Rules Guy: Is it legal to listen to music during tournament play if you have a doctor’s note?

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.

I am a 60-year-old golfer who’s had three brain surgeries, broke my back in three places and suffers from trigeminal neuralgia and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. My neurosurgeon recommended I keep music playing in my ear during exercise to help endorphin production and alleviate my chronic pain. I took up golf four years ago, specifically as pain and cognitive therapy, and I fell in love with it. Still, I’ve been threatened with disqualification from many tournaments, including some hosted by my ladies’ league (though the club did issue a statement explaining that my AirPod music was allowed during weekly play). I’d deeply appreciate some clarity on the hotly debated Rule 4.3. I’ve recently reached a handicap index of 20 and would love to compete in some formal tournaments this season. —Lisa Jo Burge, Camano Island, Wash.

Kudos to you, Lisa Jo, for your fortitude and your progress in the game.

Under Rule 4.3b(1), a player isn’t in breach of Rule 4.3 if they use equipment to help with a medical condition.

To apply this exception, the equipment used needs to meet two requirements: The player must have a medical reason to use the equipment, and the Committee must decide that its use does not give the player any unfair advantage over other players.

Though he’s a Ph.D. in ephemera, Rules Guy isn’t a doctor — but yours doesn’t sound like an unreasonable accommodation to me. Hopefully, the relevant Committees agree. Good luck!

For more guidance from our guru, read on …

On a short par 3 over water, the tee box was placed with an overhanging tree on the line to the pin. I moved the left tee marker a few feet so that the tee shot could be hit without obstruction. This was done before everyone teed off — in fact, my opponent played first and I hit second. What is the correct penalty? This has sparked a huge debate in my men’s league. —Jason Wright, via e-mail

Jason, the fact that you ask what the penalty is — rather than if there’s a penalty — suggests you know you’ve done wrong … and you have. (Admitting that you have a problem, however, is the first step toward recovery of your honor.)

Tee markers are fixed — yes, even poorly positioned ones. Under Rule 8.1a, if you move one to gain a potential advantage by improving the conditions affecting the stroke, you must take the general penalty, which is two strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play. (Other players could likewise be subject to penalty if they knowingly took advantage of your maneuver.)

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And if before teeing off on the next hole you didn’t go back and fix your mistake by replaying the stroke from the correct area, you’d be disqualified. You could also be DQ’d by the committee if it deemed you guilty of serious misconduct — say, if you moved the marker precisely because you felt that the committee had screwed up. (Which sounds quite plausible, but that’s not for you to determine.)

Like sleeping dogs, let tee markers lie.

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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.