Know thy rules

Apart from having to cope with the disappointment of narrowly losing the Alfred Dunhill golf championship recently, Justin Rose also had to cope with an ordeal that should be a lesson to all of us.

Soon after putting out on the 18th green, and before he signed his card, Rose was summoned to meet with rules officials about a possible infringement while he was in the fairway bunker at the last hole.

You will recall that Rose extricated his ball with one of those new “rescue” clubs, but what was at issue was what he did when he entered the bunker and approached his ball.

According to the European Tour’s chief rules official, Andy McFee, another official watching on TV had reportedly been concerned that he saw Rose’s feet move in the sand before he actually took up his stance at the ball.

The officials needed to know whether Rose was in breach of Rule 13/4 (a) – testing the conditions of the hazard.

In the company of Rose they viewed the video tape and noticed that while there was the slightest movement of his right foot his left foot had not moved at all. This was while Rose was surveying the line of his shot and before he actually addressed the ball.

Had the officials decided that he was indeed “testing the condition of the hazard (ie. the sand)” he would have been deemed to be in breech of the rule and he would have been penalised two strokes.

The reason McFee was so keen to settle the issue before the youngster signed his card was that he did not want him to face disqualification for signing an incorrect card if he was hit with a two-stroke penalty.

McFee explained that many players were unaware that they were not allowed to scrub around in a bunker before taking up their actual stance. “A lot of good will come of this,” he said, “because it will remind all the players just how careful they have to be and how much care they must take to know the rules.”

Rose made no effort to hide his relief. In the heat of his tense duel with Adam Scott he had been so engrossed that he had not even realised he might have done something untoward. “That was the most nervous I’d been all day,” he quipped about his visit to the rules officials’ hut.