Resident Rules of Golf expert Fergus Bisset joins Golf Monthly editor Neil Tappin to discuss the situations where you can practice on the golf course and perhaps more importantly, where you can't practice to ensure you don't incur any avoidable penalty shots! The Rules of Golf can sometimes feel confusing and complicated, so hopefully this video explains the Rules of Golf in a way that makes them easier to understand.
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00:00Hello and welcome to The London Club. In this video in which we're going to take a look at the five things every golfer needs to know about when they can and when they can't practice on the golf course.
00:11Now there's a few things to get your head around in this one that you may have seen before that could catch you out if you do it.
00:17Now we've enlisted the help of a golf monthly rules expert, Fergus Bissett, who's going to talk you through exactly what you need to know.
00:24Right, let's head out to the golf course and get started.
00:26Okay, so for this one we're going to look at practicing on the course before your tee time.
00:31Now the first tee is just over that hill over there. I've got about 15 minutes or so before my tee time.
00:37There's no one playing this hole, so I'm just going to chuck a few balls down, Fergus, and I really want to just get a feel for the pace of the greens themselves because at this course, from time to time, the practice putting green is a little slower than the main course.
00:50I'm just going to hit a few putts just to get a feel for the pace of the greens.
00:56I think I'm going to stop you there before you do. We're going to need to think about rule 5.2 here, which is to do with practicing on the course before or between rounds.
01:04Practicing not only means making a stroke, but it would also include rolling a ball across the putting green, even rubbing the putting green.
01:11Question to ask you before you're rubbing the putting green is potentially not a lie. The question would be, are you playing match play?
01:19I'm playing stroke play, Fergus.
01:21Ah, problem. If you were playing match play, 5.2A says, fine, have a putt, not a problem.
01:295.2B deals with stroke play and it says, no practicing on the course before a round.
01:34If you were to hit one of those balls, if you hit one putt, go on then.
01:40Well, I don't want to get disqualified, but I hit one putt.
01:42If you hit one putt, right, you have now, well, you've hauled it, but you have got the general penalty of two shots.
01:48Was it worth it though? My confidence is growing.
01:51It definitely wouldn't be worth hitting another one because if you hit another one, you would be disqualified.
01:55Okay, no, I'm definitely not going to do that.
01:57Yeah, so that's pretty unequivocal there.
01:58If you are tempted to wander out maybe onto the 18th green, that 18th green might be right next to the first tee.
02:04The practice putting green might be Ramo because it's, you know, club championship day.
02:09Avoid the temptation just to wander out and hit a few putts on that green because if you do, as Fergus said,
02:14you'll get the general penalty and then even worse if you continue.
02:19So for this one, you are going to need to imagine that there is a group putting out on the green of the hole that we're playing.
02:25Fergus, I took my tee shot down here onto the fairway.
02:28I'm still bugged slightly by a pitch shot I hit on the last hole that didn't get quite right.
02:33So I would be quite tempted, knowing that there are certain circumstances where I can practice on the golf course.
02:38Okay.
02:38To practice my little nine o'clock back, nine o'clock through pitch shots.
02:42Okay.
02:43That's fine, isn't it?
02:44Well, this is one of the circumstances where you are not allowed to practice on the golf course.
02:49During the play of a hole, a player is not allowed to make a practice stroke at a ball either on or off the golf course.
02:57And if you did do that, and if you had a little go with that down there, you would receive the general two-shot penalty.
03:04And what if I just wanted to just practice my little chip shots?
03:07Like just, I'm not delaying play, I'm not holding up the group behind there on the green.
03:12I'm not doing anywhere any harm.
03:13I'm afraid there's no practice strokes at all during the course of playing a hole.
03:19Once you're playing a hole, you're not allowed to even have a little chip.
03:22You couldn't even have a little putt on the fairway there.
03:24You're not allowed to do any of those things.
03:26There are certain things you can do.
03:27You can take practice swings.
03:29There's nothing to stop you taking practice swings.
03:31If, for instance, this was a ball that had come over from a practice ground over there,
03:35you could actually knock it back to the person on the practice ground.
03:38How could you?
03:38Out of courtesy.
03:39You're allowed to do that.
03:41The only other time that you would be able to hit shots on that hole would be,
03:45if you were playing match play, the hole had been finished, basically.
03:49Right, so maybe I've blasted my tee shot out of bounds.
03:51I've given you the hole.
03:52It's been conceded.
03:53Right.
03:53Yeah, then you could play out the rest of the hole.
03:55Because you're waiting for the group in front anyway,
03:57so you might as well play the hole.
03:58Yes.
03:58Okay.
03:59But those are the only instances.
04:01In this instance, say it's a straight play competition,
04:04you're waiting for people, you cannot play that pitch shot.
04:07So I'm going to pick up my ball and I'll wait for the green.
04:15Oh, left.
04:21Now, so I keep missing my six footers left,
04:25so I'm going to have a practice go.
04:27That's all right, isn't it?
04:29It is, actually.
04:30Yeah, rule 5.5B deals with restrictions on practice strokes between holes.
04:36And it actually says that you're not permitted to take practice strokes between holes,
04:40but it gives some exceptions.
04:41One of those exceptions is that it's fine to have a practice putt on the green of the hole you've just completed.
04:48You even have a chip around the green of the hole you've just completed.
04:51Or you could do chipping and putting on a practice green that was nearby,
04:55or even on the next tee or around the next tee.
04:58You can't play full shots, you can't play bunker shots between holes,
05:01but you can have a little putt as long as you don't unreasonably hold up the play.
05:06And there's nobody on the fairway.
05:07There's no one there.
05:08So I think you can have another game.
05:09But you can't hit a bunker shot.
05:10You can't hit long shots into the green.
05:12No.
05:13So anything around the green, okay.
05:15Anything around the green, not in a bunker, okay.
05:18Anything around a practice green, okay.
05:20Any little tripping and putting around the next tee, okay.
05:24But don't unduly hold up play.
05:26Which I am not.
05:27You're not.
05:28So there we go.
05:28Much better.
05:31And there you go.
05:31And isn't that always the way?
05:33Always better set the time back.
05:33That is always the way.
05:34So you are allowed to practice on the golf course while you're playing stroke play,
05:38but there are only a very limited number of things you can do.
05:41Take what Fergus has just said, use that, and you won't fall foul of any penalty shots.
05:47Okay, so I have another practice-related scenario that I'd like to get your opinion on, Fergus.
05:51So I've just found a slightly scabby old golf ball in the rough.
05:55And we're waiting for the fairway ahead.
05:57So I'm very tempted to tee up a ball here because I'm not driving it very well.
06:01I'll keep hitting a bit of a slice.
06:03I'm going to just launch one over here just to sort of, I kind of want to work on my swing path through impact.
06:09Now, that doesn't feel like I'm doing anything too badly wrong, Fergus.
06:12Yes, you are breaking the rules.
06:16That's why I am.
06:16You are doing something wrong.
06:17Again, it's rule 5.5b that states you are not allowed to practice shots between holes.
06:25Now, we've talked about some of the exceptions already.
06:28This is not one of the exceptions.
06:30The exceptions would be chipping and putting around the last green that you completed,
06:35chipping and putting around the practice green that might have been in the vicinity,
06:37or you could have a little chipping putt around this tee.
06:41You cannot smack that driver off down there.
06:44And if you do, you will get a penalty, a general penalty.
06:48Which is what?
06:48Two shots.
06:49Two shots.
06:51Okay, fine.
06:52It's not worth it.
06:52As much as I quite want to work on my golf swing, it's not worth it.
06:55So, yeah, I'll just put my other golf ball in the plane and crack on.
06:58I think so.
07:00So, as you can see, we are in the bunker.
07:03And, Fergus, I presume that, given everything that you've said to me so far,
07:06I'm not allowed to just chuck another ball down and practice my bunker play
07:08before playing my actual golf ball.
07:11No.
07:11But what about practicing the swing itself?
07:14So, I want to check my impact locations.
07:16I want to make sure I'm catching the sand in the right place.
07:19Is that allowed?
07:21No.
07:22In fact, you have just encouraged the general penalty of tee shots.
07:26Rule 12.2b Part 1 gives us scenarios where you are not allowed to touch the sand
07:33in a bunker prior to making a stroke at a ball in that bunker.
07:38And one of those scenarios is in making a practice swing.
07:41So, categorically, you are not allowed to practice swings in a bunker
07:46touching the sand in the bunker in which your ball lies.
07:51Ooh, interesting.
07:52That bunker over there.
07:53That leads me to think about a bunker over there.
07:54Your ball does not lie in that bunker over there.
07:56There is nothing to stop you from going over there
07:59and having a practice swing in that bunker.
08:01Testing that side.
08:02It may be different.
08:03I don't know.
08:04But you can go over there and have a practice swing and come back.
08:06And as long as you don't touch the sand in this bunker with the club,
08:09then you won't incur a penalty.
08:11This feels like it should come with a bit of a warning, this one.
08:14Because I have a feeling that if I played with someone that started doing that,
08:18I would start to get a little bit fed up with perhaps how long they were taking to do it.
08:22Yeah, well, I think it's a rule 5.6A potential unreasonable delay to play.
08:29And I think, you know, here you might get away with it if you did it once or, you know,
08:33just an adjacent bunker.
08:36Yes.
08:36But say the nearest bunker was 200 yards away and you tried all the way down there.
08:39I'm running back to other fairs.
08:40Then I think, yeah, you're in danger of coming under the unreasonable play scenarios.
08:46Okay.
08:47Well, given that I've just incurred a tee shot penalty,
08:50I really need to hit a good bunker shot here.
08:51Okay, go on then.
08:52Let's give this a go.
08:56Oh, no.
08:57Clean.
08:58Sit.
08:58Sit big.
08:59Sit.
08:59Not bad.
09:00Oh, no.
09:01It's not good.
09:03So there you have it.
09:04That's our look at the five golf rules every golfer needs to know about practising on the course.
09:10If you need any clarification about any of that, please do leave some comments below.
09:14We'd love to hear what you have to say.
09:15And also, don't forget to hit the like button and please subscribe to the Golf Month YouTube channel as well.
09:21But that's it for now from the London Club.
09:22Thanks for watching.
09:23We will see you next time.