Rules we happen across

Ian Smith has uncovered a site where you can query and track the R&A rules

used example : see the query below on GUR and 'cavernous cracks '

Go to

and you get the answer.

Current Queries ...... anyone know the answer, and can quote the rule, please email in !!

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If you think you are in a bunker and play the shot, but subsequently find your ball isn't in the bunker at all but outside of that hazard, are you penalised ? ie you have mistakenly played the wrong ball.

Current thinking is that you are NOT penalised as, when in a bunker, you are not allowed to move it to inspect it, hence are not penalised if you play it mistakenly.

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Q Know any guru's on golf? Reading the rules still doesn't tell me the answer sometimes.

Tony lost a ball in ground under repair and dropped a ball behind under a one stroke penalty. However, the debate was that (under 25-1) there is no penalty as long as we are all agreed he lost it in GUR. It's not like a hazard. This GUR you don't see in Scotland - subsidence where the whole bank has moved with cavernous cracks.

A You technically can't lose a ball in a hazard and I presume it's the same with GUR. So it would be a case of deciding where the ball was most likely to have ended up, then take the appropraite drop.

However, you mention that in Scotland, you can't experience, "the whole bank has moved with cavernous cracks". You clearly haven't been out in Subway in Lothian Road when the birds from RBoS arrive on a night out...! I'll get my coat.

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When you double hit in a bunker you are penalised two strokes. This means, for instance, if you are playing your third shot from a greenside bunker onto the green and double hit, the next time you play you will be playing your 6th shot.

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If you overhit the 18th and end up on the practice putting area, you MUST take a free drop to the nearest point of relief not nearer the hole. You cannot putt green to green.

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On the 15th, if you overhit the green and onto the beach directly behind the green, as any drop at this point will be nearer the hole, you either play it as it lies from the lateral water hazard, or go back to where you originally played the shot with a one shot penalty.

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It is incumbent on the scorer of a playing partner to penalise that partner should he go 'outwith' the rules of golf. We playing as we do also estimate a partners score for any given hole should the player NR, or retire from that hole in a huff !

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When a ball is struck and is subsequently found to be out of bounds the player may drop on the fairway, roughly at the point at which it went out of bounds, accepting a two penalty strokes. eg if a ball is struck out of bounds from the tee and the player then plays off the fairway he will be playing his 4th shot. If a ball is known to be out of bounds it is only in agreement with his playing partners that a ball may be played from the fairway at the spot it went out, else the shot must be replayed from where it was originally. This is to avoid a player taking advantage unfairly of this rule, which we have always known as the 'Roberts' rule, introduced by past captain Grant Roberts to keep play moving and a player sane.

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If a ball moves due to wind action on the green and it is not being addressed by the player, it is marked where it comes to rest

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Some Guidelines on How to Avoid Slow Play

Each member group should proceed directly to his ball. The group should not travel as a pack, going to first to one ball, then the next, and so on.

While walking to your ball, use the travel time to begin thinking over your next shot - the yardarge, which club you'll use, and so on.

Carry a few extra tees, ball marks and a spare ball in your pockets so you don't have to return to your golf bag to retrieve them, should you find yourself in need of one.

When you think your shot might have landed out of bounds or be lost, immediately hit a provisional ball. Don't walk ahead to search, only to
have to return to the original spot to replay a shot.

Limit your search for lost balls. If you're not following the rules anyway, don't spend more than a minute searching - or just immediately
play your provisional. (If you are playing by the rules, wave through any group behind that is being held up by your search.)

Never hold up play because you're in the middle of a conversation. Put the conversation on hold, take your stroke, then continue the
conversation.

On the green, begin lining up your putt and reading the break as soon as you reach the green. When it's your turn to putt, be prepared to step
right up and take the stroke.

Leave your bags or golf carts to the side of the green, and in the direction of the next tee, never in front of the green.

Never stand on or next to the green after holing out in order to write down your score. Write it down when you reach the next tee.

If all else fails, try playing "ready golf," which simply means that order of play is based on who's ready, not who's away.

Dunbar Golf Club Dress Code:

   For guidance, the following are unacceptable on the golf course and in the Mixed Lounge and Dining Room.
      Blue Denin Jeans
      Collarless and Sleeveless Shirts, Other than those designed for golf
      Track/Shell Suits
      Untailored Shorts/Beach Shorts

Golfers using the facilities of the Mixed Lounge, Dining Room and the golf course are required to be neatly and presentably dressed at all
times even though their attire is casual.

Shoes: suitable golfwear must be worn on the golf course but shoes worn on the course MAY NOT BE WORN IN THE MIXED LOUNGE or DINING ROOM.

Council reserves the right to decide what constitutes casual dress and the Professional and his staff and members of staff of the Dunbar Golf
Club have the full support of Council in enforcing these decisions.

THE USE OF MOBILE PHONES is strictly prohibited on the course except in an emergency. Mobile phones may only be used in the Clubhouse with the prior permission of the Secretary.

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