July 2017 | 31 Subscribe today at juniorgolfmag.net In this star-spangled quiz for Independence Day, some liberties have been taken in modifying famous sayings from several of our Revolutionary War heroes and Founding Fathers. RULES OFTHE GAME BY PAUL KRUGER GolfAdvicefromtheFoundingFathers Your task is to see if you can recognize the Rules issue(s) pertaining to each of the follow- ing altered quotations: 1. Paul Revere shouts, “The lightning is coming! The lightning is coming!” 2. Nathan Hale states, “I only regret that I have but one ball to play to the hole.” 3. Thomas Jefferson exclaims, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are the rights to identify one’s ball anywhere on the course, to repair ball marks on the putting green and to create or eliminate irregularities of surface on the teeing ground.” 4. Benjamin Franklin points out, “We must all play together, or assuredly we shall all be disqualified together.” 5. Paul Revere advises, “One club-length if relief without penalty, two club-lengths if relief with penalty.” 6. John Paul Jones states, “I have not yet begun to play.” ANSWERS: 1. Rule 6-8a [Discontinuance of Play; Resumption of Play] authorizes a player to discontinue play if he considers that there is danger from lightning. This is confirmed in Decision 6-8b/5 [Player Claiming Danger from Lightning Refuses to Resume Play When Resumption Ordered by Committee]. 2. Rule 1-1 [The Game – General] states, “The Game of Golf consists of playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.” There are, of course, some exceptions to playing only one ball. Rule 3-3 [Doubt As to Proce- dure] allows you to play a second ball. Rule 15-2 [Substituted Ball] allows you to substitute another ball when proceeding under a Rule that permits you to play, drop or place another ball in completing play of a hole. And Rule 27-2 [Provisional Ball] allows for playing a provisional ball when the original ball may be lost outside a water hazard or may be out of bounds. 3. Rule 12-2 [Lifting Ball for Identification] states, “If a player believes that a ball at rest may be his, but he cannot identify it, the player may lift the ball for identification, without penalty.” Rule 16-1 [The Putting Green] authorizes the repair of ball marks on the putting green. This is confirmed in Rule 13-2 [Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play]. Rule 13-2 also authorizes the player to create or eliminate irregularities of surface within the teeing ground. 4. Rule 6-3b [Groups] advises, “In stroke play, the competitor must remain throughout the round in the group arranged by the Committee, unless the Committee authorizes or ratifies a change. The penalty for breaching this Rule is disqualification.” 5. When taking relief without penalty from an immovable obstruction per Rule 24-2 [Immovable Obstruction] or from an abnormal ground condition per Rule 25-1 [Abnormal Ground Con- ditions], you are required to drop the ball within one club-length of the nearest point of relief. When incurring a penalty stroke for taking relief from a lateral water hazard per Rule 26-1c [Relief for Ball in Water Hazard], you may drop a ball within two club-lengths of, and not nearer the hole, than the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard. When incurring a penalty stroke for an unplayable ball per Rule 28 [Ball Unplayable], you may drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole. 6. Per Decision 2/2 [Stipulated Round in Match Play], apart from threesomes and foursomes, you are not considered to have begun your stipulated round until you make your first stroke in that round. Per Decision 3/3 [Stipulated Round in Stroke Play], apart from foursomes, a competitor has begun his stipulated round when he makes his first stroke in that round. Most Rules do not apply to the player until the player begins his stipulated round. So there you have it. If you’re playing golf this Independence Day, remember that it’s your consti- tutional right to have a great time! Paul Kruger is a PGA professional at The Canyon Club in Albuquerque, NM. He has authored numerous articles on the Rules of Golf, all with the goal of making them fun and interesting to learn.