January

Ball in Motion (Rule 19) – If your ball is on the putting green when you strike it and it hits another ball also on the green, you are penalized two strokes in stroke play.  Remember to ask the other player to mark her ball if there is any chance your ball may hit it. 

February

Identifying your Ball (Rule 12) – Each player is responsible for playing the correct ball.  Put an identifying mark on your ball so you can determine that it is yours.   You may lift your ball to identify it anywhere except in a hazard.  Before you lift your ball to identify it, you must mark the position of your ball plus tell your opponent or fellow competitor .   A hazard is any bunker (area of sand) or water hazard (lake, pond, creek, etc).   Red staked areas at MountainView and the Preserve are water hazards (whether or not they contain water).  In a bunker or water hazard, if sand or leaves cover your ball, you may remove enough of the sand or leaves to be able to see a part of the ball – but you may not lift it.  Why is identifying your ball so important??  If you play the wrong ball, you incur a two stroke penalty.

March

Ball Drop Areas – Local Rules for MV and Preserve

Ball drop areas may be used when a player’s ball comes to rest within a lateral water hazard (red staked area).  They may NOT be used for balls lost in the desert or out of bounds.  Ball drop areas are designated for holes # 3, 8, 13, and 15 at MV and holes #5, 6, 7, 11, and 15 at the Preserve.  A penalty of one stroke must be taken when using the ball drop area.

April

Playing the Ball as it Lies (Rule 13)

• You must play the ball as it lies. You may not move it to a better spot.
• You may not improve your lie by pressing down behind the ball. The club may be grounded only lightly behind the ball.
• You may not improve the area of your intended swing or line of play by bending or breaking anything growing, such as tree limbs or weeds.
• In a hazard (whether a bunker or a red staked area), you may not touch the sand, ground or water with the club before or during your back swing.
• In a red staked hazard, you may not remove loose impediments (natural things such as leaves, twigs, or stones).   However, a MV/Preserve local rule considers stones in bunkers as moveable obstructions so they may be removed without penalty.

May

Ball Unplayable (Rule 28 )
You may deem your ball unplayable any place on the course, except in a water hazard (red staked areas at MV and the Preserve).   If your ball is under a tree or in some other bad situation and you decide you cannot play it, add a penalty stroke and do one of the following:

1. Go back to where you played the last shot and play a ball from there
2. Measure two club-lengths from the unplayable lie, not nearer the hole, drop a ball and play from there
3. Keep the unplayable lie between where you drop the ball and the hole, go back as far as you wish on a straight line and drop and play the ball.

If the unplayable ball is in a bunker, you may proceed using any of the above.  If you elect #2 or #3, the ball must be dropped in the bunker.

June

The Flagstick (Rule 17)
• If your ball is off the green, there is no penalty if you play and your ball strikes the flagstick, provided no one is holding the flagstick.
• If your ball is on the green, do not putt with the flagstick in the hole.  Either take the flagstick out or ask another player to hold it and take it out when you play your ball.  If you putt and your ball hits the flagstick when it is in the hole, you must add two penalty strokes to your score for the hole.

July

Lifting and Dropping the Ball (Rule 20)
• If you are going to lift your ball under a Rule and the Rule requires that the ball be replaced, you must put a ball-marker behind the ball before you lift it.
• When you drop a ball, stand erect, hold your arm out straight at shoulder height and drop it.
• If a dropped ball hits the ground and rolls into a hazard, out of a hazard, comes to rest more than two club-lengths from where it first struck a part of the course, nearer the hole or, if you are dropping away from an immovable obstruction or ground under repair, etc., back into the obstruction or ground under repair, you must re-drop. If the same thing happens when you re-drop, you must place the ball where it struck the ground when it was re-dropped.  There is no penalty when you re-drop.

 August (also see attached diagram)

Water Hazard (Rule 20)  (Red Staked Areas at MV and Preserve)

Your ball is in a water hazard/red staked area.  You may play the ball as it lies without any penalty.  Remember: you may not move impediments such as rocks, sticks, etc, nor may you ground your club.  (Option 2 on diagram) 

Under penalty of one stroke, you may:

a.     Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (Option 1 on diagram)

b.     Drop the ball behind the hazard, keeping the point at which the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped.  There is no limit as to how far behind the hazard the ball may be dropped. (Option 4 on diagram)

c.     Drop the ball outside the hazard within two club lengths of and not nearer the hole than the point where the ball crossed the hazard.  This would apply to a lateral hazard. (Option 3 on diagram)

d.     Drop your ball within 2 club lengths on the opposite side of the hazard.  (Option 5 on diagram)  For the most part, this would not apply at MV or the Preserve.  However, the Preserve Holes #2 and #3 would be an example of where this would be an option.

 September

 Moving the Ball (Rule 18 )
• If you or your partner move either of your balls on purpose or accidentally, add a penalty stroke to your score, replace the ball and play it.
• If someone or something moves your ball other than you or your partner, (an outside agency) there is no penalty, but you must replace the ball. If the ball is moved by wind or water, you must play it as it lies.
• Once you address the ball, if the ball moves, add a penalty stroke and replace the ball.
• If you move a loose impediment and that causes the ball to move, add a penalty stroke, replace it and play it. On the putting green, there is no penalty, replace it and play it.

October

Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play (Rule 13.2)

A ball lies off the putting green on the apron or behind.  Sand or loose soil is in the line of play.  Can the sand or loose soil be removed from anywhere other than the putting green?

ANSWER:  NO.  There is a 2 stroke penalty for removal.  There would be an exception if a playing partner hitting out of a bunker sprays your ball and line of play with sand.  In that situation, you may lift your ball and clean it as well as the line of play with no penalty.

November (repeat of August rule)

Water Hazard (Rule 20)  (Red Staked Areas at MV and Preserve) – also see diagram

Your ball is in a water hazard/red staked area.  You may play the ball as it lies without any penalty.  Remember: you may not move impediments such as rocks, sticks, etc, nor may you ground your club.  (Option 2 on diagram) 

Under penalty of one stroke, you may:

a.     Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (Option 1 on diagram)

b.     Drop the ball behind the hazard, keeping the point at which the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped.  There is no limit as to how far behind the hazard the ball may be dropped. (Option 4 on diagram)

c.     Drop the ball outside the hazard within two club lengths of and not nearer the hole than the point where the ball crossed the hazard.  This would apply to a lateral hazard. (Option 3 on diagram)

d.     Drop your ball within 2 club lengths on the opposite side of the hazard.  (Option 5 on diagram)  For the most part, this would not apply at MV or the Preserve.  However, the Preserve Holes #2 and #3 would be an example of where this would be an option.

December

Out of Bounds (Rule 27)

Out of bounds is defined as beyond the boundaries of the course as defined by the Committee. Stakes or lines that define out of bounds are white and are deemed to be fixed (may not be moved by the player).  Per our local rules, homeowners’ property lines, walls, fences, streets and parking lots shall define out of bounds when white stakes are not present.  A ball is out of bounds when ALL of it lies out of bounds.

If a ball is out of bounds, the player proceeds under penalty of stroke and distance.  The player plays a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played and takes a 1 stroke penalty.