Golf has more rules than almost any other sport, and some of them sound made up. They’re not. Here are five of the strangest situations the Rules of Golf actually account for, and what you’re supposed to do if they happen to you.

1. You Can’t Fan Your Ball Toward the Hole

Standing over a dead-still putt and wishing you could just fan the ball home? You can’t. Rule 4.3a(2) bans using any artificial device, a fan, a towel, anything, to gain an advantage like testing or influencing wind. Hold one up next to your ball and you’ve broken the rule before the ball even moves.

2. Throwing Grass to Check the Wind Is Fine, A Handkerchief Isn’t

Here’s the contrast that trips people up: tossing a pinch of grass in the air to read the wind is completely legal. But pull out a handkerchief, ribbon, or any other object to do the same thing, and you’re in violation of that same Rule 4.3a(2), because grass is natural and a handkerchief counts as equipment. First offense is the general penalty (loss of hole in match play, two strokes in stroke play); do it again and you’re disqualified.

3. A Lost Ball Hiding in a Pile of Oranges

It sounds like a joke, but it’s a real scenario golfers have run into on courses bordering orchards: an orange ball rolls into a pile of actual oranges and disappears. The Rules don’t have a line written specifically for “ball lost among fruit,” but they do cover the situation that follows. Rule 7.2 governs how you’re allowed to identify your ball (by a mark you put on it, or by brand, model, and condition), and if you can’t turn it up in time, Rule 18.2 kicks in: you get three minutes to search, and if the ball isn’t found, it’s stroke and distance, back to where you hit it from, plus a one-stroke penalty.

4. Hit It Into the Clubhouse Bar? It Might Not Even Be Out of Bounds

A wild slice sailing through an open clubhouse window and into the bar is exactly the kind of shot that ends up on every group text. Whether that’s an automatic out-of-bounds penalty under Rule 18.2 depends entirely on the course. Out-of-bounds areas are defined by each course’s own Local Rules, so unless the clubhouse is specifically marked OB on that course’s local rule sheet, your ball might technically still be in play. Good luck explaining that to the bartender.

5. Your Ball Lands Next to an Alligator, You Get Free Relief

This one’s real and it’s specific: under Rule 16.2b (Dangerous Animal Condition), if your ball comes to rest near a dangerous animal, think alligators, venomous snakes, stinging insects, or anything else that could seriously hurt you, you’re entitled to free relief. You find the nearest point of complete relief away from the danger and drop within one club-length, no penalty. The Rules of Golf, it turns out, drew the line at making golfers play around reptiles.

Got a weird rules story of your own? Drop it in the comments, we’ll fact-check it against the actual rulebook.