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Neil Tapping talks about the 7 Rules Definitions
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00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club and
00:04this video looking at the seven rules definitions every golfer needs to know. You'll spot them in
00:10the rule book, there are 68 different definitions in total and they're all italicised. When you spot
00:15them there's also an index at the back to give you all the information you need to know but in
00:19this video we're going to take a look at what we think are the seven most important and if you can
00:23improve your knowledge of these definitions, no two ways about it, you'll have a better understanding
00:28for the rules of golf in general. Right, let's get started.
00:33Okay, so the first definition to look at is areas of the golf course and there are five
00:41different ones to look out for in the rule book and actually these are really important
00:45to know for anyone playing the game because the rules apply differently in those different
00:49areas don't they James? They do. What do people need to know here? Well you need to know there
00:52are five areas of the golf course. The general area which is fairway, rough, woodland, the vast
00:58majority of the course is now called the general area. Then you've got the teeing area of the
01:02hole you're playing, the putting green of the hole you're playing and then all bunkers
01:06and all penalty areas. Right, okay so let me ask you a question then
01:10James, can you give us an example of where the rules apply differently if the same thing
01:14happened in different areas? Yeah, okay so I mean what you would first need
01:17to know is that some of these are, that some of these areas of the golf course have their
01:21own rules in the rule book. Right, okay. So you'll find a lot about exactly what varies
01:25there but one specific example would be accidental movement of the ball. If you do that on the
01:30putting green, accidentally move your ball at rest there is no penalty and you must replace
01:34the ball. If you accidentally move your ball in the general area, the ball at rest, then
01:39there is a penalty, you still must replace the ball but there is a penalty there. So different
01:44areas of the course you just have to be aware different scenarios result in different outcomes.
01:49Yes and it might sound like the rules are making it more complicated for people but those
01:52rules are there for a very good reason and that's why it's really important to know what the
01:56definitions are.
01:58Okay so this definition is known or virtually certain and Jez we've come to the 18th hole
02:07here on the west course at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club because this little stream that you
02:11can see in front of you runs all the way down the left-hand side of this hole and you and
02:15I have played this hole a few times when a ball has gone a little bit left off the tee, there's
02:19a few other things in the way, you can't be 100% sure, so what does known or virtually
02:24certain mean and how can it help people with the rules?
02:27Well known or virtually certain obviously means known so you might come down here, see
02:32a ball down in the stream there, you can see your identification marks on it or you've seen
02:37a splash or someone in the group ahead says your ball definitely went in the water, so that's
02:42fine that's known. The virtually certain bit where the rules, the definitions of the rules
02:47talk about all events suggesting it's at least 95% likely that the ball is in the penalty
02:54area. That's interesting because that then becomes a bit of a judgement call doesn't it
02:58because in this scenario if I've hit my tee shot, I hope you can see the tee behind me,
03:02if I've hit my tee shot down the left-hand side here it may well be in the water but it
03:06might well also be in these ferns here, it might be in the thick rough over here. The rough
03:11here is thick enough for you to potentially not find a ball in so it could be in there.
03:15So in this scenario here, my personal opinion would be that this, you couldn't be 95% certain.
03:22No, I would say at best probably 60%.
03:25Something like that, so then in that circumstance when you're talking about a penalty area here
03:29that known or virtually certain also applies to things like whether or not your ball moved
03:34and what caused it to move. But here I don't think you could be 95% certain your ball was
03:42in there unless you had specifically seen it go in so in that circumstance you would have
03:46to go back and play again from the tee rather than proceed under the penalty area rules.
03:50Yes, with a lost ball penalty added to your score. So there you have it, a known or virtually certain,
03:55a definition well worth knowing.
03:57Okay, so we've already covered known or virtually certain, which is handy because that brings
04:07us on to our next definition which is club length. Now in this scenario Jez, we would be
04:11virtually certain that the ball had gone in the stream because there's only a few bushes
04:16here and even then you can have a little look into those bushes. If it's not in one of those,
04:19it's in the stream. So I think we'd be 95% certain. I think in this area here there's no real rough
04:25to speak of. If it was in this little tuft here you'd see it. I think this would be a justifiable
04:3295% certain. Yes, at which point you'll need to take a drop and at which point you will also need
04:37to know what a club length refers to. Yes, so club length is a newly defined term under the rules and
04:43that is because you're no longer able to use your putter to measure out a relief area.
04:49Because they wanted to stop people with long putters gaining an advantage.
04:53Yes, gaining an advantage of maybe a few inches which actually in a certain scenario could end
04:58up being crucial. Might just get you clear of what you're taking relief from.
05:01Exactly, so you are going to use the longest club in the bag, I would think, so for most people that
05:06would be driver. Yes, I mean that is more about unplayable lies to the putter, but it could be here
05:12where you're able to get a little bit further away and open up the angle to the green. More an angle to get to green.
05:15Yes. So club length is now defined as the longest club in your bag that you are carrying for that
05:21given round. So typically driver, but if you have chosen not to carry the driver for any reason,
05:27you are sacrificing a little bit of relief area as well whenever you have to measure. Yes, so I think
05:31ball's crossed about here, we're going in that direction there, so this is no nearer the hole,
05:36is that fair? Yes, and with a penalty drop it's two club lengths. For free relief it's typically one
05:43club length, so you can now drop anywhere within that area, and that has gone nearer the hole,
05:51so you have to re-drop. There we go. And that is now within the two club length area,
05:58not nearer the hole, so that ball is in play. There you go.
06:00Right, so for this one you're going to need to use your imagination slightly. So we've come out on a
06:10beautiful day in June, there's no clouds in the sky, there's no rain, but if it was raining hard,
06:15then there are going to be certain areas on the golf course where the water gathers. And let's just
06:19imagine that around my ball is a giant puddle. Yes. Yes. What is the definition, the term within the
06:26rules that people need to look out for here? Well the definition is now temporary water, it used to
06:30be called casual water, but that got renamed temporary water in the 2019 rules versions. It's
06:36basically any area where puddles gather or pools of water gather where there shouldn't be water on
06:41the golf course, so not in a penalty area. Yes. But if there's heavy rainfall and this has filled out
06:48this little hollow with a puddle of water or an irrigation system has chucked too much water out and
06:53caused the temporary accumulation, you would get relief from that. You are entitled to a free
06:57drop, but how do you identify? So there are often scenarios on the golf course where the course is
07:02getting really quite wet. Yes. But it's kind of on the edge as to whether it's temporary water or
07:07not. What are you allowed to do, what are you not allowed to do? Well what you're not allowed to do,
07:09which you see a lot of people doing, is coming in here and really pressing down firmly with one foot
07:14to try and get the water to come up. Yes. It's only considered temporary water if it's visible,
07:19either before or after your stance is taken, without pressing down unnecessarily to get the
07:24water to come up around your shoe. Right, got it. And then when you take the drop,
07:28Yes. You need to make sure that you're then completely free of the area that you're taking
07:32the drop from, right? Yes, that's right. So you need to find the nearest point where temporary water
07:36does not interfere with the stance or where the ball is lying and take relief there. Nearest area,
07:40not nearer the hole. That becomes your nearest point of complete relief and then you can go from there.
07:45And you drop from there. Yes. So it's just important to know that temporary water is not
07:49something that comes up when you put all of your weight on one foot and press down as hard as
07:54humanly possible. Yes. Yes. So it does happen, this one, on the golf course. If you're playing more
07:58and more golf, you'll encounter it. So it's well worth knowing exactly what temporary water is and what it
08:03isn't. This definition is stroke and distance. Now, Jez, why is it important for people to know
08:13what stroke and distance refers to? Well, it's a very common penalty and procedure referred to in
08:19the rule book for rules like rules 17, 18 and 19, which are the ones that cover unplayable balls and
08:25penalty areas and lost balls and out of bounds. Lost, but we all lose them from time to time. And when you do,
08:31you'll need to know what stroke and distance is. What is it? Well, it's effectively exactly what it
08:35says on the tin, really. You have a penalty stroke, but you also lose the distance that you gained with
08:41the original stroke. I think a lot of people think if you play again from here, having lost a ball,
08:46it's a two-shot penalty, but it's not a two-shot penalty. It's a one-shot penalty plus 200 yards.
08:52Yes. It feels like a two-shot penalty. It feels like a two-shot penalty and you do effectively add two to
08:56your score. Yes. So in this scenario, the general area of the golf course, if I've blazed one right,
09:00lost it. We've gone up and had a look at it. I've lost it. I'm coming back to the same spot here,
09:05the same, effectively the same shot again, which would just be here. Yeah. But again,
09:08it's important to know how the rules differ for different areas of the golf course, isn't it?
09:13Yeah. I mean, it is because your reference point must be within the same area of the golf course.
09:18If you played the original shot from the general area, which is this fairway, a penalty area,
09:23or a bunker. Yes. So if your original shot was from a bunker,
09:26your reference point then is that bunker for playing the shot after you've taken stroke and
09:31distance. What about from the tee? From the tee, you have the advantage of being able to re-tee the
09:35ball anywhere you like in the teeing area. So if you clipped a tree, you weren't expecting to clip,
09:40and it's sent it into oblivion, you could then perhaps tee off a little bit further to the right
09:45or the left to potentially eliminate the risk of repeating the mistake. Yes. So possibly a smaller
09:50advantage to be gained by knowing exactly what stroke and distance refers to
09:54in different areas of the golf course. But from this scenario, I'm playing exactly the same shot
09:59again. Hopefully not exactly the same shot. No, no, exactly. Try and keep it away from the right-hand side.
10:09That's going to catch the edge, I think, just above ground. Oh, it came back a long way. Decent.
10:15Okay, so the next definition is hold. When the ball is and when it is not hold. Yes. What do people need
10:27to know here? Well, I think people need to know that things have changed on this front, although
10:31the definition in the rules in some ways hasn't changed. It still says at the start of the definition
10:36your ball is hold when all of it, the whole of the ball, rests below the surface of the putting green.
10:41Right. So not all of that is below the surface of the putting green. So is that hold or is that not?
10:45Well, it wouldn't have been, but it is now under the 2019 rules of versions, because there's now an
10:49exception, calls a special case, which probably isn't that special because it happens all the time.
10:54Yeah, especially with the COVID things that you've got in the hole. But even without that,
10:58being allowed to putt with the flagstick in, there is now this, what it calls a special case of the
11:02ball resting against the flagstick. And when the ball is resting against the flagstick, it's considered hold
11:07when any part of the ball is below the surface of the green. Yes, which clearly there is part of my
11:12ball here that is below the surface of the green, so this one is hold.
11:22Okay, so the last one on our list is the point of maximum available relief. Jez, what do people need
11:27to know here? Okay, well, I think people know that nearest point of complete relief is the normal term,
11:33and it is for taking relief from abnormal course conditions or dropping off a cart path. You have
11:38to have it such that that condition or obstruction no longer interferes with your stance or where the
11:43ball is lying. On the greens and in bunkers, there is a slight variation where you are able to find
11:48the point of maximum available relief if there is no point of complete relief. Right, so imagine this
11:54green is completely saturated, covered in water, or you're in a bunker and that bunker is completely
11:58filled with water. You're going to need to find a spot to drop the ball on, no nearer the hole,
12:02where that interference from the water is not quite so bad. Yeah, so on a green you'd be looking
12:08for the shallowest point between you and the flag that your ball would have to pass through,
12:11the point where it least interferes, and in bunkers you might be trying to find a little
12:14bit round the edge where your feet might still be in the water, but you can actually drop your ball
12:18in the sand. So there you have it, the point of maximum available relief, a definition well worth
12:23knowing. So there you have it, that's our look at the seven rules definitions every golfer needs to know.
12:29If you do have any questions, please post them below. We'll get back to as many people
12:32as we possibly can. But that's it for now for Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club, it's goodbye.
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