Last month’s Rules Talk covered Committee considerations related to using Model Local Rule E-3 for Preferred Lies. Here, we go into the more detailed nuts and bolts of using this Local Rule.
Communication is Key
The biggest source of player confusion with Preferred Lies is often not the Rule itself, but how it’s presented. When posting the Local Rule on a notice board, scorecard insert or other notice to players, keep the language consistent with the Model Local Rule E-3 wording, and make sure staff can ex plain it simply. Key points to communicate include:
• Define when relief is available (normally general area cut to fairway height or less);
• The defined placing distance (e.g., scorecard length or club-length);
• The ball must be placed, not dropped, in the general area, no closer to the hole; and
• Players may clean the ball before placing or substitute another ball.
Frequently Asked Questions About Preferred Lies
When relief is available in the general area, in areas of grass cut to fairway height or less the Local Rule does not apply in sandy or coquina areas as they are not cut to fairway height or less.
There is no requirement to mark the location before lifting the ball, although most players will.
The player may take free relief once by placing the original ball or another ball in the defined area. Substitution is allowed.
A player may lift the ball from a fairway height or less area and place in a higher grass area (rough).
The player must place the ball in the general area. They may not place the ball on the putting green or other areas of the golf course. A player may place the ball on a wrong green or other spot where a Relief Rule applies and then proceed under the applicable Rule.
Applying the Local Rule or finishing any other available relief creates a new situation. A player could take preferred lies relief, then take temporary water relief, then take preferred lies relief again if the ball is still in fairway height or less grass. Each relief procedure creates a new situation.
A player could take preferred lies relief by placing the ball where they have interference from an irrigation head in the fairway (an obstruction). They can then take relief from the obstruction and assuming they are still in the fairway, take preferred lies relief again. This situation shows a player’s ability to use the Local Rule to their advantage and is a good argument for using a scorecard length instead of a club length as the preferred lies defined area.
If the ball does not stay at rest when first placed, Rule 14.2e applies and they must try to place the ball on the chosen spot again. If, instead of attempting to place again as required by 14.2e, the player places the ball at a new location in the relief area, the player would be playing from a wrong place (Rule 14.7).
If the ball moves when placed the second time under Rule 14.2e, the player must find the nearest spot no closer to the hole where the ball will come to rest (not any other spot in the relief area). This could result in the player placing the ball outside the original relief area.
Players should take care to identify the ball before proceeding. If the player applies the Local Rule with a stray/wrong ball they will end up substituting a ball for their ball in play. If the player did not know the spot of the original ball at the time the other ball was substituted, the player is treated as having taken stroke-and-distance relief and did so in a wrong place (Rule 14.7). The player gets one penalty stroke for taking stroke-and-distance relief (Rule 18.1) and another two penalty strokes for doing so from a wrong place. If the wrong place was a serious breach, the mistake must be corrected by playing from the location of the previous stroke. It is important players identify their ball when using this Local Rule.
The player must place, not drop, the ball. After doing multiple preferred lies during their round, players taking temporary water relief may place the ball by mistake. This can be corrected if the player has not played a stroke. Dropping instead of placing would result in a general penalty under Rule 14.2b.
Hopefully this article covered questions you may get when using Local Rule E-3 preferred lies. With clear communication and thoughtful implementation, Committees can use preferred lies appropriately to preserve fairness while respecting the fundamental principles of the game.
Master Professional Mike Raby, PGA, is the Director of Golf for BREC Golf in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Vice Chair of the PGA of America Rules Committee.
