# golf penalties



## GolfKid22 (Apr 17, 2007)

1. On one of my home courses there is o.b down the right side of the fairway but the posts are in the middle of the course. me and my dad never play o.b over there though because he said in the rules you cant have o.b in the middle of the course...?
true or not and why? 

2. i hook my ball left o.b. what do i do..? do i hit a provisional? or if i drop what are the rules for dropping?


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## blue3715 (Aug 29, 2006)

1. Local rules are there for a reason. If you are over the OB posts, then you are OB.. maybe there is some protected wetlands on the right side. You really should play it as OB, or at worst, an unplayable and take a penalty and drop.

2. OB is quite simple. You drop the ball (or re-tee if your first shot) in the same place you just hit from and include a stroke. If you hit your 2nd shot OB, you drop a ball in the same place (no it doesn't have to be in the divot) and you are now hitting 4.

Please read up at USGA.org for basic penalties.. OB, water hazard, lateral hazzard, lost (or declared lost) ball (in or out of hazard), unplayable ball, etc.


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

GolfKid22 said:


> 1. On one of my home courses there is o.b down the right side of the fairway but the posts are in the middle of the course. me and my dad never play o.b over there though because he said in the rules you cant have o.b in the middle of the course...?
> true or not and why?
> 
> 2. i hook my ball left o.b. what do i do..? do i hit a provisional? or if i drop what are the rules for dropping?


The USGA _recommends_ against creating an OB within the boundaries of the course, but it's not that uncommon to see it anyway. There is no specific rule against it. It can be done to prevent playing to adjacent hole for an easier shot, thus interfering with (or possibly hitting into) other players who may be playing that hole at the time. My home course did this for several years between the 9th and 18th holes while waiting for a row of trees to mature enough to make playing the 9th fairway to the 18the green an unfavorable strategy. Now the trees do the job of punishing transgressors, and the OB was removed about 12 years ago.


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## white_tiger_137 (Mar 23, 2006)

Unusual, but certainly not unheard of. Play it by the rules. If you hit it OB and take your penalty, you can at least escape with your integrity in tact, even if your score takes a hit.


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## GolfKid22 (Apr 17, 2007)

Fourputt said:


> The USGA _recommends_ against creating an OB within the boundaries of the course, but it's not that uncommon to see it anyway. There is no specific rule against it. It can be done to prevent playing to adjacent hole for an easier shot, thus interfering with (or possibly hitting into) other players who may be playing that hole at the time. My home course did this for several years between the 9th and 18th holes while waiting for a row of trees to mature enough to make playing the 9th fairway to the 18the green an unfavorable strategy. Now the trees do the job of punishing transgressors, and the OB was removed about 12 years ago.


I think they do it because it has a sharp dogleg right and it is reachable in one but the o.b doesn't allow you to go for it. also there are some smaller trees on the right. I imagine they are waiting for them to grow like you said your course did. Without the o.b it would only be like 250ish to the green so i understand now.


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