Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Many of us who play golf in the winter in the Pacific Northwest follow two rules we define for ourselves even if they may not be in golf’s official rulebook. 

They are the “leaf rule” and the “root rule.”

But, one of my friends who also likes to focus on golf rules alerted me this week that the “leaf rule” can be found in golf rules if you look hard enough.

First, what are these rules”

• The “leaf rule” allows you to play a golf ball without penalty if you cannot find it within three minutes in piles of leaves on golf courses such as the one I play in Salem, Oregon, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club.

• The “root rule” allows you move a golf ball without penalty if playing it near on a tree root would risk damage to your or your golf club.

Can the “root rule” be found in the golf rule book?  No.  It just makes sense here in the Northwest.

As for “leaf rule,” my friend cited a story in Golf Digest for specific information.  So, rather than recite the rule myself, here is the story.

**********

Each fall, golfers in northern climates invoke the “leaf rule” to lobby for a free drop when they can’t find their ball under a pile of foliage.  Some use it as a concession to appease a frustrated opponent.  Others claim it as justification for avoiding their own lost-ball penalty, emphatically asserting the Rules of Golf supports it.

But is it an official rule?  

Yes, in some instances.  It takes some explaining.

In everyday use (irrespective of what the official rules dictate), when golfers lose a ball that clearly came to rest in a pile of leaves, they often take a free drop rather than incurring a penalty and replaying the previous shot.   On the surface, this “leaf rule” is logical.  Why should a golfer who can’t find his or her golf ball in a dense pile of leaves just off the fairway receive the same penalty as one who just sliced one out-of-bounds?

Unfortunately, in many cases the rules are not so lenient.  Rule 18.2 states that “your ball is lost if not found in three minutes after you or your caddie begin to search for it.”  And, according to the same rule, when a ball is lost, you must take stroke-and-distance relief (adding one penalty stroke) and play from the spot of your previous shot.

So, where is this “leaf rule?”  Proponents of the free drop often cite Rule 16.1, which allows a player to take free relief from a ball not found when it is “known or virtually certain” it came to rest in or on an “abnormal course condition.”  This is where things get a little gray.

Leaves are considered an abnormal course condition only when they are intentionally piled for removal outside of a penalty area.  If that’s the case, and you either saw the ball enter the leaves or are virtually certain it did, then you are entitled to a free drop by finding the nearest point of complete relief and dropping within one club-length, no closer to the hole.

A more common scenario occurs when leaves are scattered or pile up naturally.  They are not considered an abnormal course condition.  They are simply loose impediments, so you are not entitled to free relief even if you’re sure your ball is lost under them.

However, this is where the “leaf rule” can save you.  You may be entitled free relief under Model Local Rule F-14, which a tournament committee or course staff can choose to implement.

At certain times of the year, piles of loose impediments such as leaves, seeds or acorns may make it difficult for a player to find or play his or her ball.  A committee can choose to treat such piles of loose impediments in the general area or in a bunker as ground under repair from which free relief is allowed under Rule 16.1.

Long story short?  Make sure to check with the golf course staff or tournament committee (if you’re playing in competition) before heading out for an end-of-the-year-round to see if they’re implementing this local rule.  If it’s being used, you’re entitled to free relief from a ball lost in leaves.  If not, you’re out of luck.

And, if you’re one of the passionate defenders of the leaf rule, you now have your argument for convincing your head pro to adopt the rule for your fall member-guest. Or, at least, to point to when your buddies question why you’re campaigning for a free drop.

*********

And, if you ask for a local rule on leaves, add the “root rule” to your request.

The head pro where I play doesn’t favor it because he says “it would help players maintain a lower handicap rather than ‘playing the ball as it lies.’”

For me, the “leaf rule” and “root rule” remain in effect during winter golf.  But, oh I soon I forget.  Winter golf for me means playing in La Quinta, California, so now “leaf rule” or “root rule” there.