resting
11:03 against the flagstick.
11:04 And when the ball is resting against the flagstick,
11:06 it's considered hold when any part of the ball
11:09 is below the surface of the green.
11:10 - Yes, which clearly, there is part of my ball here
11:13 that is below the surface of the green,
11:14 so this one is hold.
11:16 Okay, so the last one on our list
11:24 is the point of maximum available relief.
11:27 Jez, what do people need to know here?
11:28 - Okay, well, I think people know that nearest point
11:30 of complete relief is the normal term
11:32 and it is for taking relief from abnormal course conditions
11:35 or dropping off a cart path.
11:38 You have to have it such that that condition
11:40 or obstruction no longer interferes with your stance
11:43 or where the ball is lying.
11:44 On the greens and in bunkers, there's a slight variation
11:47 where you are able to find the point
11:49 of maximum available relief
11:50 if there is no point of complete relief.
11:52 - Right, so imagine this green is completely saturated,
11:55 covered in water, or you're in a bunker
11:57 and that bunker is completely filled with water.
11:59 You're gonna need to find a spot to drop the ball on,
12:01 no nearer the hole, where that interference from the water
12:05 is not quite so bad, is that right?
12:06 - So on a green, you'd be looking for the shallowest point
12:09 between you and the flag that your ball would have to pass,
12:11 so the point where it least interferes.
12:13 And in bunkers, you might be trying to find
12:14 a little bit round the edge
12:15 where your feet might still be in the water,
12:17 but you can actually drop your ball in the sand.
12:19 - So there you have it,
12:20 the point of maximum available relief,
12:21 a definition well worth knowing.
12:23 So there you have it,
12:24 that's our look at the seven rules definitions
12:26 every golfer needs to know.
12:28 If you do have any questions, please post them below.
12:31 We'll get back to as many people as we possibly can.
12:33 But that's it for now from Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club.
12:36 It's goodbye.
12:37 (upbeat music)
12:39 (upbeat music)
12:42 (upbeat music)
12:44 (upbeat music)