After taking a week off to work with the President on Greenland, Foremost is finally able to turn his attention back to some important issues, like the Rules of Golf.

(This Greenland deal….don’t tell anyone, but it’s going to be a clean swap instead of a purchase… the Prez is taking F’s advice! No cash. We get Greenland….Denmark gets all of California … except for the Monterrey Peninsula and Napa Valley….brilliant!)

Facts

The drive on the opening hole at HCC is challenging, to say the least. Out of Bounds stakes guard the left, while a quiet and narrow creek marked with red stakes as a Penalty Area, meanders along the right side of the fairway. Across the creek a short, but rather sharp slope, is marked several feet up as OB, setting off the PA from well land-scaped and manicured back-yards.

Some drives are sprayed right from the get-go. Another common mishap to the right is the fading, slicing drive (a F specialty) which catches the cart path, before careening towards the PA. In either case, a player often doesn’t have a clear view of the spot upon which his ball lands, as areas of the PA and OB are often obscured by bends in the creek and bushes.

Generally, a brief search ensues where the players probe the bottom of the creek, peer through the branches of some prominent bushes, and climb the upslope searching for the ball in the landscaping on either side of the OB line. Occasionally, the ball is not found.

Without exception then, so it seems, someone says, “You’ve gotta be in the PA”, at which point the player takes a drop in a forgiving rough outside the PA under penalty of one-stroke. Good manners at HCC always seem to prevail!

Ruling

Players need to be aware of the Rules definition, “Known or Virtually Certain”. Unless a Player “knows” (actually sees or is told by a witness), or has “virtual certainty” that his ball is in the PA, then if he can’t find his ball, he must declare it “lost” or “OB”, and he must then play under penalty of stroke and distance ( R17.1c, referencing R18.2). (Note however, as an alternative to stroke and distance for a ball “lost” or “OB”, he may utilize the Local Rule and drop in the fairway taking a two-stroke Penalty).

A two-stroke penalty certainly hurts! From F’s perspective, a one-stroke penalty on the first hole is bad enough…a two -stroke penalty on the first hole is simply demoralizing…like the opposing team scoring a touchdown on their first drive. (Yes, football season is approaching!)

And this Rule (17.1c) is not very forgiving. (So much for the new, easy Rules of Golf!).The standard for “Virtual Certainty” imposes a 95% probability (See Definition, “Known or Virtually Certain”). After considering “all reasonably available information” (such as slope, terrain, landscaping, trees, bushes, etc), the player must be able to assert with a 95% level of confidence that his ball is in the PA, or he has to eat the two-stroke penalty.

In addition, a Player should be aware of another pitfall following his search and any declaration of “virtual certainty”. Clearly, a player who spends most of his 3-minute search looking for his ball in someone’s back-yard which is Out of Bounds, will have a hard time asserting at the expiration of his search that he knew with 95% virtual certainty that his ball was in the Penalty Area. Some opponents in a match play competition might politely question or even seek a Ruling (R20.1(2)) on this set of facts. Beware!

As usual, all comments or corrections are welcome! Meanwhile, F is on another project….shhh!

Respectfully submitted,
F