Rog's Blog: Rule 18-2b (Part 1)

Now to the revised Rule 18-2b, and what a doozey it is!

The Castle has managed to turn what was a Rule understood by 3.56% of golfers into a Rule which will now be understood by nobody; that is nobody.  And the reason that no-one will be truly able to understand it is because it is complete nonsense, both semantically and practically.

In essence, because a couple of pros did not seem to have the nous to eliminate Rule 18-2b from the situation on a windy day by not grounding their putter and thereby not addressing the ball (see Definition) the Castle Dwellers decided to change the Rules to protect these people from themselves.

To begin at the beginning; old Rule 18-2b provided that once a player had addressed the ball s/he would be penalised if the ball moved – having been deemed to have moved it.  That meant that if the wind moved the ball on the putting green after the putter had been grounded then a penalty was incurred (and the ball was required to be replaced).

Now just to show that Rog is not entirely unreasonable, let me say: 

·     If players think this is unfair and do not have the smarts to not address the ball, and The Castle has sympathy, then fair enough; fix the problem, and

·    The Castle does deserve some credit for separating the two sentences in the old Rule into two paragraphs in the new: this was a source of great confusion and the re-arrangement makes the Rule marginally easier to understand.

So, the simple way to deal with all this would have been for the Rule to be re-worded along the following lines:
 

If a player’s ball in play moves after he has addressed  it (other than as a result of a stroke), unless it is known or virtually certain that the player did not cause his ball to move, the player is deemed to have moved the ball and incurs a penalty of one stroke.

But No! The CDs chose the complicated pathway of creating an Exception – and what an exception it is.  This course of action reminds me of an old Inuit telling me once that in order to catch a polar bear you must first catch a whale.

Let’s have a closer look at the new Rule.  The first paragraph of Rule 18-2b is clear and unequivocal: ‘If a player’s ball moves after he has addressed it … the player is deemed to have moved the ball … ‘  That is, he has moved the ball within the terms of the Rules.  This would seem to be the end of the matter; but no, there’s more.

The Exception states that even though he has been deemed to have moved the ball then if it is known or virtually certain that he did not move it, he is magically ‘un-deemed’ to have moved it, it having already been established that he was deemed to have moved it by virtue of having taken his stance. This is just nonsense.

Consider the situation where a player’s ball lies on a slope just off the green on a windy day.  He addresses the ball and it moves.  The player claims that it was the wind.  If his marker or opponent agrees, who cares, let him proceed without a penalty. If there is not agreement then there is either a punch-up (virtual or otherwise) or it becomes someone else’s problem.  But this situation, while a confusion, is not a significant issue.

Consider the same player whose ball is on a fast, undulating green on the same windy day. He addresses the ball and begins his backswing. The ball moves and he continues with his stroke and plays the ball.  If it is agreed that the ball did, in fact, move and that it was not, in fact, the player’s fault that it did move then Rule 18-2b does not apply. But if Rule 18-2b does not apply then what Rule does apply?  This is pretty simple to answer but most players, I say with due respect, will not have a clue.

But we have another player whose ball comes to rest through the green, let’s say in the rough (even though his term has no meaning within the Rules).  The player grounds his club behind the ball and as he begins his stroke a small lizard, of which the player was not previously aware, causes the ball to move.  As it is too late for the player to check his stroke, he completes the stroke and plays the ball.  So, what happens now?  When you have reached a conclusion post it and I will let you know how well you have done.