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Can I Bend that Branch
Out of the Way?
By: Jack Pultorak,
Director of Rules & Competitions, Florida State Golf
Association |
No! Part of
“playing the ball as it lies” and “playing the course as
you find it” is adapting your stance and swing to the
situation with which you’ve been presented. Just because
a branch is in your way, you’re still not allowed to
move it.
The second part of Rule 13 states that you may not
improve or allow to be improved your area of intended
stance or swing or line of play. That generally means no
bending, breaking or removing growing things. If you’ve
got a tree in front of you, you need to adapt and curve
it around or hit it over the tree. If your ball is in
bush, you can’t simple move the bush!
Richard S. Tufts summarized it well in his classic The
Principles Behind the Rules of Golf when he said “Golf
would cease to be a game of skill if the player were
permitted to get the best of the conditions which
confront him through their elimination rather to
overcome them by the expert execution of the stroke.”
There is one tip I can give you to help you avoid the
penalty for improving your area of intended swing. When
your ball is in the bushes or trees and you need to get
in there and “fairly take your stance” to make a stroke,
keep both hands on the club as you back in or make your
way into the bushes to take your stance. That will stop
you from inadvertently hooking a branch out of the way.
A word to the wise, when you do attempt to “fairly take
your stance” by keeping both hands on the club, make
sure you take the least intrusive course of action which
results in the minimum improvement of your situation.
That means instead of backing into a bush like a bull in
a china shop, you may have to enter from the other
direction to take your stance if that is the least
intrusive course of action.
Remember, knowing and following the Rules of Golf can
assist you in avoiding unnecessary penalties and help
you to enjoy this great game of golf even more.
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