Rule of the Month: Sticks and Stones

Test your knowledge of sticks and stones, Rule 15, and additional Rule situations when sticks and stones are involved with the following questions.

Questions: True / False

1. Sticks and stones must not be touched or removed from the same bunker or penalty area that the player’s ball is in.
2. The player arrives at his or her ball on the putting green and finds several sticks near the hole. He or she removes some and leaves others that might deflect the ball into the hole. Another player removes the sticks left in place by the player. The player may replace the sticks moved by the other player before making his or her putt.
3. In the general area, a penalty area or a bunker, if the removal of a stick or stone causes the ball to move, the player incurs one penalty stroke and must replace the ball.
4. If the removal of a stick on the putting green causes the ball to move, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced.
5. Before making a stroke, a player places a stick behind the hole to prevent the ball from rolling too far. The putt stops short of the hole. There is no penalty since the ball didn’t hit the loose impediment.
6. While a ball is in motion after a stroke from the putting green, another player picks up a stick that was just behind the hole to prevent the ball from hitting the stick. The putt stops short of the hole. There is no penalty since the ball came to rest before rolling through the area where the stick was.
7. Before dropping a ball in a relief area, sticks and stones may be removed by the player.
8. Sticks and stones may be removed by any method such as by using a hand, foot, club, towel or hat.
9. After the player’s ball came to rest near a tree, a stick fell from the tree and landed next to the ball. The lie of the ball was worsened when the falling stick created a small mound of dirt behind the ball. The player may restore the conditions worsened after the ball came to rest.
10. A player’s ball comes to rest on a cart path that was artificially surfaced with stones. Since the path is artificially surfaced, it becomes an immovable obstruction and the player may take relief from the path but must not remove any stones if he or she desires to play the ball from the path.

Answers:

1. False. Rule 15.1a. Sticks and stones may be removed from anywhere on or off the course, including bunkers and penalty areas.
2. True. Rule 8.1d and Interpretation 8.1d(1)/2. Generally, a player is allowed the conditions affecting the stroke that he or she had when the ball came to rest. In this case, the player’s conditions were worsened by another player and may be restored by the player prior to his or her stroke.
3. True and False. Rule 15.1b. It is true that the player gets one penalty stroke for causing his or her ball to move when removing a loose impediment in the areas of the course mentioned. However, it is also false if the player moved a loose impediment and accidentally moved the ball while trying to find or identify the ball. A few other exceptions to Rule 9.4b could also get the player out of a penalty. See Question #4.
4. True. Rule 15.1b and 9.4b. Both of these Rules essentially say the same thing. There is no penalty for accidentally causing the ball to move when on the putting green, no matter how it happens. And Rule 9.4a requires the moved ball be replaced.
5. True. Rule 11.2. This Rule is outcome based and there is no penalty since the action didn’t affect the movement of the ball. In other words, since the ball was not deliberately deflected or stopped, the player may play from where the ball came to rest with no penalty. See the following question for further clarification.
6. False. Rule 11.3 and Interpretation 11.3/1. Unlike the situation in question #5, this Rule is intent based and the other player gets a penalty for deliberately moving the stick with the intent to influence where the ball might come to rest. The fact that the ball stopped short of the area where the stick was located is irrelevant.
7. True. Rule 15.1a and Interpretation 15.1a/3. Loose impediments may be removed from a relief area when the player is dropping or placing a ball in the area. However, except on the putting green, when a player is replacing a ball on a specific spot, a loose impediment that would have been likely to cause the ball to move if removed before the ball was lifted, must not be removed prior to replacing the ball.
8. True. Rule 15.1a. Provided that play is not delayed, loose impediments may be removed by any means from anywhere on or off the course. Additionally, the player may ask other players and spectators for assistance in removing large sticks and loose stones.
9. False. Rule 8.1d(2). Generally, a player is entitled to the conditions affecting the stroke that he or she had when the ball came to rest. When the conditions affecting the stroke are worsened by the player, a natural object (stick) or by natural forces, the player is not allowed to restore the conditions. In the situation presented, the player may remove the stick but must not restore the conditions around the ball.
10. False. Rule 15.1a, Definition of Loose Impediment and Interpretation Loose Impediment/4. In this case, the player has several options. He or she may play the ball as it lies and may remove stones prior to making a stroke. Additionally, since the path is artificially surfaced with the stones, free relief is also available. Or the player may remove stones from the path to determine the possibility of playing the ball as it lies before choosing to take free relief.

Post date:Thu, 06/30/2022 - 07:37