Changes in Local Rules at Rancho Park Golf Course
Last Updated: 08/22/15
 

Changes in local rules at Rancho Park golf course:

Fairways 4 and 5

The road on the left side of holes #4 and #5 is no longer out of bounds

Out of bounds on the left side of holes 4 and 5 is at the boundary fence.  This means a ball on the road or the drainage ditch is in play and the player may take a free drop in accordance with rule 24-2.

Fairway 13

If your ball comes to rest on the cart path or curb to the left of the 13th green you may, as an additional option, use the marked Drop Zone located behind the 14th tee box with no penalty.

This means the player no longer needs to attempt a drop on the slope rising up to the 14th tee box.

Fairway 14

The sloped area to the right of fairway 14 RPSGC will now play as a lateral hazard.  The edge of the hazard is the fairway edge of the posts and fence at the ground level.  The hazard extends from the fence on the right side of the cart path leading down to fairway 15, to the cart path at the far end of the fence. The hazard extends to the bottom cart path at the down side of the slope.  Where there are gaps in the fence the hazard is at an imaginary straight line drawn between the inside edges of the posts at the gap. The player may play from the hazard without penalty following rule 13-4 (not grounding club, etc.) or may proceed under the options of rule 26-1 with a one stroke penalty.

Because the posts and fence are inside the hazard, a ball lying under the fence or against a post or the fence is in the hazard.  The fence and posts are immovable obstructions and the player my take a free drop in accordance with rule 24-2ii, dropping in the hazard, or proceed under the options of rule 26-1 with a one stroke penalty.

Play on fairway 15 is not changed and the slope will continue to played as the rough.

Knowing the Rules:

It is important in fairness to all players that everyone knows and abides by the rules.  A couple of things about which we may have become a bit careless:

Lost Balls

During months when we have deep grass on many parts of  Rancho Park a lot of time is spent looking for lost balls.  In the case of a lost ball, the rule requires that the player goes back and hit again from the place of the original shot.  Under pressure of keeping up with the pace of place, some have succumbed to the urge of dropping a ball near the area of the lost ball and taking a penalty which is in violation of the rule.  This is why it is important to hit a provisional ball following any shot which may appear to be possibly not findable!

Taking Ball Drops

We have many drainage ditches, cart paths and protective fences at Rancho Park which are immovable obstructions from which we can take a free drop of the ball under rule 24-2.  Taking a proper drop can often be to the player’s advantage.  The first step is to determine and identify the “nearest point of relief”.  This basically is the place of the club head when the player takes the normal stance which provides complete relief (stance and swing) from the interference of the obstacle, no nearer the hole, and is the nearest to where to ball now lies in or on the obstacle.  A tee or other marker can be used to mark this spot as the player now takes the drop which must lie within one club length and no nearer the hole.  If you are not sure whether you are doing this correctly we have many playing partners out there who will be happy to advise  and there are golf websites with nice diagrams describing how to do this.

 





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