RULES
RULESCORNER
CORNER
Lending a Helping Hand
When Borrowing Certain Equipment is Permitted
I
n all USGA Amateur championships and qualifiers (and all
CSGA championships and qualifiers), players are permitted
to use devices to measure distance during their stipulated
rounds. This hasn’t always been the case, though. Before 2014,
USGA competitors were required to measure yardages the oldfashioned way: by digging through their yardage books and
pacing off with the help of labeled sprinkler heads.
Furthermore, Committees at all levels of the game first
had the option to implement this Local Rule in January 2006.
And, in many ways, this represented a pivotal moment in the
evolution of the Rules of Golf, as the code now supported an
enhancement to the golfer experience through the use of
technology.
But what if you showed up at a USGA Amateur
championship without a device that measures distance? Are
you out of luck?
Not necessarily.
Claudio Consul and Christopher Thayer, who faced off in
the Round of 64 of the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship,
reflected the true spirit of the game by sharing a distancemeasuring device during their match.
While the Rules of Golf prohibit opponents from sharing
clubs with each other during a match, there is nothing in the
Rules that prohibits a player from sharing other equipment
with his or her opponent on the course. Decision 5-1/5 tells
us that players are allowed to borrow all different kinds of
equipment – balls, towels, gloves, tees – from another player, so
long as the player agrees to share these items. Clearly Consul
and Thayer had established some rapport with one another,
trusting that the borrower wouldn’t run off with the pricey
device at the conclusion of the match, which Consul won, 2
and 1.
So next time your opponent is stuck without a ball, tee,
or even distance-measuring device, feel free to lend a hand
knowing the Rules of Golf place little restriction on your
charitable spirit.
Rules
Article by Joseph Foley, USGA
36 | CSGA Links // October, 2016
www.csgalinks.org