Since the last article, I received a lot of questions concerning the notion of Serious Breach. I understand it can be confusing.
Firstly, the SERIOUS BREACH is only used when a player has played from a wrong place.
Here is the official definition:
In Stroke Play, when playing from a wrong place could give the player a significant advantage compared to the stroke to be made from the right place.
In making this comparison to decide if there was a serious breach, the factors to be taken into account include:
· The difficulty of the stroke,
· The distance of the ball from the hole,
· The effect of obstacles on the line of play, and
· The conditions affecting the stroke.
EXAMPLES OF SERIOUS BREACHES (the player MUST cancel and replay the shot and add a penalty of 2 strokes)
– The player has a 10-foot putt, he makes his stroke and the player stops the ball after it is past the hole. The ball would have stopped one foot after the hole.
Explanation: Because the stroke must be cancelled, the right place is 10 feet from the hole. This is a significant advantage compared to 1 foot.
– The player takes relief from a Penalty Area. If he drops a ball Inside 2 club-lengths he will have a huge tree on his line of play. He drops a ball at 3 club-lengths.
Explanation: Even if the wrong place is only one club-length further, the player got a significant advantage by not having the tree on his line of play.
EXAMPLES OF A BREACH THAT ARE NOT SERIOUS (the player continues play and adds a penalty of 2 strokes)
– The player had a 1-foot putt. He makes his stroke, and while the ball is still moving after the hole, he stops the ball in motion and plays the next stroke from that place.
Explanation: The player did not get a significant advantage. He has a penalty of 2 strokes for influencing the ball in motion PLUS another penalty of two strokes for playing from the wrong place.
– The player takes relief from a penalty area. Instead of dropping a ball inside 2 club-lengths he drops a ball at 3 club-lengths. There is nothing on his line of play.
Explanation: In the absence of any object on his line of play, we can assume the player did not get a significant advantage. He has the penalty of 2 strokes and he does not correct.