BDHF Rules of Play

The BDHF committee wants to allow for as much fun on the course while being cognizant of the rules of the game. There will be some addendum’s to scoring and when/where to use relief, take penalties and time spent looking for lost balls.  This rule book only extends on the standard USGA rules of play and when not expressly noted here within these BDHF exceptions,  the USGA rules will apply.  The BDHF will be adhering to the proposed updated USGA rules that are not yet in place on the PGA tour as proposed by the USGA and RNA this year.  

The proposed rules changes presented by the USGA and RNA:

Proposed Rules Changes

The following will outline the BDHF rules in place as of 2017:

Lost Balls:

Golf balls WILL be lost during this outing. The courses are just too daunting in places to guarantee everyone maintains the original ball for an entire round.  No more than 3 minutes should be used to find a lost ball… if its not readily found in that time frame take your drop and move along.

Bumping and “winter rules”

Many BDHF participants in leagues leading up to the BDHF play a version of “winter rules” with “bumping” allowed. The BDHF committee has decided that a modified version of these rules will be in place during BDHF competition. The following will list areas of course where it is fair to “bump” or move ones ball during play.
  • When in the fairway you may bump your ball no more than the width of the ball in any direction.
  • IF you are in the rough and cant identify the ball it may be bumped to verify ownership. Improvement of lie to be kept at minimum.
  • Any ground deemed under repair, or deemed cart path (dirt or paved) allows for drop to area no closer to the pin within one club length.  Notice that drops under provision of the new proposed USGA rules allow one to drop from any height deemed necessary to allow for ball to be placed appropriately.

Any movement to improve ones direction to safety if blocked by trees or other impediments is prohibited.

Sand

If you are in a footprint, or un-repaired divot within a sand trap you are allowed to move your ball to a clean sand lie. No improvement of distance or in an effort to improve direction to hole. Any ball that buries in the sand on its own accord is to be played as it lies.

Score Limits

There will be score limits put into place to speed up pace during this years event. It has been decided that we will not allow anyone to card any score higher than +4 against par on any given hole. Maximums would be a 7 on a par 3, 8 on a par 4 and 9 on a par 5. If you find that you are within ONE stroke of the maximum score and not yet in the hole, you will be required to pick up your ball and card the appropriate max score.

Out of Bounds

At the BDHF we will not enforce any out of bounds stroke AND distance penalties. All lost balls will be subject to lateral penalty of one stroke only with the ball placed in line of flight.  There is NO need to re-tee any ball thought to have traveled out of bounds or enforce the distance portion of the out of bounds penalty.  At any time a ball is lost from the tee the player MAY choose to re-tee with a one stroke penalty.

On Course Rulings

At any point on the course you must rely on the others in your group to verify any questions you may have with regard to rules concerns. Rules as determined by the group on course are to be maintained as close to those presented here and those determined as local rules by course.