Playing Golf On The Fairway

Hitting On The Fairway

When all balls have been found and identified correctly, the player furthest from the hole has the honors and is away (hits first). When everyone has hit their ball, they continue in this fashion until everyone has arrived on the green, making sure to avoid slow play.

Hitting on the fairway requires the same strategic thinking as on the tee. For example, if you are on a par 5 hole, you will need to make a decision as to whether you go for the green or not. If you are too far away and decide not to go for it, you will then need to decide where on the fairway to hit the ball. You need to set up the next shot, so it comes down to whether you want to hit a mid-club, or a short club. This decision must consider any hazards in the potential line of play.

If you are playing on a par 4 hole, the decision will primarily involve the number, type, and position of any hazards between you and the hole, as well as your confidence in your iron play.

Should you not be on the fairway, but rather in the woods (perish the thought), then your decision is simple. If you do not have an easy shot forward, then hit out onto the fairway. I cannot remember the number of times that I thought that I could jam the ball forward through the trees to a part of the green far forward. In the majority of cases that decision cost me at least one extra shot – in some cases more. Be smart and hit out on the fairway.

Other difficult positions will present their own problems. For example, do not try to hit a ball out of a water hazard unless more than half the ball is visible. Even then be prepared to get soaked. My usual approach is to never hit out of a water hazard, but to take the penalty instead. I chalk it up to my foolishness in hitting it there in the first place!

Etiquette

If your ball should be hit onto an adjacent fairway, be aware that the groups playing that other fairway have priority over you. You must wait until the other fairway is clear (there is no danger either to them or from them) before you enter that fairway to hit your ball back to the proper fairway.

Replace and repair all divots, even in the rough.

Rake all bunkers after you have played from them. Leave them in the same condition that you would like to find them.

Applicable Rules

Rules on the fairway relate primarily to Out of Bounds/lost and hazards. If your fairway hit goes out of bounds or cannot be found, you must replay from the same spot that you originally hit from, unless you have hit a provisional ball. The penalty is stroke and distance.

If your ball is in a hazard, you may play your ball from the hazard, but you must not touch your club to the surface of the hazard until you are hitting the ball (this would be considered as testing the surface of the hazard).

Since you must be able to identify your ball at all times, you are permitted to mark and lift your ball from a hazard for identification (after declaring it). You must then replace the ball in the same spot (as closely as possible). For example, if the ball was buried in the bunker, you must reproduce the amount that the ball was imbedded in that same spot.

You are permitted to declare your ball as unplayable at any time, at any place on the course, except when it is in a water hazard. You are the sole judge of that fact.

Once declared as unplayable, and with a penalty of 1 stroke:

• you may replay the hit from the same spot as the previous hit;
• you may drop a ball behind the point declared unplayable on a line between that point and the hole with no limit on how far back you can go; or
• you may drop a ball within two club lengths of the spot where the ball lay, not nearer the hole.

As a general comment, you are not necessarily entitled to see your ball when making a stroke.

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