[GolfSavage]

Originally Posted by atticusfinch

I just took a glance at that site and there was a glairing error that popped right up. I wonder what else is questionable.

The site said:

As the committee we can adopt Local Rules for adverse conditions and here's a
description of how we'll handle the Lift, Clean and Place rule. There are specific
procedures you have to follow or penalty strokes will be involved. Rule 20-1 states:
"The position of the ball shall be marked before it is lifted under a Rule, which requires
it to be replaced." Please…have a tee in your pocket ready to mark your ball before
lifting it when following the Local Rule. Lifting your ball before marking its location
carries an immediate one-stroke penalty AND you must replace your ball and start over.

Lift, clean and place is not a rule that requires replacement of the ball and therefore failure to mark the ball does not incur a penalty under rule 20. The penalty is imposed directly by the local rule. Net result the same, but not the right path.

A ball lying on a closely mown area through the green [or specify a more restricted area, e.g., at the 6th hole] may be lifted without penalty and cleaned. Before lifting the ball, the player must mark its position. Having lifted the ball, he must place it on a spot within [specify area, e.g., six inches, one club-length, etc.] of and not nearer the hole than where it originally lay, that is not in a hazard and not on a putting green.

I didn't intend for the linked document to be considered a final judgement, just a sample of local rules used and noted for the players. I should have made that clear. Though perhaps not perfect, I thought it a good example of how a local body would handle such things for tournaments, leaving no room for doubt about what is expected under the local rule. I've played courses where this local rule was in place, but the signs just said something like "Lift, clean, place allowed", which was open to all sorts of interpretation by the players.