Besides the specific Definitions and Rules there are some
underlying nuances of the Rules requiring sagacity and experience to fully
appreciate or otherwise these nuances have the potential to cause great
difficulties for a student of the Rules.
Thus, he may think he has an understanding of some concept in the Rules
and then discover that he has overlooked an essential part of a Definition or
Rule because its relationship to another part was obscure. The watch list of
nuances:
Interrelationships. Many Rules and Definitions have internal or
external interrelationships
that are essential to the meaning of the item at hand. These nuances must be recognized, respected
and understood. Internally, a Note at the end of a Definition or Rule may
completely change the meaning of the initial words [see Definition of Wrong
Ball]. Within both Definitions and
Rules, formally stated Exceptions may appear at the end but many times there
are words in a sentence, such as “unless,” “provided,” or “otherwise,” that
change the meaning of the preceding or succeeding words and serve the same
purpose as a formal exception. Externally, another Rule may supplement,
complement or override a given Rule. For
example, knowledge of Rule 20 as a supplement is essential to the execution of
the relief Rules [24, 25, 26 and 28] as well as any other Rules that require
placing or dropping of a ball.
Match play penalties require a claim.
If a referee is assigned to ccompany the players throughout a match, he
must act on any breach of a Rule that he observes or is reported to him. In match play without a referee, an official
is limited in his duties [see Definition of Referee, xception in match play],
thus there are no incurred penalties unless one of the players makes a claim to
his opponent or the Committee [Rule 2-5].
Indeed, a player may disregard a breach of the Rules by his opponent
provided there is no agreement by the sides to waive a Rule [see Note 1 to Rule
2-5]. Thus, there are cases where an
infraction would not result in a penalty despite the plain language at the end
of a given Rule associating a penalty for a breach of the Rule.
