WATCH: Viral video poses question about the rules of the game

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Golf365
August 8, 2024

This is a bit of a poser from the world of viral videos.

In this clip below you will see a player chip in from across a road that appears to be outside of the course.

The question is, should the shot stand? Would you allow a buddy or playing partner to card this?

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A post shared by Breezy Golf (@breezygolf)

It’s often acknowledged that the origins of golf can be traced back to a time when Scotsmen would place objects on the ground and then hit them with sticks until they reached a predetermined distance away.

These early golfers also devised a straightforward method for determining who would win the match.

The winner was the person who needed the fewest hits to deliver their thing to the desired location.

You might be thinking it’s not all that revolutionary, but take a moment to think about how other sports — tennis being the finest example — manage their scoring systems!

The landscape between their starting point and their goal, as well as the necessary direction, the variation in the flight of the objects and the different conditions and obstacles they encountered along the way.

If even the tiniest portion of the ball is in play, the ball is NOT out of bounds (Rule 18.2a).

That’s the good news although you should keep in mind, the Rules of Golf is very specific about how to determine if a ball close to the course’s boundaries is in or out. For example, if out of bounds is marked with white stakes, the course-side edge of the stakes is where out of bounds begins.

So if your ball was on the outside edge, seemingly disecting the imaginary line, it would be out of bounds. The same is true if OB is marked with white paint. It’s the course-side edge of that paint that marks out of bounds. The line itself is out of bounds.

Part two of rule 18 covers when a ball is out of bounds:

(2) When Ball Is Out of Bounds. A ball at rest is out of bounds only when all of it is outside the boundary edge of the course.
A ball is in bounds when any part of the ball:
Lies on or touches the ground or anything else (such as any natural or artificial object) inside the boundary edge, or
Is above the boundary edge or any other part of the course.
A player may stand out of bounds to play a ball on the course.