THE TEE BOX
THE MARSHALL
The 150 markers at my home course are moveable
obstructions, just a plastic tube pushed into the ground.
I recently had the scenario where I was in some trees but
had a low shot out, about 10 ft. in front of me was a 150
marker. I only have a small gap and a good chance of hitting
this marker so I moved it even though it was not interfering
with my stance or swing. Was that OK?
Yes. A player may remove a movable obstruction at any
time. Naturally, that includes a removable 150-yard marker
on their line of play [Rule 24-1]. There is no free relief from
an immovable obstruction on the player’s line of play. A
player is only entitled to free relief from an immovable
obstruction if the ball lies in or on the obstruction, or the
obstruction interferes with the player’s stance or swing
[Rule 24-2].
While playing a short par 3, my tee shot came to rest on the
fringe of the green. I wanted to putt the ball from the fringe,
but a sprinkler head was directly in my line. Was I entitled
to relief from the sprinkler head?
Rule 24-2a only gives relief from an immovable obstruction
(like a sprinkler head) on your line of play if both the ball
and the obstruction are on the putting green.
When playing after a heavy rainfall my tee shot landed just
outside of a bunker, close enough that I was going to have
to take my stance from inside the bunker to play my second
shot. However, I was going to stand in the middle of a large
puddle in the bunker. Can I take a drop even though the
water was in a hazard?
You have the right by Rule 25 to take relief while standing
in casual water as long as your ball is not in a water
hazard. Since your ball lay “through the green,” you should
have found the nearest point of relief through the green
(whether your feet were in or out of the bunker), and
dropped the ball within one club length of that point, no
closer to the hole and not in the hazard.
In a recent competition I took my second stroke and my
ball hit someone else’s ball that was lying on the fairway,
resulting in the other person’s ball landing in the rough and
mine in the fairway. Do I get penalised and do we just leave
the balls where they landed or does the other person move
theirs back where it was?
There is no penalty to anyone. The player whose ball struck
the other player’s ball will play her own ball as it lies. The
player whose ball was moved must replace it [Rule 18-5].
A friend of mine recently had to take a drop in a competition,
he measured out two club lengths and left his club lying on
the ground. He then dropped his ball and before it hit the
ground it landed on his club and provided him with a very
good lie for his next shot. Should this have been allowed or
should a penalty be taken?
Rule 20-2a, states that if a player drops a ball that
touches anyone’s equipment (including his own) before
or after it hits the ground, the ball must be re-dropped,
without penalty.
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8 | YOURCADDY MAG - ISSUE 05