The GolfRules Questions Podcast

Blakey is back again, by popular demand. After a hiatus of 6 weeks when Blakey went on holiday, and then Rossco and Blakey managed 2 episodes, this break was for a slightly different reason, my previous employer were jealous of this show and wanted it canned. Now Blakey has broken from the shackles of GA, and has moved on to marketing home golf simulators, so the show is back. Unfortunately Rossco...

GRQotW40 ANSWER Fraser walks into the bunker that his ball is at rest in, and tests the depth of the sand with his feet by digging in when taking his reasonable stance. Does Fraser incur any penalties?   US Open Rules incidents, here are two of the biggest (to talk about): Dustin Johnson - ball moved on the green Phil Mickelson - made a stroke at his ball that was in motion after a stroke on the p...

Episode 40 - Blakey Is Back GRQotW39 A group of four players, having a good day until they get to the Par 5 seventh hole From the tee Player A and Player B slice their balls into right rough Player C and Player D hit ok down the middle of the fairway. Second shot Player B arrives in the right rough and plays a ball which he hits somewhat across the fairway to rough on the left hand side. Player A...

Ep 39 - Tour Rulings Catch-Up GRQotW38 Is there a penalty and how many, if you search for your ball for 5 minutes and can’t find it? There is a penalty of one stroke for a lost ball - Rule 18.2, AND There is a penalty of one stroke for an unreasonable delay of play - Rule 5.6. Blakey Changes to Right-Handed and Gains Free Relief https://youtu.be/9B-H_gVmk7c Good video about whether changing dexter...

Episode 38   What are Rules there for?   GRQotW37  Lena’s original ball off the tee looked to have become stuck in a tree. After a small search around the area, Lena headed back to play a provisional ball. The provisional ball was played, after two minutes of searching for the original ball, towards the same area, struck a tree and two balls fell out. The original and the provisiona...

Masters Report Will Zalatoris looks like Happy Gilmore’s caddie - video views are up   GRQotW36 Answer  Fraz has Webbo caddying for him during the first round of the club championships. On the 9th tee, after Fraz has teed off, Webbo runs off to talk to a man about a dog. Fraz doesn’t want to carry his heavy golf bag (many golf balls weighing it down), so he gets Steve to carry his bag to...

Masters Week 2021    GRQotW35 - Steve and Mary are partners in a foursome. Steve tees his ball up within the Red teeing area and hits his ball towards the boundary fence where it may have come to rest inside or outside the fence. Mary, who has been playing from the White tees all day, thinks they should play a provisional. Who must now hit the provisional ball and where must it be hit fr...

I HAVE MET MY MATCH Golf Rules Question of The Week - Ep34 Charlotte is playing match play. She holes her putt and thinking that she has won the hole lifts her opponent’s ball that is on the green. Her opponent then tells her that putt is for a half. What is the ruling? Loved the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play. apart from the weekend, all referees are roving on the Wed/Thurs/Fri. We had some doo...

Episode 34 - Let’s get OFFICIAL GRQotW33 Answer Fraser’s ball comes to rest on a gravel path in a yellow penalty area. There are some loose stones around his ball. Is Fraser able to get free relief from the stones? There is no free relief. However, the loose stones are loose impediments, and the player is permitted to move them. They need to be careful not to cause their ball to move when moving t...

Episode 33  - For all THE PLAYERS   GRQotW32  Player A walks the course on the morning of their individual stroke round. During this process they are holding and swinging a golf club, placing their feet in positions on the fairway and putting greens they are about to play, no ball was placed on the ground. They arrive at the tee just before their starting time, and say to Player B,...

Bryson Brings Eye-Balls GRQotW31 Fraz hits his tee shot into some medium rough. He searches for his ball in the rough, and finds it. Fraz then goes to get a club and on the way back he accidentally steps on his ball. He then decides to take an unplayable, and after dropping his ball, hits it onto the green, and makes a one putt. How many strokes has Fraz had?   This question was tricky, as it...

Annika-gate GRQotW30 - After the player hits their ball into the green, it stops and comes to rest on the green. As the player is walking up to the green, suddenly the irrigation system turns on and water runs across the grass, down the green and moves the ball. Does the ball need to be replaced, or is the player permitted to play it from where it is now at rest? Outside Influence/1 - Status of Ai...

GRQotW29 Are you permitted to watch a video on YouTube (say George Gankas or Me&My Golf) during a round to obtain swing tips? This caught a few, as like me, I would have assumed this wouldn’t be permitted, but Rule 4.3a(3) & (4) only restricts information gathered during the round. What is allowed is using information that was gathered before the round, such as swing tips. But consideratio...

We start off with the GolfRules Question of the Week answer for Episode 28 Are you permitted to use rock-paper-scissors as a legitimate way of determining who plays next in a match, if you are unable to determine who is furthest from the hole? Yes, rock-paper-scissors is a random method that can be used. Other random methods can also be used, like a coin toss, or you could throw an iron in the air...

Episode 28 Show Notes Is Mrs Blake " Blakeing the Rules" or is Blakey confused by his mum The GolfRules Question of the Week Episode 27 was an absolute doozy that caught many by surprise. When a player hits their original ball beside another ball in the general area, and they can’t tell which one is which, then they have a lost ball on their hands. However, when the ball is known or virtually cert...

Episode 27 – Patrick Reed the Rules GRQotW Ep 26 Answer: If two balls in motion after separate strokes from different bunkers, hit each other when running across the green, what is the procedure? Patrick Reed wins under a cloud, but was it a storm in a teacup Patrick Reed hit his ball out of a bunker short left of the 14th green at Torrey Pines during the 3rd round of the Farmers Insurance Open. H...

Blakey & Rossco unpack a few 'what-ifs' in Episode 26. Loose Impediments near balls in the fairway - did you see the recent European Tour event (Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship)? Jorge CAMPILLO's ball came to rest against a loose impediment in the fairway. That loose impediment was an unreplaced divot. Jorge had three choices: Play it as it lies, take an unplayable for a penalty of one stroke, or...

Road Trippin Yes this week we try something new. A Podcast on the road.  As we attempt to bring more real life GolfRules Scenario to the Podcast and The GRQ YouTube our goal is to hit the road. Regular listeners will remember Blakey's lofty YouTube Subscriber ambitions. 3000 - Country Victoria 10000 - NZ 30000 - Scotland Well this week sees the guys on the road with just enough time to fit in...

The GolfRules Questions Podcast - EPISODE 24 Welcome Back - we just want to start by saying thank you to all of you who continue listening to The GRQ PODCAST. We appreciate every minute of your time. In this weeks episode we answer last weeks GolfRules Question of the Week (GRQOTW). It was a simple answer to a tricky sounding question. Tune in for the answer. We chat about Ryan Palmer at last week...

Welcome to 2021 and The GolfRules Questions Podcast As always we are extremely excited to be your choice of Golf Podcast for all the fun and facts regarding the Golf Rules. Our Goal for this year is to continue with a weekly format as best we can (weather permitting)  Our segments will return and we will introduce the occasional guest. In the EP we cover the handful of clarifications made to the r...

The Pace of Play Episode 22 GolfRules Question of the Week Ep 21 - What is the ruling when air from a blower moves your ball at rest? Rossco's team-member question: Adam was on his downswing when another ball distracted him, causing him to shank his shot, does he get a free replay? Big P's Question - What can a Rules Official do to stop slow play? Santa's Top 6 Tips to Help Speed Up Play 1. Be Awa...

Four Rules You May Be Breaking & Not Know It In this weeks episode we cover four rules that you or your playing partners may inadvertently be breaking and may not realize. Have you been impacted by a golf rules question on course and not been sure? Have you come up against any of these scenarios as discussed in the episode. We know there are more an will endeavor to include these in future EPs...

Tune in and listen to Blakey and Rossco speak all things golf rules.   The Longest Day - Joey Deaker and I are embarking on the ultimate test of golf. To play 72 holes in one day. Please show your support by donating here: https://www.longestday.org.au/fundraisers/caniborrowsomeballs Listener Question - What does Point of Maximum Available Relief mean?  The reference point for taking fre...

Scoring for New Golfers. This episode we dedicate a fair chunk of time to helping and listener understand the Scoring Systems for competition golf. Andy had a question regarding Stableford. So we have attempted to give an overview of the range of common single player scoring systems for competition. Do you struggle with the various handicap games that are used for competition. Please let us know a...

Dropping the ball. Does knowing exactly where you can and can’t drop the ball when taking relief cause some consternation in your group? Have you experienced a situation where differing opinions have existed regarding where to correctly take relief. Blakey summarises where the correct areas are in relation to dropping when taking relief from the following; - Unplayable - Penalty Area - Free Relief...