Dear Linda:
Firstly, my apologies for having to contact you twice in the
space of a couple of weeks, but search the Rules and Decisions as I might, I
haven't been able to resolve this one . . .
At the Invitation Day of a local Club, a friend of mine was
playing with a lady whose ball went into what appeared to be a rabbit scrape.
He advised her to take free relief, but she declined because she had been told
that free relief could only be claimed in that scenario when animal droppings
were present (to prove that it was an animal scrape and not just a ground
irregularity). This seems to me to be an over-zealous interpretation of the
Rules, although I do realize that relief from an Abnormal Ground Condition is
sometimes (mis)used as an excuse to improve the lie of a ball.
So, my question is whether there are any guidelines to help
one determine whether an animal scrape exists or not, and what exactly are the
criteria?
Again, many thanks for the exceptional help you give all of
us.
Regards
Lou from England
Dear Lou,
I am not aware of any guidelines to help players identify an
animal scrape. I would think that if your fellow competitor readily agrees that
the abnormal ground condition your ball has found is one made by a burrowing
animal, it should be treated as such. There is no requirement that droppings
must be present. In my experience, holes made by burrowing animals are easily identified.
Linda
Copyright © 2013 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
