Comments on TeeGolf Rules

Rule 5: Striking the Ball from the Fairway/Rough

 

Rule 5.1 Locate the Ball

It goes without saying that you have to locate the ball that you've hit. Virtually all recreational golfers have lost golf balls in the rough. Many have even lost their golf balls in the fairway.

In TeeGolf you're permitted to pick up a ball and determine if it's your ball. Since you will find that you can improve your lie (as shown in the later rules of TeeGolf), you can move to ball to see if it's your ball.

Rule 5.2 Lost Ball Procedure

Every recreational golfer will lose a golf ball, usually in the rough and even in the fairway once in a while. You may not see where the ball went even though it could very well be in the fairway. (You don't have officials looking for your ball like the pros.)

You have three options:

1. You can take a Mulligan, which won't count against your final score. But once you leave the tee ground to find your ball, you can't go back to the tee ground to hit a Mulligan. It just slows down the game for everybody.

2. When you hit the ball into the rough, you try to figure out where it went. It would be helpful if your playing partners watched as well. Even before you leave the point where you hit the ball, try to determine about where it went.

If you can't find it. (Maybe it's hidden under a bush or deep in the rough weeds.) Let you playing partners know that you can't find it and place another ball at approximately where you and your partners think it landed. You can place the ball where you can get a good swing, and you can use a tee if you want.

You don't have to take a penalty stroke for hitting a replacement ball from that position.

3. You also have the option of placing the ball on the fairway at the nearest spot to where you think the ball came to rest. You must take a one-stroke penalty for the privilige of placing the ball on the fairway.

Rule 5.3 Placement of the ball

When you find your ball, either on the fairway or in the rough, you can pick up your ball and place it according to the following:

1. You can place the ball (using a tee if you want) within one club length from where the ball came to rest as long as it's no closer to the pin.

You can also place the ball on a clump of grass or in a place where you don't have any obstructions to your swing.

This TeeGolf rule will help you reduce the number of times you top the ball, as many recreational golfers do.

2. Also, you can place the ball (on a tee if you want) as far back from the spot where the ball came to rest as you wish. You must be within a two-club width on a line extending from the pin through the place where the ball came to rest as far back as you want.

This rule most of the time will give you a better shot at the pin. It also gives you a better chance of getting a swing without obstruction.

Rule 5.4 Use of tee on fairway or in rough

You can use a tee not to exceed 6 inches anywhere on the fairway or rough.

This rule gives you a better chance of striking the ball without dribbling the ball a few yards away. Most recreational golfers are not very good at taking a divot and so top the ball frequently. (You probably notice how the professionals take a divot most of the time they strike the ball on the fairway.) Recreational golfers don't take divots properly, and when they do, they are embarassed.

Rule 5.5 Unplayable Lie

Once you find that you can't hit the ball where the ball came to rest, you can place the ball within one club length from the original lie of the ball. You can place it on a tee if you want.

You can also place the ball (on a tee if you want) as far back from the original lie as you want. The ball must be placed within two club lengths of a line that runs from the pin through the ball's original lie as far back as you want as long as the ball isn't any closer to the pin than the original lie.

This should give you a place to hit the ball without obstruction. If not, you can place the ball at the nearest location on the fairway. You would have to take a one-stroke penalty.

Rule 5.6 Unrecoverable Ball

When you hit a ball into an area where you can't recover your ball (such as a designated out-of-bounds area), you must place the ball at the closest spot on the fairway. You could also take a Mulligan from where you originally hit the ball.

Rule 5.7 Mulligan

As on the teeing ground, you can take a Mulligan for a shot you don't like from the fairway or the rough. The Mulligan will not count on your final score.

Rule 5.8 Water Hazard

It seems that recreational golfers have a hard time keeping their golf balls from going into lakes, ponds, and creeks.

If you hit the ball into a water hazard, you can do one of three things:

1. You can place the ball on the fairway in a place nearest to the the spot the ball came to rest in the water hazard (unlike USGA which requires that you drop the ball within two club lengths where the ball crossed the boundary of the water hazard). You must take a one-stroke penalty.

2. If possible, you can place the ball (using a tee if you want) behind the spot where the ball came to rest in the water hazard on a line from the pin through the spot where the ball came to rest in the water hazard.

3. You can take a Mulligan as well.

Fortunately, there are no drops in TeeGolf.

If there is a situation that you think isn't covered by the rules, feel free to let us know about it, by clicking here: Contact Us.