Showing 1 - 10 of 154
A guide to getting ball back in play
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 25/02/2026
» Drop a golf ball when taking free or penalty relief -- for example; a hazard, unplayable lie or abnormal conditions within a defined relief area. Place a ball back after previously marking it and lifting it from the green, replacing it after it moves, or cleaning it on the putting green.
Free relief, OB stakes and the one-club drop
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 11/02/2026
» Please allow me to try and explain what is an immovable obstruction once more. They are basically artificial, fixed objects like cart paths, sprinklers, or fences -- they allow for a free, one-stroke relief drop if they interfere with a player's lie, stance, or swing. Relief is not permitted for line-of-sight interference. Players must find the nearest point of complete relief, not closer to the hole, and drop within one club-length.
What happens when two golf balls collide on the course?
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 29/10/2025
» Golf balls do occasionally collide. It doesn't happen too often but it does occur occasionally. If a shot is played from off the putting surface and your ball hits another ball, what should you do?
One wrong score for a hole can end your round
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 15/10/2025
» If you return a scorecard with a wrong score for a hole; the score you entered stands if it was higher than your actual score. However, you are disqualified if you return a score that is lower than your actual score or if you fail to return a score for a hole. Putting down a lower score is considered a serious breach of the rules and results in disqualification, unless an unknown penalty was the cause. Some professional tours have adopted a rule that gives players a 15-minute window to correct an incorrect score after leaving the scoring area.
Golf made simple: Key rules every player should know
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 01/10/2025
» Carrying on with some basic 'easy to understand' golf rules that we all need to know well. To correctly drop a golf ball, you must release the ball from your hand at knee height, allowing it to fall straight down without touching your body or equipment before hitting the ground. The ball must then land and come to rest within the defined relief area for that required situation. Should it bounce away from the dropping area you can try two more times. If still unsuccessful -- you can then place the ball. If you drop the ball incorrectly, you simply must re-drop it without penalty, but you incur a penalty if you play the ball from a wrong place after dropping it.
Old tricks and new science in green reading
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 27/08/2025
» I have to be honest and say that the 'Feet Feeling Method' for finding the break in a putt has never excited me. This involves using your feet to feel the slope of the green while you walk around it. The Plumb Bob Method in finding the line of any putt involves using your putter as a plumb line to judge the slope. To do this, you need to stand behind your ball, at a right angle to the hole, and hold up your putter so it covers the ball. Then, you align the shaft of your putter with the ball. If the shaft seems to tilt to one side, it indicates that the green also slopes in that direction and you then allow for this.
Balance matters in swing
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 25/06/2025
» Make sure your legs are shoulder-width apart' because it's a straight forward requisite. Stand with your knees slightly bent with your feet gently angled. Your front foot should have a slight angle outward, or towards where you want to hit the ball. Your back foot should be angled at a 90-degree from the desired target.
Keep your chin up, save your sanity and your swing
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 14/05/2025
» To keep checking your posture and distance from the ball is important, so don't get complacent. The way you stand to the ball dictates how you swing the club, so getting the correct posture governs the distance you'll be standing from the ball. To do this, simply hold out the club in front of you, with the butt of the club pointing into your belly button. Lock your arms and knees. Then, retaining the angle in the hands, bend from the waist until the club head touches the ground.
Hard work is essential for great swing
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 03/04/2025
» Most of us who've been playing for a long time picked up the basics of the game from watching carefully the swings of good players. Imitation has started many of us off in the game but this alone does not allow you to fully understand the swings inner workings. I must be honest here and say that watching only good swings will not make a good player. There is no shortcut, that I'm aware of, that will make a good player other than some hard work on the practice range. Imagining a nice-looking swing whilst hitting balls will help but we're all made differently, and as one well known player once told me 'we all have to work out what works on the course through blood, sweat and tears' so all the many movements required becomes muscle memory.
Alignment the secret to better swing
Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 19/03/2025
» Your knees and hips should be more or less parallel to the line of where you're trying to hit the ball; however, a fade or draw will need a little adjustment. Your shoulders should have the feeling of being a touch open and your right arm the same height as your left or even ever so slightly higher than your left.