Ask Linda #21 - cart path relief

Hi Lulu,

In my last tournament I had two knowledgeable ladies with conflicting ideas. One said you get a free drop from any cart path and the other said you only get relief from a macadam cart path. I have looked in the rule book & can't find an answer. Can you help???

Signed,
Blond and bewildered....

Hi B and B—

First of all, I’m Linda and you’re Lulu. Let’s try to stay in character, shall we?

I’m going to take you on a short tour of the rule book to answer your question. If you look in Section II, Definitions, Obstructions, (the definitions precede the actual rules, and may be the most important part of the rule book), the book will tell you that “an ‘obstruction’ is anything artificial, including the artificial surfaces and sides of roads and paths…” Macadam is artificial; dirt is not.

Next I’d like you to flip over to Rule 24, Obstructions. Rule 24-2 will tell you that if your ball lies on the immovable obstruction (macadam cart paths come under the heading of “immovable”), or if the obstruction interferes with your stance or the area of your intended swing, you get free relief. Sticking to the topic of relief from a cart path, you may drop your ball without penalty within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief (NPR). This NPR cannot be in a hazard or on a putting green.

The way to find this NPR is to take your stance with the club you most likely would use for your next shot. Position yourself so that you have full relief from the cart path, being careful not to place yourself closer to the hole. Next put a tee in the ground where your ball would lie. Now you may select any club in your bag and place it on the ground with one end touching the tee and the other end angled slightly away from the hole. Put a second tee in the ground next to the end that does not have a tee. Remove the measuring club and replace it in your bag. Drop the ball in the area between the two tees. If it rolls closer to the hole than a line between the two tees, you must re-drop. (Re-dropping is a story for another day, but if you would like a sneak preview read Rule 20-2C.) Something very few golfers seem to know is that this dropped ball may roll as far as two club-lengths from where you dropped it, taking it out of the area between the two tees. As long as it does not roll closer to the hole, or more than two club-lengths, it is a good drop.

To answer your question, the second lady was correct. You get relief from a paved cart path; you do not get free relief from an unpaved path. You should also be aware that if a path is covered with gravel, it is considered an artificially-surfaced road and therefore an obstruction from which you would get free relief. If you’re afraid to hit it off the dirt you may declare your ball unplayable and apply Rule 28 (“Ball Unplayable”), which will add one penalty stroke to your score.

Hope you’re still blonde but no longer bewildered.

Linda

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