Transcripts - Episode 11: Golf Rule Basics & Dropping Rules

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Now here's your host, Corey, with another episode of the Birdie Board podcast.

Welcome back to the 11th episode of the Birdie Board podcast.

So the last episode, we had a great interview with a golf creator, a golf product creator. His name was Blanking Honest Name now. First name is Steve, but the product was called PathPow Golf. I really enjoyed the episode personally because, honestly, a lot of golf training aids I kind of am suspicious of. They just seem cheap. They seem like people trying to make a quick buck.

But I reached out to Steve to interview him on the podcast because I was just interested in learning about what the journey is to get a golf product from idea to selling. This is just kind of now speaking without Steve on the call. It was not even an endorsement or anything. Birdie Board received no money to have him on the podcast. It was just an interesting story to hear.

So if you have not heard that yet, listen to episode 10. It is on there. It is really cool to hear. Another part was just learning about how he got a product into manufacturing, but that is just my engineering background and how that interests me.

But for this podcast, we are going to pivot just a little bit and talk about a broad topic, which I think is a good refresher for winter golf, which is just the rules of golf. I have a book here I got off Amazon. It is called the Golf Rules Quick Reference. It is made by Expert Golf, and it is just a little book here. I would say it is about the size of my hand, fits in my golf bag. It has nice durable pages and a nice plastic cover.

And what it has in it is just a reference for golf rules. So if you are like me, playing golf according to the rules is really important. So I like to think that anyone listening to this podcast is just like a casual weekend golfer, maybe a little bit more serious than that, but I am definitely not trying to cater to the most serious of serious golfers.

But what playing by the rules does is, when you share your score, good or bad, you can have a lot of confidence in whether or not you can share that genuinely. And it also really helps you track how you are improving. So regardless of how serious you take golf, I highly encourage you to follow the rules the best you can, just because that is how you can really track your real progress.

And that is how you can have fun with friends, like using different game modes and stuff on Birdie Board, to be able to truly track and have fun and play competitively. If you do not know the rules, that is okay. There are a lot of them. It is complicated at times. And that is why I carry around this reference book, just so that I can quickly look down and learn.

For me personally, I actually joined a golf league at one point in my life. I probably only did like four matches in it. I was not very consistent in it. But I will say, being in the league and playing with really, honestly, over serious golfers helped me learn the rules really well. And it has helped me share the knowledge with my friends when they are having questions and stuff about how to handle things like different stakes and all that.

So I am going to go through the rules. I do not think this is going to be a boring podcast by any means. I hope not. But I do have my rule book in front of me, and I am going to kind of take it section by section.

Now, before you shut off the podcast, I am not going to go over every single golf rule there is, but I am going to go over some of the key ones in this podcast and probably more podcasts after this. So the focus of this podcast is just the basics of golf rules, but also some specifics about how you can do drops.

So the first thing is, there are tons of different ways to play golf, and sometimes those golf rounds have different rules, from the scoring perspective, but also sometimes how you do the game of golf while you are playing. I will try to point out some of those differences as I am going along. But the scoring can easily be managed by, I hope you choose a Birdie Board to help you, but even if you do not choose Birdie Board, there are other apps out there that can really help you manage the scoring aspect of different ways to play golf.

But generally these rules are just rules that can apply to no matter what golf game you are playing. So it is very specific if there is some nuance to these rules that might be different based off of the type of golf you are playing, whether it is stroke play, match play, handicaps or not, things like that.

So the first thing is holing out and conceding. So holing out is just your basic concept of golf. Once you tee off, the ball needs to go into the hole. You cannot concede a hole under normal circumstances in regular stroke play. So what that means is, in regular stroke play, there is not a max limit to how many strokes it takes to get into the hole.

That is kind of a gray area for a casual golf, where a lot of people play like double or one over double bogey. So they always pick up at plus three. Maybe they pick up at double par. Maybe they pick up double par plus one. It depends.

I would say there is a trade off there, because especially for a casual golfer like us, pace of play is really important. So you do not want to just always play to the maximum strokes until the ball goes in, because you might be on a par three for 30 minutes if you are doing that, if you are really getting stuck in a bunker or getting frustrated or something like that.

But I would recommend choosing a number that is relative to your golf game. So, for example, for me, I like to play double par is when I pick up. A normal score for me might be like a bogey on a hole. I will definitely get double bogeys maybe once a round or something. I will get a triple bogey. But the really rare scores for me are double par.

Be really, really honest with yourself. If you are finding yourself picking up more than once every couple rounds due to a big score, I think you might need to raise that cap up and just work on the pace of play. So it is really a rule you should follow because it helps you get that accurate score, but balance it with a good pace of play, because we do not want you guys sitting on a par three for way too long.

So keep those in mind. There are certain game modes that allow you to concede. For example, if you are playing Stableford and you know your opponent has already gotten more points than you could get, you may be able to concede the hole without holing out. Same with match play. If the person you are playing is already beating you on that hole, there is no reason for you to finish.

However, I encourage you to finish in match play, if pace of play allows, just for the practice of finishing out. But generally, conceding just is not allowed in normal stroke play. So keep that in mind if you are trying to play a normal round and you are trying to follow the rule.

So again, conceding is picking up if you have scored too high on a certain hole. Conceding is not just saying, “Hey, opponent, I am giving up this hole.” It is once you hit a certain stroke limit or something like that. That is conceding. Under normal rules of golf, there is not much that allows that. However, I would recommend for pace of play choosing a number that is relative to your handicap that may work for you.

All right, let us move on to the next one, which is substituting the ball. So between holes, you are allowed to change the ball out, but while you are playing, you are not allowed to change the ball out unless you have lost the ball or the ball has significant damage.

As casual golfers, I would say if you notice your ball has any sort of damage, just replace it out. It is not a big deal. But in competitive play, you would probably need a rules official to agree with you that your ball has some sort of significant damage. I am thinking like it really hit a rock hard, has a big gash in it, something like that, and that would require you to replace the ball.

Now do not use this as an excuse to improve your lie. We will get more to that later. But if you are going to replace your ball, make sure it is the exact same lie as it was before. And do not use it just as an excuse to get a better lie, because you are only hurting yourself in those situations, or you could be cheating if you are in an actual competition.

So if you do an unallowable substitution of your golf ball, that is just going to be a one stroke penalty for you on your scorecard. Especially if you do not improve your lie in any way, that is probably the worst case scenario. And I am kind of looking at my little book here. I think there was one more nuance to this rule that I wanted to share.

Yeah, actually I think that is about it. So let us move on to the next one, playing the ball as it lies, like I just talked about. So the basic rule of golf says that wherever your ball ends up, that is where you have to hit it from next. You cannot improve it at all. If it is plugged in a bunker or something like that, that is the unfortunate part of golf, but that is really the cool, challenging part of golf as well.

And you see that a lot at the pro level. That is why the best of the best do not win every single round, because sometimes things just do not go their way. The winners of a golf tournament could be separated by a single stroke, and that single stroke could be the difference between a plugged golf ball or an unplugged golf ball. And that is just the beauty of golf in a way. It is a frustrating part of golf for sure, but it is also the beauty of golf.

So here are a couple of things you can remember with just the playing the ball as it lies. The most simple is, you cannot touch the ball between the tee and the green. Basic rule number one there. There is nothing else you need to think about. It is just literally, you cannot touch the ball between teeing it off and getting to the green.

Playing the ball as it lies, so whatever the condition is, where the ball is laying on the ground, that is how you are going to play it. And then play the course as you find it. So you cannot change the aspects of the course to improve your lie. For example, fluffing up grass or something like that to be able to get a better shot through the ball, not allowed to do that. That is changing your lie.

A couple of the things you can do are moving twigs out of your club path, moving rocks out of your club path. But if you watch pros, they are picking these things like it is a delicate thing. And that is because a big factor of whether or not they are playing the ball as it lies is whether the ball moves as they are adjusting things around the ball.

So the safest thing is to just not get near the ball when you are adjusting things around the ball and moving twigs, things like that. And the simplest way you can understand this is just do not touch the ball until you get onto the green, and then on the green you can obviously mark it and stuff like that. So it is practically impossible to do anything wrong in golf if you just follow this rule.

It is a really simple one. It is something you guys can really take with you to play golf the right way. There are a couple of things like if you are playing the ball as it lies in an area that the course marked as a no play zone. For example, if they have a ground under repair and it is not like a red stake, they are actually trying to restore grass or something, and you play a ball from that, that would be violating the rules, stuff like that.

Those are some nuances that are usually posted on the scorecards of the course you are playing at and something that will be made pretty obvious to you. Usually, by the superintendent at courses, they will usually tell you, “Hey, on hole 13 there is some ground under repair route two hundred yards out. You get a free drop, no closer to the hole,” stuff like that. So that is just the basics of playing it as it lies.

Let us see, let us move on to the next one here, club length. So you have probably heard before, when you make a drop, you can drop up to a club length or sometimes two club lengths, depending on the type of drop. The clubs, you can choose any club you want out of your bag except for your putter. So that is the rule around that.

So dropping and redropping, let us talk about the actual mechanics of dropping the golf ball. The actual mechanics are you have to drop the golf ball within the designated drop zone from your knee and no lower. Once you drop it, the ball has to land in the designated drop zone and stay in the designated drop zone.

If you drop it from your knee and it lands in the zone and stays in the zone, you are good to go. You are ready to take your shot. If you drop it from your knee and it lands out of the drop zone but rolls back into it, that does not count as a valid drop. You have to pick it up and drop again.

Vice versa, if it drops in the drop zone and then rolls out of the drop zone, you have to pick it up and drop again. So if you do not have a successful first drop, you are permitted to drop it again. If the second drop is still not successful, that is, it does not stay in the drop zone, then you are allowed to place it in the drop zone where the ball was last dropped, and that is the key.

So for that second drop, wherever it was dropped, you would then try to place it where it hit the ground within the drop zone. If it still does not stay there, then the last option is you are finding the nearest spot where the ball can stay. So you can think of a scenario that might happen. If you are on a slope, then it might constantly be rolling out of the drop zone. So that is when you would place it at the nearest point where it would not roll out.

Let us see. And then I guess a couple of other nuances with that are you cannot go any closer to the hole with your drop. That is a pretty across the board type of rule with drops. You can just never go closer to the hole.

And two things. You can either clean your ball that you are about to drop. Let us say it was like a red stake area and you found your ball in the red stake area. You can either clean it and just reuse the one you found, or you do have the opportunity to drop a new ball in this case without any penalty.

All right. So let us say you had an incorrect drop and you actually ended up playing it. Well, a couple of things could happen there depending on the scenario. So I am just going to keep going to these rules because I love these things.

The first thing is, if you play from the wrong spot, it is going to be a two stroke penalty. It seems severe, but it could give a significant advantage, and that is just what it is. So if you end up dropping the ball, it rolls out of the drop zone and is on a level lie, it is going to be a two stroke penalty.

And again, these are all self assessed. You have to be honest with your own score. But when you get to the end of the round and you have assessed your penalties correctly, it is such a good feeling knowing that is my score. Maybe it is 90, 95, 105. You can have so much pride in saying, “Okay, that is my score. Now I can actually go beat it,” knowing the rules.

Maybe you did have to assess yourself a two stroke penalty. Well, that is an easy way to change a score from 100 to a 98, even if you play the same way. So it is a really exciting thing once you know these rules and you are actually playing by them.

There is a nuance here if you are playing in a more professional tournament that, if the lie is improved significant enough, and I know that is subjective, but that is kind of based off the rules committee, it could result in disqualification.

So, for example, I am thinking if you are dropping behind a tree and it rolls down and now you have a nice clear view to the green, that is a pretty significant advantage from where it would have been if you dropped it. So keep that in mind if you are playing a more professional tournament, that it could result in disqualification, but I think in most cases it would just be a two stroke penalty.

Let us see. If you dropped it incorrectly, so let us say you dropped it from below your knee or something like that, but it did land in the correct spot, that would only be a one stroke penalty. And then if you placed it instead of dropping it, that would be a two stroke penalty, assuming it is in the correct spot.

All right, let us talk about the last one here, which is just suspension of play. So this is like what happens if the tournament or the round you are playing, or just the weekend round, is suspended for some reason. Suspended is like weather related. It is raining too much, thunderstorm, lightning, things like that.

So there are a couple of rules you guys can be familiar with around this. So if there was a signal, a warning signal, that there might need to be a suspension of play, the rule says that you can, let us see, let us see, the actual rule says that you are allowed to finish the hole if it is just a warning saying, “Okay, we expect suspension of play to happen in the next 30 minutes. Finish up your hole and then call it a day for now.”

I do not think you see that super often anymore. Usually you just see people playing as far as they can and then it is suspended. But there is a rule there that says they can issue a warning. You guys can finish the hole and then call it a day.

If there is a signal that says, “Hey, we need immediate suspension of play, imminent storm, lightning detected,” things like that, you must stop play. It is usually a safety thing. I would encourage you to always listen to those rules. People have actually passed away because of lightning strikes on the golf course, things like that. It is just safer. Live to play another day. We are weekend golfers. It is not worth it to push the round or anything like that.

So what you do is you can actually pick up your ball in these cases. So if it is like a rain delay or a lightning delay and you are on your regular course on the weekend, mark your ball and take advantage of this rule. You can pick it up. You can clean it. You can make sure it is not damaged by hail or whatever is going to happen. Put a tee in the ground. Make sure it is secure so you know where it is at. And then put the ball in your pocket. Do not lose it or anything like that.

And then once play resumes, you just put the ball, you can actually place it, it is not a drop, you place it exactly where it was before, and then you can complete the hole just like it was.

All right. Yeah, another rule here. For lightning, you do not have to wait for it to be officially suspended. So I know a lot of courses, even public ones, will have an air horn that they fire if there is lightning in the area. If you are suspicious or you see something, there is a rule that is protecting you, saying you are allowed to mark your ball and wait until you feel comfortable again. That is okay. And do not worry about pace of play in those cases, because safety is very important.

If players discontinue their round without a valid reason, then you will be disqualified from whatever you are playing. So in weekend golf that does not really matter. If it is rain, I have walked away, you know, hole 12 because of a bad rainstorm before. Yeah, technically I followed this rule by disqualifying myself.

But if you are playing an actual round and you just do not want to finish because of the rain or something like that, and maybe you said there was lightning and there was not, I do not know, there are probably reasons that it just would not be valid for you to stop play and you would be disqualified.

But that is not too important here. I think the important thing is if you are playing with other people and you feel uncomfortable because of the lightning in the area or something like that, do not push it. Just suspend play there and call it a day. Your safety is more important.

All right, so those were the golf rules that I wanted to go over today. I think it was an awesome podcast. It is a good refresher for myself, and I think it fits winter golf pretty well, because it is just kind of setting a nice foundation of these golf rules. I mean, we probably went through like 10 rules today going over everything, and I think we got a really good base in.

So anyways, that is it for this week’s podcast. Thanks for listening.

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