Linda, I love your web site and I read all of your replies. Don't ever stop what you are doing. You are doing a great service by keeping us amateurs up to date. I have a question.
I was recently playing here in Florida with a fellow and he pulled out this little folded pamphlet put out by the USGA. In it was a rule and a diagram showing the dropping of a ball from a cart path. It showed that if you are a right-handed golfer, you must drop the ball on the left side of the cart path {assuming you were looking in the direction of the hole} and you must drop it from the right side if you were left-handed golfer.
I had never heard of this. Could this be a possible rule?
Thank you, Lou.
Dear Lou,
The issue here is simply how to find the nearest point of relief, a search that seems to baffle many golfers. I am happy you posed this question, and I will do my best to enlighten everyone.
Players are entitled to free relief if their ball settles on a paved cart path or other immovable obstruction, such as roads, steps, fences protecting young trees, etc. They may also take free relief from abnormal ground conditions, which are defined as casual water, ground under repair, or a hole made by a burrowing animal. If they choose to take this free relief, they must drop the ball within one club-length and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief.
“Nearest point of relief” means exactly that. A player may not choose on which side of the cart path, other immovable obstruction, or abnormal ground condition he will drop the ball, unless two points of relief are the same distance from his ball. If, for example, a player wants to take relief from a paved cart path, and one side of the cart path is fairway while the other side is fescue, if the nearest relief is in the fescue then that is where he must drop his ball, even though it may be unplayable when he drops in the fescue. This is why you should always consider carefully where you will have to drop your ball before you lift it. It might turn out to be to your advantage to play your ball from the cart path rather than drop it into an unplayable condition. Once you lift that ball, you cannot replace it without incurring a one-stroke penalty for lifting your ball in play [Decision 18-2a/12].
Now back to your question. Let’s consider the ball of a right-handed golfer that has settled more or less in the middle of the cart path. He is entitled to what is commonly referred to as “stance plus a club-length.” If he takes his stance on the left side of the cart path, the head of his club will be very close to the path. After he measures a club-length from that point, he will be a little over a club-length away from the edge of the cart path.
Now let’s see what happens if he tries to find relief on the right side of the cart path. When he takes his stance off the path, the head of the club will touch the ground approximately three feet away from the cart path. After he measures a club-length from that point, he will be just under three feet further from the cart path than he was when he sought relief on the left side of the path.
Since the nearest point of relief for this right-handed golfer with the ball in the middle of the cart path is on the left side, that is where he must take his relief. If you are a left-handed golfer in the same situation, your nearest point of relief would be on the right side of the path.
Of course, the ball does not always settle precisely in the middle of the path. Depending on the width of the path, and how close your ball is to one side or the other, the nearest point of relief for the right-handed golfer could turn out to be on the right side of the path. If it is not obvious which side will comply with the requirement to find the nearest point of relief, you will have to measure the distance from where your ball lay on the path to the relief point on both sides to determine where to drop.
There is no rule that states that a right-handed golfer is required to drop on the left side of a path. The rule is that he must find the nearest point of relief to drop his ball. In most cases, the nearest point of relief for a right-handed golfer taking relief from a ball on a cart path will be on the left side.
The pamphlet you saw, Lou, was probably trying to point out that the left side of the cart path provided the nearest point of relief for a ball that was positioned in their diagram somewhere between the center and left side of the path. As the player is required to drop at the nearest point of relief, the information in the pamphlet indicated that the player was required to drop his ball on that left side.
There are excellent diagrams and an explanation of how to find the nearest point of relief in the Decisions book. Visit this link:
http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Rules-and-Decisions/
Click on Rule 25 on the left-hand side, and then find “Decisions” on the right-hand side and scroll down to and click on 25-1b/2.
Remember that you are obligated to find the nearest point of relief when you are entitled to free relief. Check to see that the area where you will have to drop your ball is actually preferable to your original predicament. If it is, lift and drop your ball within one club-length and no closer to the hole than that point.
Linda
Copyright © 2009 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
