BREAKING THE RULES
By Rich IwasZko, Director of Golf, Pocasset Golf Club
Illustrations by Jeff Camish
Dropped calls: They are the biggest problem with cell phone coverage, football replays and with golfers. How to drop and where to drop are both worthy of a 911 call—better yet, a 411 call.
As a side note, the use of cell phones on the golf course should be a two-stroke penalty per usage. A medical emergency is understandable but to disturb other players’ focus, as well as your own, is just plain rude. If you are making an emergency call, remember to call the pro shop and not 911. Calling 911 will not get you the local police but out-of-town police. You will gain minutes of precious time by calling the pro shop first. If it’s not an emergency call, put the phone away. You may get disqualified for violating proper etiquette.
The first thing you need to know is how to drop. As we have said in the past, no hockey players. You can’t move the ball with your stick to the left, then to the right, till you shoot it on goal, a grass puffy. You and only you MUST drop the ball. You should stand erect. Hold your arm out straight (parallel to the ground) at shoulder height and then drop it. The rule says drop it and NOT spin it. Watch out for the spinners. They twist the ball as it is leaving their hands in hopes of a bounce spin onto a puffy. Against the rules! Call them on it and go with them into the rough to look for their ball. It’s the first sign of a questionable character, Mr. Puffy.
Second, you need to know where to drop. There are many different situations. We will concern ourselves here with the situations that refer you to the nearest point of relief, NPR. “Nearest point of relief” to most golfers is the closest tree. Here it is used for taking relief (drop) WITHOUT penalty from interference by an immovable obstruction (paved road, shed, Empire State building, something not easily movable), abnormal ground conditions (casual water, ground under repair, a Bill Murray tunnel) or a wrong putting green (not the one for the hole you’re playing). Your goal is to find the nearest point of relief and then take a one-club-length drop from there.
Okay, your ball is in a white circled area (ground under repair), an abnormal ground condition. Option one is to play it. Unless something is outlined in the instructions or that area is marked “Do Not Play from Here,” you always have that option. So you decide to drop. Go to the nearest point outside the circle, where you can take a stance without touching the white circle. Set your club on the ground where the ball would be in that stance and that spot is the Nearest Point of Relief (the where). Mark that spot with a tee. The one-club-length drop you get is now from that NPR.
There may be times when you have to re-drop the ball. You see it all the time on TV. A ball gets dropped on the side of a hill and rolls away from the player. The player re-drops, and it does the same thing again. Then the player places the ball (not on a preferred puffy) at the spot the re-dropped ball first struck the ground. The rules official is standing there to verify that.
The “when” to re-drop is not your choice if you get a bad lie. It occurs only from any of following: the dropped ball rolls into and comes to rest in a hazard; the dropped ball rolls onto and comes to rest on a putting green; the dropped ball rolls and comes to rest out of bounds; the dropped ball rolls to and comes to rest where there is still interference by the condition; the dropped ball rolls and comes to rest more than two club lengths from where it struck the ground; or if the dropped ball rolls and comes to rest nearer the hole. Whew!
Your ball is in casual water. This is any temporary accumulation of water on the course that is visible before or after the player takes his stance and is not in a water hazard. A ball is in casual water when it lies in or any part of it touches the casual water. You also get a drop if your stance is in the casual water. If your shoes are pushing up water, it’s a drop! What to do? Go to the point closest to you where you are not pushing up water and your ball is not in water and take a stance with your club. Put a tee in the ground where the ball would be in your stance—that’s your NPR—take one club length from there. Beautiful! Be sure to drop the ball correctly and you’re good as gold. Don’t let Mr. Puffy tell you frost or dew is casual water. It’s not.
Many times our ball lands on a cart path. The rules do NOT allow a drop unless it is artificially surfaced (sea shells, blacktop, brick, marble). The Committee at the club where you are playing may deem these paths as immovable obstructions even if they are not artificially surfaced. Always be sure to check the local rules at the club where you are playing. This saves strokes. The trick here is that you have to find the middle of the road and drop to the side of the road you are closest to. This is not found by looking at the pin to decide. Look at the road. Go to that side. Move off the road and take a stance to hit a shot that has your feet off the road. Where the ball would be in that stance is your NPR. Put a tee in the ground at the NPR. Take a one-club-length drop from there. If any of the re-drop situations occur you MUST re-drop.
When you are watching golf on TV, you see all kinds of Rules Officials on every hole making sure players find NPR correctly and drop correctly from roads, casual water and ground under repair. The penalties are too severe. The best Rules Officials are trying to prevent the breaking of rules wherever possible. The problem in everyday golf is that if Mr. Puffy doesn’t beat you on the first tee by getting too many strokes, he will try to beat you with the rules. Knowing these rules will give you a fighting chance.
Dropped calls: They are the biggest problem with cell phone coverage, football replays and with golfers. How to drop and where to drop are both worthy of a 911 call—better yet, a 411 call. 
emergency call, remember to call the pro shop and not 911. Calling 911 will not get you the local police but out-of-town police. You will gain minutes of precious time by calling the pro shop first. If it’s not an emergency call, put the phone away. You may get disqualified for violating proper etiquette. 
Second, you need to know where to drop. There are many different situations. We will concern ourselves here with the situations that refer you to the nearest point of relief, NPR. “Nearest point of relief” to most golfers is the closest tree. Here it is used for taking relief (drop) WITHOUT penalty from interference by an immovable obstruction (paved road, shed, Empire State building, something not easily movable), abnormal ground conditions (casual water, ground under repair, a Bill Murray tunnel) or a wrong putting green (not the one for the hole you’re playing). Your goal is to find the nearest point of relief and then take a one-club-length drop from there.
stance—that’s your NPR—take one club length from there. Beautiful! Be sure to drop the ball correctly and you’re good as gold. Don’t let Mr. Puffy tell you frost or dew is casual water. It’s not.