Q. If a player’s tee shot on the par-3 12th hole at Augusta National lands on or near the putting green and then spins back into Rae’s Creek fronting the green, what are the player’s relief options?
A. While the rare golfer (Fred Couples) is able to play the ball from the water hazard, most have to incur a penalty stroke and use one of the following procedures: (1) stroke-and-distance (play again from the tee), (2) drop behind (on the tee side) of the hazard, keeping the point where the ball last crossed the hazard margin (on the green side) between the hole and where he drops and (3) by Local Rule, drop a ball on the dropping zone located short of Rae’s Creek. It is important to note that none of these options allow for a drop on the green side of the water!
Q. During The Masters, a player hits an errant tee shot into the trees, where his ball lies on pine straw and near pinecones. What is he permitted to remove before his next shot?
A. Provided that (1) his ball is not in a hazard (such as the creeks on the second and 13th holes) and (2) the ball does not move, the player may remove the pine straw and pinecones, as they are loose impediments.
Q. On the 17th hole in the second round of the 1980 Masters, Seve Ballesteros hooked his tee shot onto the seventh green. What is the ruling for such a situation?
A. To avoid damaging the green, a player is not permitted to play from a wrong putting green. Ballesteros determined his nearest point of relief off the green (but not in one of the surrounding bunkers and not nearer the hole) and dropped within one club-length of that point. He proceeded to find the 17th green, hole his putt for a birdie three and, two days later, win his first Masters title by four strokes.
Q. As we saw last year with Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera, The Masters employs a hole-by-hole playoff to decide a tie for first place. If a player started his fourth round with 14 clubs but putts poorly and winds up in a playoff, may he switch putters for the playoff?
A. Yes, as a play-off in stroke play is a new stipulated round.
John Morrissett, Competitions Director at Erin Hills and former Director of Rules of Golf for the USGA, offers answers to the game’s great rules mysteries.
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