Rules Guy: If a ball goes OB off the tee but emerges in-bounds on a different hole, can you play it?

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’ve got a question that has caused a heated debate at my club. If a tee shot on hole No. 1 crosses the out-of-bounds mark, crosses the adjacent street, then enters through the out-of-bounds mark on hole #10 and comes to rest in its fairway, is the ball OB or no? —Mario Pólit, via email

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Rules Guy isn’t being philosophical or mealy-mouthed; there’s a Model Local Rule (A-5) that would treat a ball that crosses a boundary as out of bounds even if it comes to rest on another part of the course.

Without the Model Local Rule, then if the ball comes to rest somewhere that’s on the course (i.e., inbounds) it doesn’t matter whether it crossed completely over a boundary or not — the ball is on the course. Which means Rules Guy gets to ask you a question: Does your course have said Model Local Rule in effect?

For more OB-related guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules

Recently I found myself at a local golf course where my ball landed in bounds but the out-of-bounds post would hinder my swing. As I have done with a red hazard post, I pulled it out of the ground, hit my ball and replaced it back where it was. My playing partner said I incurred a two-stroke penalty as the post was not in bounds and for that reason could not be moved. —Bob Wackerman, San Mateo, CA

Bob, your playing partner got the ruling correct even if his explanation wasn’t precisely on point.

Since it is a boundary object, an out-of-bounds stake isn’t treated the same way as a penalty-area stake. Boundary objects are considered fixed and, under Rule 8.1a(1), may not be moved if doing so improves one of your conditions affecting the stroke, such as your area of intended swing.

When you removed the stake, you had the chance to avoid penalty by replacing it prior to making the stroke (see Rule 8.1c), but once you made the stroke with your area of intended swing improved by the stake’s absence, you got the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play for a breach of Rule 8.1a.

Now that this answer has been, er, posted, we hope others won’t make the same stake miss, uh, mistake.

Need help unriddling the greens at your home course? Pick up a custom Green Book from Golf Logix.

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.

Golf.com