Season 2 – Round 2 Quiz

1.  A red penalty area is 10 yards to the right of the fairway, and water has overflowed from it such that a small area of water extends out some 20 yards into the fairway. You see your tee shot land in the fairway and roll into the water, which is shallow and muddy. You search by probing the water with a club but decide not to wade into the water to search. After three minutes, the ball has not been found. Which one of the following is correct?

2.  Your ball comes to rest a few inches from the base of a cactus, near an animal hole. The cactus is in a position such that you cannot play toward the hole right-handed. As a right-handed player, when you take a stance to chip out sideways, there is no interference by the animal hole, but you will be standing on a mound of sand and loose soil dug out of the animal hole. If you play left-handed you could advance the ball in the direction of the hole using the back of your putter but, for that stroke, the animal hole would interfere with the area of your intended swing. Which one of the following is correct?

3.  After a shot to a blind green, you find your ball embedded in a pitch-mark in an area of soft ground in the fairway just short of the green. You ask a ball spotter in the area if she saw the ball land and she replies that she didn’t see it land and come to rest. Since it is the only pitch-mark in the area, you believe your ball came to rest in its own pitch-mark and lift the ball without marking its position to take relief under Rule 16.3. However, before dropping a ball to take relief, a couple of spectators who you didn’t realize were there inform you that your ball bounced just short of the green and spun back into the pitch-mark that had been made by a ball from a previous group. The ruling is:

4.  Model Local Rule F-23 is in effect and your ball has come to rest behind a grandstand that is defined as a temporary immovable obstruction (TIO). Although the grandstand does not interfere with your stance or area of intended swing, it is on a direct line between your ball and the hole and you could play toward the hole if the grandstand was not there. You determine that your nearest point of complete relief is in another TIO (a concession stand). Which of the following is true?

5.  Model Local Rule F-5 (Immovable Obstructions Close to Putting Green) is in effect. Your ball has come to rest in the general area near a putting green and you intend to play parallel to the green and along the fringe in order to get to a hole location that is tucked in a corner of the green. There is a sprinkler head about one and a half club-lengths from your ball and a few inches to the side of where you intend to play. When measured on that line to the hole, the sprinkler head is about four club lengths from the edge of the putting green. But, when measured directly toward the green, it is only about one club length from the edge. What is the ruling?

6.  In stroke play, your ball lies in the general area. In taking your stance, you notice that your left heel touches the dirt lip around a sprinkler head and overhangs but does not touch the sprinkler head itself, which is two inches below the level of the ground. Unsure whether you are entitled to free relief, you decide to play two balls and announce that you want the second ball to count. You play the first ball as it lies. For the second ball, you take relief under Rule 16.1b but, when doing so, you drop a ball from waist height. You believe you have scored 6 with the first ball and 5 with the second ball. You report to the Committee before returning your scorecard. How should the Committee rule?

7.  You arrive at the spot where your tee shot is meant to be and a spectator says that it disappeared into a plastic pipe that comes out of the ground. The pipe is located just outside of a nearby penalty area and based on the angle of the pipe, it is known that the ball has come to rest in the pipe and that the ball is located in the red penalty area. You believe you now need to take penalty area relief but another player in your group thinks you might be allowed free relief. You decide to play two balls just in case and, without choosing a ball, you make a stroke at a ball you dropped two club-lengths from the edge of the red penalty area and then make a stroke at a ball you dropped in taking relief from the pipe’s entrance. You make four additional strokes to complete the hole with the first ball played and two additional strokes to complete the hole with the second ball. You report the facts in the scoring area. What is your score on the hole?

8.  On a day when the Committee has allowed the use of the preferred lies Local Rule (Model Local Rule E-3), you arrive at your tee shot on a par five when a spectator mentions that your ball bounced forward only a short distance after having made such a large pitch-mark in the fairway. You take preferred lies relief and do so by placing your ball just in front of the pitch-mark because it helps “tee-up” your ball for your next stroke. However, while you are assessing your next shot and as a result of natural forces, your ball rolls into the pitch-mark. Which one of the following is true?

9.  You find your ball in a sandy area in the general area outside the fairway. The ball is sitting down in a depression within the sand and you are unsure if it is embedded in its own pitch-mark. You mark the spot of the ball and lift it to check to see if your ball is embedded. Even after lifting the ball, you are unsure if it came to rest below the level of the ground. Another player in your group sees you have lifted the ball and informs you that embedded ball relief is not allowed in sand. Which one of the following is true?