Holes in golf rules -- Rabbits yes, dogs no

Holes in golf rules -- Rabbits yes, dogs no
Associated Press

St Andrews (Scotland), Jan 5: Golf's ruling body Royal and Ancient Club turned its attention from birdies and eagles at the start of the new millennium to make a ruling on moles, rabbits and dogs.

The R and A, whose headquarters are at the home of golf, St Andrews, was asked to make a ruling over what happens when a ball lands in an animal's hole.

Under existing rules, a golfer is allowed to reposition the ball a club's length from such a hole if it had been made by ``a burrowing animal.'' But what constitutes a burrowing animal?

To avoid angry words on the fairways, the R and A has now amended the wording of the rule to provide a definition of a burrowing animal as one which ``makes a hole for habitation or shelter.'' That, according to R and A, inlcudes rabbits, moles, groundhogs, gophers and salamanders. It does not, golfers be warned, include dogs.

``Golfers share their course with wildlife and more often than you might think balls land in holes dug by them,'' said David Rickman, the R and A'srules secretary, whose new rules book took effect from January 1.

``Historically there has been some argument over what a burrowing animal is and that is why we have included this definition in the new rules.``We've said a burrowing animal is one that digs for shelter or habitation rather than for recreational reasons," Rickman said.

``As the game has extended overseas we have had to accommodate other animals which inhabit courses resulting in the slightly strange concept of the R and A making reference to gophers, salamander and groundhogs which don't actually inhabit the links of St Andrews,'' he said. ``But the same rules have to be applicable in Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as Europe so that's why we've given these examples.''

The R and A has worked for four years on its millennium edition of the rule book. Some four million copies of the book will be distributed free to golfers around the world.