To touch or not to touch, that is the question

Vet Lab sports Club team fans follows the proceeding of events during the Muthaiga District Foursomes Golf tournament, finals against Railway Club, on January 8th 2017 at Muthaiga Golf Club. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

What you need to know:

  • As I walked into the Vet Lab Sports Club club house last week, I saw a notice on a ‘Local Rule’ that allows ‘preferred lie’ on some of the holes.
  • After going through the notice, I bumped into the gentle John Odhiambo, the Golf Administrator at the club.
  • After greetings, John asked me: “Are we doing the right thing in as far as the ‘preferred lie’ Local Rule is concerned?”

As I walked into the Vet Lab Sports Club club house last week, I saw a notice on a ‘Local Rule’ that allows ‘preferred lie’ on some of the holes.

After going through the notice, I bumped into the gentle John Odhiambo, the Golf Administrator at the club.

After greetings, John asked me: “Are we doing the right thing in as far as the ‘preferred lie’ Local Rule is concerned?”

I knew right away that that was not a straightforward question.

John is one of the only two golf administrators in Kenya that I know of with an R&A Level Two Rules School certificate. The other golf administrator with the same certification is David Ongeri who is John’s assistant.

Between the two of them, I was sure that they would have double-checked the Rules of Golf before publishing the Local Rule on behalf of the committee.

John’s concerns were whether the committee should have the ‘preferred lie’ Local Rule to protect the golf course or for the golfers to enjoy their round.

Common questions:

Wherever I have encountered the ‘preferred lie’ Local Rule, there are a few questions that are commonly asked. Some of the most common are:

1. How far can the ball be placed? Many committees neglect to state how far the ball may be placed when a golfer decides to take advantage of the Local Rule.

Should the ball be placed within six inches, a card length or a club-length?

All these are admissible but the committee must specify how far the ball should be placed. It is not enough to state, “Preferred Lie Local Rule in place”, which is what I have seen in a number of clubs.

At Vet Lab, they had specified that the ball be placed within a card length.

2. Must the position of the golf ball be marked? Many golfers don’t mark the positions of their golf balls before picking them up when they are invoking this Local Rule.

Before picking a golf ball under this Local Rule, its position must be marked.

3. Can the Local Rule allow golfers to prefer their lie anywhere on the course? The Rules of Golf provide the Local Rules that can be adopted by various clubs.

The one on preferred lies states: “A ball lying on a closely-mown area through the green...” Closely mown areas are not just fairways. They include any area that is cut to fairway height.

That may include tee-boxes and paths that are cut to fairway height.

4. Can the player move the ball a second time if they don’t like its new position?

Once the ball has been replaced, it must not be picked again unless the provisions of another Rule provide for it.

Preferred Lies at the Barclays Kenya Open tournament:

At the Barclays Kenya Open in 2015 at Karen Country Club, the European Challenge Tour had put the ‘preferred lie’ Local Rule on the first day.

Half of the time that I was called to make a ruling as a referee on this first day, had to do with the ‘preferred lie’ Local Rule. In a number of the cases, the players could not agree on whether or not the ball was lying on a closely mown part of the course.

In one instance, the player’s ball had missed the green and was lying on the right side of it.

The ball was less than two feet from the green.

The area was not cut to fairway height and the player was not happy when I concurred with his fellow players that the ball was not on a closely-mown area. He became so upset that my continued presence just added to his anger.

I had to step a few paces away and did not get the opportunity to show him the difference in cut between where his ball lay and the cut of the fairway.

Needless to say, the preferred lie Local Rule was withdrawn after the second day and that improved the pace of play.

Back at Vet Lab, I explained to John that what he and his committee have done was okay. Adverse conditions can warrant the committee to grant relief by a temporary Local Rule either to protect the course or to promote fair and pleasant play.

I’m, however, of the opinion that the less times that golfers get the balls into their hands, the better it is for the game.

“Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it” is always a safe bet.