2019 New Rules Snapshots – Intention

INTENTION

A basic principle throughout the rules is that your action will be judged by your intention.

That is, if your intention in taking an action is not to improve the conditions for your stroke or for a future stroke, but is motivated by such a concept as ‘caring for the course’, then the consequences of your action are very unlikely to result in you incurring a penalty.

For example,
• If in removing a loose impediment from a bunker the conditions for playing your stroke are inadvertently improved by the action of removing the loose impediment, you will not incur a penalty; and

• If after playing your ball from a bunker you repair the bunker, you will not incur a penalty even if you are subsequently required to drop your ball in the same bunker as a result of taking unplayable ball relief from the place which your bunker shot came to rest.