Handicap Scores

Question:
Can I count my svore for handicap purposes if I don't putt out on every hole?

Answer:
The USGA accepts the recording of gimmes in friendly play when recording scores for handicap purposes. If a player's putt is conceded or she has a gimme, the player must count the stroke or strokes and record the score she most likely would have made if she had played out the hole. The "most likely score" may not exceed the player's Equitable Stroke Control limit, defined in Section 4-3. This "most likely score" should be preceded by an "X." (See Decision 4-1/1 of the Handicap System Manual.) Competition is different. Rule 3-2 states: "If a competitor fails to hole out at any hole and does not correct [her] mistake before [she] makes a stroke on the next teeing ground or, in the case of the last hole of the round, before [she] leaves the putting green, [she] is disqualified."

Clearing a path for swing

Question:
Can I trample grass, break tree branches or bend weeds when setting up to my ball (as long as the ball doesn't move)?

Answer:
Your swing may look like you're wielding a scythe, but that doesn't mean you can clear the course like an Old West pioneer. Tall grass, bushes and trees are there because they're part of the design. Rule 13-2 reads: "A player must not improve or allow to be improved the position or lie of her ball, the area of her intended stance or swing, her line of play or a reasonable extension of that line beyond the hole, or the area in which she is to drop or place a ball, by moving, bending or breaking anything growing or fixed (including immovable obstructions and objects defining out of bounds)." Translation: If it's growing, be careful. You are entitled to take a stance, but don't bend any living organism beyond what is necessary to set up to the ball and make a stroke. If a branch is broken--or a bunch of leaves are knocked down--with a practice swing, add two strokes to your score.

Relief from a sprinkler head

Question:
Am I entitled to relief without penalty from a sprinkler head near the putting green if it interferes with my line of play?

Answer:
You may take relief from a sprinkler head only if it interferes with your stroke or stance. According to Rule 24-2a: "Interference by an immovable obstruction occurs when a ball lies in or on the obstruction, or when the obstruction interferes with the player's stance or the area of her intended swing...Otherwise, intervention on the line of play is not, of itself, interference under this Rule." So just because you're putting from the fringe and the sprinkler head is on your line, you don't get a free drop. The possibility of your ball ricocheting off a sprinkler head does not mean you can take relief either. Suck it up, grab the wedge and chip over it.