rulespin
Paul Kruger is a PGA professional at The
Landings Club in Savannah, Georgia.
by Paul Kruger
Perhaps a bit of luck and fortuitous
timing helped Justin Thomas on
his way to winning the 2017 PGA
Championship at the Quail Hollow
Club. During the final round, he was
faced with an 8-foot putt for birdie on
the par-5 10th hole. His ball barely
missed, and ended up overhanging
the left edge of the hole. Instinctively,
he pointed for his ball to drop into the
hole. When it did not, he turned and
walked away from the hole in disbelief.
However, as he turned around and
was heading toward the hole, he saw
that his ball had fallen into the hole for
a crucial birdie on his way to hoisting
the Wanamaker Trophy!
The amount of time that transpired
from the moment that Justin pointed
for his ball to drop to the moment
that his ball fell into the hole was
approximately 12 seconds. Some “arm
chair” officials watching the television
coverage may have wondered why
Justin was not penalized one stroke
under Rule 16-2 [Ball Overhanging
Hole] since it took more than ten
seconds for his ball to drop once it
arrived at the hole. Carefully note the
wording of Rule 16-2:
“When any part of the ball overhangs
the lip of the hole, the player is allowed
enough time to reach the hole without
unreasonable delay and an additional
ten seconds to determine whether the
ball is at rest. If by then the ball has
not fallen into the hole, it is deemed
to be at rest. If the ball subsequently
falls into the hole, the player is deemed
to have holed out with his last stroke,
and must add a penalty stroke to his
score for the hole; otherwise, there is
no penalty under this Rule.”
Note that the 10-second period
associated with this Rule is separate
from, and in addition to, the period
of time to allow the player to reach
the hole without unreasonable delay.
Also, note that the period of time
to allow the player to reach the hole
without unreasonable delay will vary
depending upon the circumstances.
Consider, for example, the player
who plays a long approach shot
that ends up overhanging the hole.
His or her walk to the green will be
interrupted to allow the other players
in his or her group to play their
approach shots to the green. Throw
in a 5-minute search for someone’s lost
ball, and there can be a considerable,
but not unreasonable, delay before the
player reaches the hole.
Likewise, consider the player who
plays an excellent shot from a greenside
bunker to the lip of the hole. In such
a case, the period of time to allow
the player to reach the hole without
unreasonable delay might include
perhaps a minute or so for the player
to rake the bunker in order to properly
care for the course.
No penalty will be incurred under
Rule 16-2 if the ball falls into the
hole within (a) the time it takes to
walk directly to the hole (actual or
estimated), plus (b) a reasonable
period of delay in walking to the hole,
plus 10 seconds. In Justin’s case, the
reasonable period of delay would
have included his natural reaction of
pointing to the right and then turning
away from the hole in disbelief that
his ball did not drop into the hole.
Even though he did not immediately
walk to the hole, there was no penalty
under Rule 16-2 because his ball fell
into the hole within the allowable time
frame, i.e., the time to reach the hole
without unreasonable delay plus an
additional ten seconds.
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