Dear Linda,
At our golf course we have a cart path intersecting the
fairway and on both sides is a steep slope (so steep that it is impossible for
a ball to stay on the slope …it will always roll back onto the path). As
this is the case, can a player take relief from the cart path far away from
where his ball came to rest in order to find a “friendly” area to drop the ball
or…must he play the ball off the cart path?
Thank you,
Lou from Ontario
Dear Lou,
The Rules require that a ball be dropped within one
club-length of the nearest point of relief from the cart path that is no closer
to the hole [Rule 24-2b]. If the player drops the ball and it rolls onto the
cart path, he must re-drop [Rule 20-2c (v)]. If the re-drop also rolls onto the
cart path, the player must place the ball on the spot where it hit the ground
when it was dropped the second time [Rule 20-2c, last sentence]. If the placed ball will not remain at rest after two tries, it must be placed at the nearest spot that is no closer to the hole and not in a hazard where it will stay put [Rule 20-3d (i)].
The player may not seek a “friendly” area far away from the
cart path. This would constitute dropping in a wrong place. If he played that
ball, the penalty would be two strokes/loss of hole.
Linda
Copyright © 2013 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
