In the 109th CGA Match Play Championship final at Bear Creek Golf Club on July 10th, Tom Gempel (pictured) faced a dilemma on the 10th hole of the 36-hole final when his ball came to rest under a spruce tree. His ball was situated so that a direct play toward the green was impossible, so Gempel, a recent University of Colorado graduate, studied alternative “lines of play” to try to salvage the hole. In doing so I advised Tom that he needed to be careful as Rule 13-2 prohibits a player from improving “the position or lie of his ball; the area of his intended stance or swing, his line of play or a reasonable extension of that line beyond the hole.” Rule 13-2 also describes what actions could result in a breach of this Rule which include “moving, bending or breaking anything growing or fixed.” It is very important to understand that the Rule does have an important “however” to go along with all these prohibitions. The player is allowed to “fairly” take his stance and make a stroke at the ball.
As Tom explored his best options I explained all of this to him and, as referee for the match, informed him it was my job to prevent a rules infraction. Decision 13-2/1 provides great guidance in this situation and clarifies what constitutes, “fairly taking one’s stance.” The decision states, “”¦in taking his stance for the selected stroke the player should select the least intrusive course of action which results in the minimum improvement in the position or lie of the ball, area of intended stance or swing or line of play.” The operative words in this sentence are, “least intrusive course of action.” It was my job to monitor Tom’s actions and to separate what was “fair” and what crossed the line. There is much subjectivity in situations such as this and two rules officials may draw different conclusions based on a player’s actions. In my view, a good rule of thumb is to keep both hands on the club to avoid the possibility of “moving, bending or breaking” anything while taking the stance. I have found when a player’s hands leave the club it becomes much more likely that they will braid branches, tuck branches or otherwise clear obstacles to improve their view of the ball or area of intended swing””both of which are a violation. Another good rule of thumb is to avoid “sweeping” motions with your feet that result in clearing those nagging limbs out of your line of play.
In the end, Tom was careful and in my judgment did nothing to cross the line between “fairly taking his stance” and “improving his line of play.” He took his stance in the least intrusive manner possible and was able to chip the ball out sideways. In the end, he did lose the hole, and ultimately the match to Steve Ziegler, but he avoided an automatic loss of hole in this situation.
