General Manager's June Journal
The rules of golf as they pertain to Southern Pines.
One Early Saturday Morning after listening to the Southern Pines Tee Time radio show on the way to the Pine Hills course Todd “Dollar-G-Dollar Money” Groves was set to tee off at 8:30 a.m. He was in his normal group; Johnnye Ford, Jackie Clowers, and Andy Vaughn.
Everything is going along famously and everyone is enjoying each other’s limited friendship until a slight controversy flares its ugly head on the Par 5 number 3 hole.
Teeing off on # 3 Todd has the box, he hits a smashing 325 yd high hook (imagine that), landing it down the left side of the fairway. Bryan and Andy then tee off hitting straight down the middle. Johnnye gets up hits a low burner straight down the middle as well. Everyone but Todd (due to his big drive of course) lays up just short of the water on their 2nd shots. As Todd approaches his ball he realizes that it is directly behind a tree. He has no shot. But, all is not lost as he notices that although his ball is clean; his stance is impeded by a fire ant hill. Being a self proclaimed expert of the rules and reflecting on a prior situation a few short years ago where he took a somewhat controversial yet important relief, Todd claims relief from the ant bed under the rules of golf and takes a drop which coincidently gives him a shot to the green. His opponents argue that he gets no relief since the rule only applies to fire ants on the ball and not his stance as he could move his stance to an area where there were no ants and still advance the ball. Todd, being the somewhat bigger of the three gets his way and takes relief under obvious protest by the others. He smashes a 5 iron, but this time the high hook doesn’t quite work. His ball hits a post on the covered bridge up by the green and comes to rest on the bridge itself.
After the rest of the group hit their approach shots onto the green, they go to survey the situation at the bridge with Todd. Todd’s ball has come to rest on a bottom board but leaning on the side board. Todd argues (remember he is an “expert” in the rules) that according to the Rules of Golf the bridge is part of the cart path therefore he should get relief from the bridge no closer to the hole without penalty. However, Andy, Bryan and Johnnye argue that the bridge is part of the hazard and therefore Todd must hit the shot as it lies or take proper relief and a penalty stroke. Seeing that the ball is indeed unplayable, Todd takes a drop and hits a knockdown wedge onto the green and makes the putt. While the others all make par, Todd claims he scored a birdie (4) and won the hole. The others argue he scored a (7).
So here is the big question….What should Todd’s score have been on the hole?
Fire Ants: 
A Local Rule is justified on courses where fire ants exist. A fire ants' mound or hill is removable, but its removal will cause the fire ants to swarm out of the ground. When this occurs, anyone in the vicinity is in danger of being bitten by the ants, and the bite of a fire ant can cause serious illness.
If a Local Rule giving relief from fire ants has not been adopted and a ball is so close to a fire ants' mound that the player is in danger, the player is, in equity, entitled to relief as prescribed in Decision 1-4/10 (a player's ball comes to rest in a situation dangerous to the player, e.g., near a live rattlesnake or a bees' nest).
Therefore, Todd’s choice of relief was correct – NO PENALTY
Bridge Over The Troubled Water:
If your ball lands on a bridge over a hazard you do not get a free drop unless it is a local rule of that course. You must play the ball as it lies or take a penalty drop.
Since we do not have a local rule stating otherwise, Todd’s choice of relief without penalty was incorrect. Assuming he took the correct drop, he is assessed (1) PENALTY STROKE
WHAT DID TODD SCORE?
In the end Todd actually scored a 5. He took four shots and was assessed one penalty stroke at the bridge. Everyone tied the hole and they all had a group hug in the bar.
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