Rules Guy: If a course uses a Model Local Rule, do you get to decide when to use it?

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

A player hooked his tee shot into a wooded area that included an out-of-bounds area. He announced he was hitting a provisional and promptly hit dang near an identical hook into the same area. Upon searching, both balls were quickly found to be out of bounds. The player elected to play the original ball, dropping it no nearer the hole on the edge of the fairway (Model Local Rule E-5). He hit it onto the green and made the putt for what we believed to be a fantastic bogey 5. After the round, the league commissioner ruled that he should have recorded a 7, not 5, with the following explanation: “By electing to hit a provisional from the tee, the player gives up the right to use the Local Rule on the first ball that went out of bounds. You can either use the Local Rule or hit the provisional but cannot apply both for the same shot. If the first ball is indeed out of bounds, it is dead and the provisional is in play.” Was this the proper ruling? — Jim Olichwier, St. Croix Falls, WI

Jim, this commissioner certainly sounds quite knowledgeable … because he is!

Once the player played a provisional, he wasn’t allowed to use the Local Rule with respect to the original ball.

As the commish was explaining, nothing stopped him from using it on the second ball. Give that commissioner a raise, or at least buy him a beer.

For more OB-related guidance from our guru, read on …

You hit a ball, and it breaks into two parts. One part lands on the green, the other part out of bounds. What is the rule as to how to proceed? — J. Herring, via email

Did you hit the ball with a golf club or a lawnmower, J? Was this a gutta percha ball or a feathery?

This kind of thing doesn’t happen much anymore, thanks to modern technology, but on the rare occasion it does, Rule 4.2b covers matters — the stroke doesn’t count, and you go back and play again from where you made that last, scything, ill-fated stroke. 

Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.