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In a lot of your rulings, you refer to Local Rules and Model Local Rules, but how do I find out if my course uses them? Do they have to be posted? If they aren’t posted or listed somewhere, does that mean they aren’t in effect? —Mark Dittman, Lebanon, Ohio
Not to be tautological or arch — heaven forbid — but in order for a Local Rule to be in effect, the Committee has to put it into effect.
This means it should be posted somewhere, whether on the course’s scorecard, on a bulletin board in the pro shop or in a notice to players. But it also could be done verbally by the Committee if necessary. (Instances of the starter announcing the use of preferred lies at the last minute would qualify, so long as it is the Committee putting the LR into effect — no going rogue, Ralphie!)
If the Committee, whether the Course Committee or the Competition Committee (or, if there’s no formal committee, the people in charge of the course, typically the pro), has not put a LR or MLR into effect, then it is not in effect.
For more guidance from our guru, read on …
Rules Guy: If a course uses a Model Local Rule, do you get to decide when to use it?
Our club is using the local two-stroke rule for out of bounds. We have a par 3 with OB about 20 yards behind the green, while the only fairway is in front of the green. So can we drop equidistant from the hole in front of the green if we go out of bounds behind it? —Neal Prescott, via e-mail
You are referring, per the new-for-2019 nomenclature, to Model Local Rule E-5.
While you’ve got the gist of things, rather than go in a straight line from where the ball last went out of bounds to the opposite side, you instead work on an arc and swing around until you find the nearest fairway point, no closer to the hole than where the original ball went out of bounds. (Think of a compass that is used for technical drawings.) From there, you get two club-lengths into the fairway to drop, no closer to the hole. That’s model rules behavior.
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