Dear Linda,
Yesterday, during our club's monthly tournament, my fellow competitor had the following situation, which I would appreciate your advice. Unfortunately, I did not carry my camera with me to take a picture of the situation but I tried to draw a sketch (to the best of my ability) to illustrate it.
The attached document contains the sketch of the situation. Allow me to give you a brief description of the sketch. On the left side of the drain, the terrain is mildly uphill and sparsely populated with trees. However, the immediate terrain on the left of the drain is a very steep slope (about 70ยบ). From the top of the drain (ie. same level of the road) to the top of the steep slope, the maximum distance is about 5 feet.
On the immediate right side of the road, the fairway slopes downwards several feet; towards the green, it levels up. The road is a gentle uphill towards the green and until the next tee-box.
My fellow competitor's ball was at rest in the drain on the left side of the road (at A). In our local rule, if the drain is running parallel and adjoining the road, it is considered to be part of the road. In this case, the player may take a relief from the road without penalty, as per Rule 24-2. Unfortunately, the steep slope on the left of the drain is at its maximum distance (about 5 feet) to the top of the steep slope (at C). He wanted to drop his ball around B and I told him this is not correct because his nearest point of relief (NPR) is at X. Because of the steep slope, it is near impossible to stand on the steep slope in determining X. So, I estimated where X should be. X is on the steep slope and the one club-length drop area (even with the driver length) would be on the steep slope. If he drops the ball in the dropping area, the ball would inevitably roll into the drain. After 2 drops, he would then place the ball on the steep slope where the ball first struck the ground during the re-drop but it would never come to rest at that spot (due to the steep slope and potential danger of falling). Then, as per Rule 20-3d, he needs to place the ball at C and proceed from there. I believe this would be the proper procedure to take relief for this situation.
In my scenario, I asked him to place his ball at C straight away (to save time). In his overall results, it does not matter because he was not in the winning circuit. I understand this is beside the point. Anyway, my main purpose of seeking your advice on this scenario is as follows:
1. in this situation, should there be a designated dropping zone (DZ)?
2. if yes, where should the DZ be located?
3. if no, due to the potential danger of falling in determining X (the NPR), is it a must to go thru the process in determining X and then dropping the ball in the dropping area before placing the ball at C?
Please comment.
Thank you and best regards
Lou
Dear Lou,
I would not recommend a Dropping Zone in this situation, since it is not impossible to find relief.
Your procedure in estimating the area in which to drop the ball was correct. It is not required that you take your stance and measure a club-length as long as the area in which you will drop the ball satisfies the requirements of the Rule [24-2b(i)].
You may not place the ball at C without following the correct procedure:
1. Drop the ball.
2. When it rolls into the drain, drop it a second time.
3. When it rolls into the drain again, place it where it struck the course.
4. If it rolls more than two club-lengths from that spot, place it at the nearest spot where it will come to rest.
You cannot assume that C will be the correct spot, since dropped balls do not always behave exactly as you might expect.
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
