# Rule question regarding golf cart use



## MichaelWater (Aug 8, 2010)

My playing partner told me I "cheated" today. I was shocked. I asked for an explanation.
He informed me that I had driven my cart beyond my ball to see the green, & that was illegal (not just a breach of etiquette, but actually _breaking a rule_), because it gave me a unique advantage.

What happened is this: 

This was a new course for us, & my tee shot landed in a low point of the fairway on a par 5 dogleg right. My ball sat at the bottom of a fairly high hill. My playing partners had both hit poor t-shots that they were busy looking for. Having never played this course before, I used the free time to drive my cart to the top of the hill & check out the layout of the rest of the hole.

His argument was obviously that they didn't get to look, so I had an unfair advantage. I understand that it is an advantage, but is this _breaking a rule_? I've done a Google search & I'm having a hard time coming up with anything. Perhaps that's because there isn't a rule? As far as I know I have 5 minutes to make a shot, so I can pretty much drive where i want as long as i hit the ball withing 5 minutes. Please chime in if anyone has any thoughts or ruling on this issue. Thanks!


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## stevel1017 (Apr 30, 2007)

I am going to guess on this one and say no, the pro's walk up and look at the hole/green all the time.


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

Your friend was all wet.  As long as you don't hold up play to do it, there is nothing in the rules that prohibits checking out the hole ahead of you.

However, I don't know where you get the 5 minutes to make your stroke. The Rules of Golf require that you play without delay.... that means that when you get to your ball, and you aren't interfering with anyone else, then hit the shot. Don't worry about who's away. One more comment... why weren't you helping your friends search for their balls? That is just simple courtesy.... I can't imagine not helping a playing companion in a ball search.


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## MichaelWater (Aug 8, 2010)

Fourputt said:


> Your friend was all wet.  As long as you don't hold up play to do it, there is nothing in the rules that prohibits checking out the hole ahead of you.
> 
> However, I don't know where you get the 5 minutes to make your stroke. The Rules of Golf require that you play without delay.... that means that when you get to your ball, and you aren't interfering with anyone else, then hit the shot. Don't worry about who's away. One more comment... why weren't you helping your friends search for their balls? That is just simple courtesy.... I can't imagine not helping a playing companion in a ball search.


Thanks for the responses. As far as the 5 minutes, I've seen pros limited to 5 minutes search time, & just assumed that was the maximum amount of time allotted for any shot. In regards to helping my friends search, we usually do that. In this case though, they had both yanked their balls left, & I pushed mine right. None of us were sure of our ball locations initially as all 3 balls went out of sight. I thought I may have pushed my shot into the woods short of the dogleg right. After rounding the corner, though, I was happy to see I had cleared the trees & was in the middle of the fairway. By then, my friends were 100 yards behind me & had pretty much located their balls & were just deciding how they would shoot from there. I took a little literary liberty in describing them as "still looking for their balls", just to keep the description simple. Thanks again for your responses!


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## Fourputt (Nov 18, 2006)

MichaelWater said:


> Thanks for the responses. As far as the 5 minutes, I've seen pros limited to 5 minutes search time, & just assumed that was the maximum amount of time allotted for any shot. In regards to helping my friends search, we usually do that. In this case though, they had both yanked their balls left, & I pushed mine right. None of us were sure of our ball locations initially as all 3 balls went out of sight. I thought I may have pushed my shot into the woods short of the dogleg right. After rounding the corner, though, I was happy to see I had cleared the trees & was in the middle of the fairway. By then, my friends were 100 yards behind me & had pretty much located their balls & were just deciding how they would shoot from there. I took a little literary liberty in describing them as "still looking for their balls", just to keep the description simple. Thanks again for your responses!


That 5 minutes is the maximum time allowed for a search (and unless I'm playing in a competition, I don't even take that long), but it has nothing to do with the time allowed for making a stroke. All players should play without delay. 

Just imagine if a group of four golfers each took 5 minutes to play each stroke, and each player shot 85. 85 x 4 x 5 ÷ 60 = 28 hours to play a round of golf.  Even modifying that for tap ins, it's still unmanageable. 

Typically if it takes you more than 30 seconds to play once it's your turn, then you need to revise your shot planning routine.


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