Your queries resolved
Apologies in advance for a query I perhaps should already know the answer to, but I cannot seem to find it in the Rule book. We played a club match the other day, and in one of the matches during the round an opponent gripped his club, got a pen out and drew a line across the palm of the glove to give him a reference point for how to grip the club. Is this allowed? I’m thinking it sounds similar to drawing a line on the ball, but perhaps it’s not allowed once the round has started?
Lilyhawk, GM website forum
Q
The simple answer to your question is yes. Drawing a line on a glove as a visual aid to assist the player in placing his hands in a consistent or specific position on the grip is permissible under the Equipment Rules. There is no limitation on when this may be done either before or during a round.
Chris Wallace,
R&A Rules manager
A
QIn a recent foursomes match I was involved in, I hit our ball into a yellow penalty area and then dropped our new ball back on the line, even though it was obviously my partner’s turn to play next. I thought that wasn’t an issue in a foursomes match, but our opponents were convinced that the player to play next also had to be the one to make the drop and asked that we re-drop. Can you confirm if we needed to, or if our original ‘team’ drop had been perfectly valid under the Rules?
Tony Etherington, Bungay, Suffolk
AUnder the circumstances you described, you were indeed correct that either of you were permitted to drop the ball. In foursomes, either partner may take any permitted action for the side before the stroke is made, including dropping the ball, no matter which partner’s turn it is to play next.
Chris Wallace,
R&A Rules manager