Rog's Blog: Rule 12-1 (Part 3)

At the outset, allow me to apologise for the length of this piece. Rog is not a fan of verbosity but this is a long and fascinating story.

Rule 33 in the 1972 Rules of Golf was headed ‘Hazards and Water Hazards’ and stated, in part:

1. Touching Hazards Prohibited

Before making a stroke, the player shall not touch the ground in the hazard ... with a club or otherwise ... subject to the following considerations (such ‘considerations’ were re-termed ‘Exceptions’ in 1988):-

e. Finding Ball If the ball be covered by sand, fallen leaves or the like, the player may remove as much as will enable him to see the top of the ball. ... If the ball is believed to be lying in a water hazard, the player may probe for it with a club or otherwise.

In the 1984 restructuring, Rules 12 and 13 were created. They stated, in part:

13-4. Ball Lying in or Touching Hazard

Except as provided in the Rules, before making a stroke at a ball which lies in or touches a hazard (whether bunker or water hazard), the player shall not:

b. Touch the ground in the hazard or water in the water hazard with a club or otherwise,

12-1. Searching for Ball; Seeing Ball

In a hazard, if a ball is covered by loose impediments or sand, the player may remove only as much thereof as will enable him to see part of the ball...

The obvious need to clarify this was (partially) addressed in 1988 wherein Rule 12-1 became:

12-1. Searching for Ball; Seeing Ball

In a hazard, if a ball is covered by loose impediments or sand, the player may remove by probing, raking or other means...

This was further clarified in 2004 when Rule 12-1 became:

12-1. Searching for Ball; Seeing Ball

In a hazard, if a ball is covered by loose impediments or sand, the player may remove by probing, raking with a club or otherwise...

At this point, the proviso contained within Rule 12-1 finally overcame the prohibition included in
Rule 13-4.

This was carried through into the 2008 Book and Decision 12-1/1 contained in Decisions Books from 2004 to 2012 succinctly (and correctly) confirmed the situation, viz:

Q. If a ball is covered by sand in a bunker, may a clubhead be used in searching be used in searching?

A. Yes.

But since 1 January 2012 ...

The Castle describes its changes to Rule 12-1 as for ‘clarity’ (what a novel use of the word in the circumstances). As part of this reformatting the following wording changes were effected:

12-1.a. Searching for or Identifying Ball Covered by Sand

If the player’s ball lying anywhere on the course is believed to be covered by sand...he may touch or move the sand in order to find or identify the ball.

12-1.b. Searching for or Identifying Ball Covered by Loose Impediments in Hazard

In a hazard, if the player’s ball is believed to be covered by loose impediments...he may touch or move loose impediments in order to find or identify the ball.

12-1.c. Searching for Ball in Water in Water Hazard

If a ball is believed to be lying in water in a water hazard, the player may,...probe for it with a club or otherwise.

This seems very strange as there appears no good reason why players should, in 2012, not be entitled to use a club when searching for a ball in these circumstances when this was permitted in 2011, and there is no mention within Principal Changes of this significant change in the Rules.

This is clearly a mess.

All that being said, let’s check the Decision Book to discover what The Castle thinks the 2012 revisions mean.

What’s this!...

Decision 12-1/1 (Reserved)

%&@@#%$ incredible*

This means quite simply that The Castle is not clear on what its new Rule means; that the previous Decision can no longer be substantiated by the new wording; and that this aspect of the Rule is, in fact, different from what has been in place for the past 8 years!

So what chance do we, the golfing proletariat, have of reading anything with confidence or reaching a clear understanding of what the Castle Dwellers think that they were thinking?

It also means that The Castle is acknowledging that it has stuffed-up and are leaving it to players, clubs and rules officials to sort it out for themselves, as best they can. And there is no point turning to national associations because they, as complicit acolytes, are unquestionably a major part of the problem and culpable in this fiasco**.

Given:

1. The history of the Rule (in its various forms);
2. The removal of the words ‘with a club or otherwise’, with the consequential re-activation of the prohibitions contained in Rule 13-4; and
3. The repudiation by The Castle of its previous Decision;

the only rational conclusion which can be drawn is that where a ball is believed to be covered by sand (anywhere on the course) or by loose impediments (in water in a water hazard) a club may not now be used. And we would all agree, I am sure, that this is a ludicrous situation.

This is a(nother) sorry example of the lamentable lack of intellectual rigour which pervades the management of the Rules of Golf.

* Rog did acknowledge in the Introduction that sometimes the Rules—and the CDs—evoke strong language: this is one such case.

** The Australian Lexicon of Obscure Sporting Termslists fiasco as ‘a joke which is beyond a joke’.