If you are spectating a golf match and a golfer’s ball comes to rest on your foot like Shooter McGavin’s did in the movie Happy Gilmore, what do the rules actually say about this? Was the movie correct? Find out in this golf rules video.
[Music] Hello everyone. Welcome to GI Golf. I’m Jim and welcome to this fun golf rules tip video where we talk about what happens if you’re spectating a golf tournament and somebody’s golf ball comes to rest on your foot and what the rules actually say about this situation because it can happen out there to you. Well, first of all, I’d like to talk about a popular movie. Matter of fact, there’s a popular sequel to this movie coming out here very soon at the time of the release of this video. Happy Gilmore One. In that video, or in that movie rather, towards the end of the movie, Shooter McGavin hits his ball towards the crowd and lands and comes to rest. It stops and comes to rest on a gentleman’s foot. When shooter gets up there to his ball, he immediately asks for a rules official. He asked Doug, “Where are you? Can I get a ruling here? Do Do I get a drop?” Well, Doug incorrectly looks at it and tells him, “I’m sorry. The rules say you must play the balls at lies.” However, they do not. And that’s what this video is about. I’m going to uh show you exactly what to do if this happens to you. Let’s have some fun with this golf rule. Now, let’s talk about what the rules actually say to do. You must take free relief in a situation like this. Now, I don’t have another person out here with me today. So, you got to visualize there’s a person standing here. That’s their shoes. My golf ball, I can see it’s definitely mine. I can identify it’s mine. It is my uh Bridgestone says Golf LLC on there. My golf ball has come to rest on somebody’s foot. Okay. The rules say that we have to establish a reference point before we make this free drop. The rules also say that we must do this. I cannot strike that golf ball. I know it was a great movie scene, but the rules actually say for safety, we cannot strike this golf ball. We must take free relief, and we got to establish a reference point that is directly below this golf ball where it’s at. It also says that it must be the first place this ball come to rest on somebody’s foot. If by some miracle in physics, cuz I’m having a hard time keeping that ball on that foot right now. If some somehow in some miracle of physics the person it came to rest and it’s on her foot and they move a foot and the ball’s still on there and didn’t roll off, we have to talk, we have to ask them, hey, have you moved? Because if you moved and it’s still on your foot, we have to go back over to this spot. That would be our reference point where the ball first came to rest on this person’s foot. Now, ball came to rest there. I know it’s mine. I’ll apologize the person. Sorry, ma’am. My ball hit your foot or ma’am. And now I got to establish a reference point. So I would just tell them to stay there. I would probably, you know, my golf hole, by the way, is the flag in the distance. My putting greens that way. I would probably just put a put a tee here, maybe at the point of their shoe. Then I would ask, now I would go ahead and pick my ball up. Ask them to move out of the way. They would do that. And then I would move that tee to the best of my ability to about right there to where that reference point would be. right directly down where that person’s foot was. That is my reference point where now I will take a free drop within one club length. No closer to the hole. Take a drop. Again, it’s free. And just play on.
