Besides conflicting with the fundamental principle of (1) playing the ball as it lies, playing preferred lies (2) causes more damage to the course, (3) tends to unfairly lower handicaps, and (4) makes it harder for players to adjust to “playing it down” at courses where “winter rules” are not in effect. Within the USGA The Rules of Golf there is, however, relief from “occasional local abnormal conditions” under Rule 25, Ground Under Repair.

But, when winter snows and spring thaws render fairways unsatisfactory for fair play, your club’s or course’s Committee can adopt a Local Rule for “preferred lies” or “winter rules”. Such a rule should be constructed to explain, in detail, the procedures to follow when obtaining relief. Just posting a sign in the golf shop saying “Winter Rules Today” isn’t adequate.  The USGA recommends the following wording:

           A ball lying on a closely mown area through the green may, without penalty,
              be moved or may be lifted, cleaned and placed within (specify area, e.g., six inches,
              one club-length, etc.) of where it originally lay, but not nearer the hole and not in a
              hazard or on a putting green. A player may move or place his ball once and after
              the ball has been so moved or placed, it is in play.

Penalty for Breach of Local Rule:
Match play – Loss of Hole; Stroke play – Two Strokes.

A related subject that is generally cause for concern to golfers in late fall is the damage to putting greens caused by aeration. Aeration holes on greens can sometimes make playing the ball as it lies unfair. Adopting a local rule to address this situation can make play for everyone more equitable.  The USGA recommends the following Local Rule:

                Through the green, a ball which comes to rest in or on an aeration hole
                 may be lifted without penalty, cleaned and dropped, as near as
                 possible to the spot where it lay but not nearer the hole. The ball when
                 dropped must first strike a part of the course through the green. On the
                 putting green, the player shall place the ball at the nearest spot not nearer
                 the hole which avoids such situation.

                        Penalty for Breach of Local Rule:
                        Match play – Loss of Hole; Stroke play – Two strokes.

Several other situations that may arise during winter play (in the absence of a local rule governing temporary conditions) are addressed by the USGA The Rules of Golf.  Due to soft, wet conditions you are more likely to find yourself confronted with an embedded ball or casual water, both through the green and in bunkers. Knowing when you may take relief and how to proceed can protect you from accumulating penalty strokes.

Relief given for a ball that is embedded in its own pitch-mark normally is permitted under Rule 25-2 which allows the player to lift, clean and drop a ball that is embedded in its own pitch-mark in the ground in any closely mown area through the green. Because winter weather can sometimes cause temporary conditions of mud and extreme wetness, a local rule may be adopted which allows an embedded ball, through the green, to be lifted, cleaned and replaced as “close a possible to where it lay but not nearer the hole”.

   Casual water is defined as “any temporary accumulation of water on the course which is visible before or after a player takes his stance and is not in a water hazard”. Snow and natural ice, but not frost, can be considered casual water also. The procedures for relief from casual water can be found in the USGA The Rules of Golf under Rule 25, Abnormal Ground Conditions, Embedded Ball, and Wrong Putting Green.

The key word here is VISIBLE. The player must be able to actually see water on the ground around his feet. Soft or mushy turf in and of itself is not casual water. To take relief from casual water through the green a player must first determine the nearest point of relief which is not in a hazard or on a putting green. He shall then “…lift the ball and drop it without penalty within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief on a part of the course which avoids interference by the condition…”.

    Relief from casual water in a bunker is the same except that the nearest point of relief must be within the bunker and the ball must be dropped in the bunker. If it is impossible to obtain complete relief from casual water in a bunker you may drop the ball “under penalty of one stroke, outside the bunker keeping the point where the ball lay directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped.” You may go as far back behind the bunker as you wish.

    On a putting green the procedure is the same as through the green except that you must place the ball and that the nearest point of relief may be off the putting green.

    Winter golf can be tough and higher scores can be reflective of conditions, but knowing when and how to put the Rules of Golf to work for you can save you strokes and make cold-weather play more enjoyable for everyone.