KLPGA's Shin Da-in Penalized for Confusing Ball-Cleaning with Preferred Lie Rule

Getting out to the golf course remains difficult these days. Cold winds sweep through driving ranges as well. Naturally, time spent at home grows longer. Such weather presents a good opportunity to tackle tasks long postponed—including studying golf rules. This series examines easily confused rules through various cases from last year's Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Tour and Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour. —Editor's Note

During the second round of the KLPGA Tour Hana Financial Group Championship held at Bear's Best Cheongna Golf Club in Incheon last September, Shin Da-in's tee shot landed on the fairway—but on nearly bare dirt with little grass. Mud clung to her ball. Heavy rain the day before had prompted the tournament committee to implement "ball cleaning" (Local Rule Model E-2). Shin lifted her ball, cleaned it, and played her shot.

However, playing partner Park Hye-jun raised an objection. The issue: Shin had not returned the ball to its original position. Shin acknowledged placing the ball on grass rather than the dirt surface after cleaning it.

Shin appears to have confused ball cleaning with the preferred lie rule (Local Rule Model E-3). Ball cleaning requires players to replace the ball at its original spot after cleaning. Preferred lie, by contrast, allows players to place the ball within a specified distance (such as one scorecard length) from where it originally lay. Because Shin played from a wrong place, she incurred a general penalty of two strokes (Rule 14.7a).

Tournament committees adopt ball cleaning and preferred lie as local rules to ensure fair play when abnormal course conditions spread widely—due to spring thaws, summer downpours, or extreme heat. Understanding the precise difference between these rules is essential to avoiding costly mistakes. Players must also carefully check whether the rule applies only to fairways in the general area or extends to other locations.