TheRules
Between a Rock & a Hard Place
What do you do if there’ s an obstruction in a penalty area
by WALTER BURKHARDT
At a recent MAPGA junior tournament at Bristow Manor, a player asked for a ruling regarding immovable obstruction relief. A wooden post in the penalty area was interfering with his stance, and he wanted to know if he got free relief. Previous articles have dealt with immovable obstruction relief, such as from a cart path, but those have all been when the obstruction was in the general area. What if the obstruction was in a penalty area?
To determine that, we need to answer two questions:
1. Where is the ball? This is the first question to ask because Rule 16.1. a.( 2) says relief is allowed anywhere on the course as long as the ball isn’ t in a penalty area and the obstruction isn’ t out of bounds. If the ball is in the penalty area, there is no relief from the immovable obstruction, and the only available relief is per Rule 17, with relief depending on whether it is a red or yellow penalty area. If the obstruction is out of bounds, there is no free relief.
The thing to remember is that it isn’ t about where the obstruction is— as long as it’ s in bounds— but where the ball is. In this case, the ball was in the general area so there was still the possibility of relief for interference with the player’ s stance.
2. Is the obstruction an integral object? Per the Rules of Golf, an integral object is“ an artificial object defined by the Committee as part of the challenge of playing the course from which free relief is not allowed.” Rule 16.1 specifically lists integral objects as immovable obstructions from which relief is not granted.
Examples of integral objects include retaining walls around a pond, rock walls, etc. The operative words in the definition are“ defined by the Committee.” The Committee will identify if there are any integral objects by listing them in either the Local Rules Sheet or the Notice to Players for a given tournament. If the obstruction isn’ t listed in either of those places, it’ s not considered an integral object.
A review of the Notice to Players and the Local Rules Sheet showed that these wooden posts were not considered integral objects, therefore the Committee did not consider them part of the challenge of playing the course.
The Result Because the ball was in the general area and the wooden post, although in the penalty area, was not an integral object, the player was entitled to relief under Rule 16. His reference point was the point of nearest complete relief from the wooden post in the general area, no closer to the hole. The relief area would be in the general area, one club length from that point, no nearer the hole.
However, if the wooden posts had been listed as integral objects by the Committee, there would have been no relief from an immovable obstruction and, because the ball was in the general area, the only relief would have been under Rule 19— Unplayable Ball.
Walter Burkhardt is a volunteer Rules official who works many VSGA and MAPGA events throughout the year. He is a member at Springfield Golf & Country Club. vsga. org M ARCH / A PRIL 2026 | V IRGINIA G OLFER
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