Burnham on Crouch Golf Club
Local Rules
Revised May 2021
1/Out of Bounds (Rule 18.2)
i. Beyond all boundary hedges, fences, and rabbit fencing at the boundary of the course.
ii. Beyond the line of white stakes to the right of 1st and 4th, to the right of the 17th hole protecting the practice area and the safety net protecting the 17th green.
iii. Beyond the white stakes behind the 18th green, on the practice putting green and the club’s car park.
iv. INTERNAL OUT OF BOUNDS
When playing the hole highlighted a ball which is on or beyond the stated fairway/green is deemed to be Out of Bounds.
6th Hole +........on or beyond the 13th fairway
7th Hole +........on or beyond the 12th fairway.
9th Hole........ on or beyond the 10th fairway or 10th green
13th Hole+...... on or beyond the 14th fairway
+On the 6th, 7thand 13th holes, where the boundary is defined by a ball being on or beyond a stated fairway, white stakes with black tops have been placed for visibility. These stakes and other internal out of bounds stakes are Immoveable obstructions when playing any hole.
Where any internal out of bounds stakes have been placed side by side the angle of the stakes indicate that the boundary extends indefinitely in that direction.
Note: (1) Objects defining out of bounds are not obstructions and are deemed to be
fixed: therefore there is NO RELIEF without penalty from them. See exception
re Internal Out of Bounds on the holes shown in (iv) above.
2/Penalty Areas (Rule 17)
Penalty Areas are marked by red stakes.
When both stakes and lines are used the stakes identify the penalty area and the line defines the edge. Where such penalty areas are marked just by red stakes they are deemed to indicate the penalty area, not to define the edge. The edge is defined by the break of the ground into the pond/ditch.
17th hole Relief on Opposite Side of Red Penalty area which coincides with the course boundary
If it is known or virtually certain that a player’s ball has come to rest within the ditch on the right of this hole and the point where it last crossed the edge of the penalty area was on the boundary side, they may adding one penalty stroke drop the original or another ball on the course side of the ditch.
The reference point for taking this relief is the point on the course side edge which is the same distance from the hole as where it last crossed the edge on the boundary side. A player must drop the ball within 2 club lengths of this point, not nearer the hole.
3/Abnormal Course Conditions (Rule 16).
This includes Immovable Obstructions and Ground under Repair.
a/ Roads and pathways
All cart tracks and paths on the course, even if not artificially surfaced are treated as Immovable Obstructions from which free relief is available under Rule 16.1
b/ Drainage Channels or cuts
Such areas are deemed to be Ground under Repair from which relief may be taken under Rule 16.1. These include drainage works which have reopened, been sanded filled or contain gravel/stones
c/ Cracks on the Course
Cracks in the ground in parts of the general area are ground under repair. The player may take relief under Rule 16.1b.
But interference does not exist if the crack only interferes with the player’s stance.
NO PLAY ZONES ...Rule 16.1f
d/ Ground under Repair Marked by the Club
Where the club has marked areas of Ground under Repair these will be defined by white lines and /or signs and/ or hoops. Relief MUST be taken from these areas under Rule 16.1
e/ Protection of Young Trees
The young trees identified by stakes and /or wrapping are “No Play Zones”;
-: if a player’s ball lies anywhere on the course other than in a Penalty Area and it lies in or touches such a tree or the tree interferes with the player’s stance or area of intended swing the player MUST take relief under Rule 16.1f.
f/ New tree plantations/ surrounding fencing situated between the 9th green /18th fairway and the 9th green /10th tee.
These areas are deemed to be NO PLAY ZONES. A player whose ball comes to rest in these areas or where the area including the surrounding fence physically interferes with their area of intended stance or swing they MUST take relief under Rule 16.1f
The following relief options apply in respect of these areas;
9th Hole...When playing the 9th hole if a player has interference as shown above from the plantation situated behind the 9th green, they may as an extra option take free relief by dropping the original ball or another ball in the dropping zone situated behind the 9th green. This is marked by a sign and the ball must be dropped within one club length of that sign.
10th Hole... When playing the 10th hole, if the player has interference as shown above from the plantation situated to the left of the hole they MUST take free relief by dropping the original ball or another ball in the dropping zone situated to the right of the area. This is marked by a sign and the ball must be dropped within one club length of that sign. The player MUST use the dropping zone and cannot take relief under Rule 16.1b
In both cases the dropping zone is a relief area under Rule 14.3
Unless otherwise determined by a Rule of Golf- Breach of Local Rule: General Penalty; Stoke play...2 strokes Matchplay...Loss of hole
These local rules should be read in conjunction with any temporary local rules or winter rules which may be applicable.
A downloadable PDF version of the new Local Rules is available here
