rulespin
by Paul Kruger
Paul Kruger is a PGA professional at The Landings Club in Savannah , Georgia .
10 Commandments of the USGA
8
You have probably heard of the “ Ten Commandments .” You know , all of those “ Thou shalts ” and “ Thou shalt nots ” handed down by God to Moses on two tablets of stone . However , you have probably never heard of the USGA ’ s “ commandments .” These are primarily all of the “ musts ” and “ must nots ” written into the Rules to keep the player from falling astray on the golf course . In the Rule book alone , i . e ., not including the Appendices or the Decisions book , the word “ must ” appears approximately 180 times , while the phrase “ must not ” shows up about 60 times . Those are a lot of commandments for the player given that there are only 34 Rules !
In the introductory remarks of the Rule book , there is a brief section titled “ Understand the Words ” which reads , in part :
The Rule book is written in a very precise and deliberate fashion . You should be aware of and understand the following differences in word use :
• may = optional
• should = recommendation
• must = instruction ( and penalty if not carried out )
Here are just a few examples of the USGA ’ s commandments , with the words “ must ” and “ must not ” highlighted in bold face type for emphasis :
• Rule 1-3 [ Agreement to Waive Rules ] states , “ Players must not agree to exclude the operation of any Rule or to waive any penalty incurred .”
• Rule 4-1 [ Form and Make of Clubs ] directs that “ The player ’ s clubs must conform with this Rule and the provisions , specifications and interpretations set forth in Appendix II .”
• Rule 6-7 [ Undue Delay ; Slow Play ] commands that “ The player must play
without undue delay and in accordance with any pace of play guidelines that the Committee may establish . Between completion of a hole and playing from the next teeing ground , the player must not unduly delay play .”
• Rule 14-1a [ Fairly Striking the Ball ] points out that , “ The ball must be fairly struck at with the head of the club and must not be pushed , scraped or spooned .”
• Rule 27-1b [ Ball Out of Bounds ] instructs , “ If a ball is out of bounds , the player must play a ball , under penalty of one stroke , as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played ….”
It should be noted that , in addition to these “ musts ” and “ must nots ,” there are other USGA commandments for the player in the Rule book that appear as straightforward statements . Consider the following examples :
• Rule 3-2 [ Failure to Hole Out ] states , “ If a competitor fails to hole out and does not correct his mistake before he makes a stroke on the next teeing ground or , in the case of the last hole of the round , before he leaves the putting green , he is disqualified .”
• Rule 6-6d [ Wrong Score for Hole ] advises , “ The competitor is responsible for the correctness of the score recorded for each hole on his score card . If he returns a score for any hole lower than actually taken , he is disqualified .”
• Note 1 to Rule 22-2 [ Ball Interfering with Play ] points out , “ Except on the putting green , a player may not lift his ball solely because he considers that it might interfere with the play of another player . If a player lifts his ball without being asked to do so , he incurs a penalty of one stroke for a breach of Rule 18-2 ….”