Linda, I hope you can settle a situation that occurred on the course the other day.
Golfer declares the ball unplayable because it is laying close to the OB fence line. The option he takes is relief 2 club lengths from the fence. The problem is that the only area within 2 clubs not nearer to the hole is on the cart path. If he drops twice on the path and being downhill it rolls forward towards the hole. He then places the ball on the path. Can he then get 1 club relief from the cart path?
Thank You,
Lou Lou
Dear Lou Lou,
Yes. The player proceeded correctly. There is no free relief from an out-of-bounds fence. Dropping within two club-lengths under penalty of one stroke is one of the relief options for an unplayable ball [Rule 28c]. If the two club-lengths puts him on the cart path, then that is where he must drop the ball. Since the ball rolled closer to the hole on both drops, he must place it on the spot where it hit the path on the second drop [Rule 20-2c(vii)]. If the player decides to take relief from the cart path, he must find the nearest point no closer to the hole where he will get full relief. He will then drop the ball within one club-length of that spot [Rule 24-2b].
Linda
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