WINTER RULES & PREFERRED LIES
When Winter Rules are in operation the following rules will be in place at Horne Park Golf Club.
Please check the notice board for any short-term local rules as well as the club diary.
Appendix 1 Part A. 3 Course Conditions
Course conditions, including mud and extreme wetness, may interfere with the proper playing
of the game and warrant relief for an embedded ball. Rule 16.1 provides relief, without penalty,
for a ball embedded in its own pitch-mark in any closely mown area in the “general area”.
(see definitions below).
Appendix 1 Part A. 3a. Embedded Ball:
In the “general area” of the course, a ball embedded in its own pitch mark in the ground, may
be lifted without penalty, cleaned and dropped as near as possible to where it lay but not nearer
the hole. The ball when dropped must first strike a part of the “general area” of the course.
Exceptions
1. A player may not obtain relief under this Local Rule if the ball is embedded in sand in an
area that is not closely mown.
2. A player may not obtain relief under this Local Rule if interference by anything other than
the condition covered by this Local Rule makes the stroke clearly impracticable.
A ball is embedded when it is in its own pitch-mark and part of the ball is below the level of
the ground. A ball does not necessarily have to touch the soil to be embedded
(e.g. grass, loose impediments and the like may intervene between the ball and the soil).
Penalty for breach of this local rule; match play - loss of hole and stroke play - 2 shot penalty
Appendix 1 Part A. 3b. Preferred Lies and Winter Rules:
A ball lying on a closely mown area In the “general area” may, without penalty, be moved or
may be lifted, cleaned and placed within 6 inches of where it originally lay, but not nearer the
hole and not in a hazard or on a putting green. A player may move or place his ball once,
and after the ball has been so moved or placed, it is in play.
Penalty for breach of this local rule; match play - loss of hole and stroke play - 2 shot penalty
NOTE: -
The position of the ball must be marked before it's lifted under any of these Local Rules.
See Rule 14-1 of R&A Rules of Golf January 2019
Definitions: -
1) "general area" is the whole area of the course except:
a. The teeing ground and putting green of the hole being played; and
b. All Penalty areas on the course, including any bunkers.
November 2021