Hi Linda,
Today, my friend’s golf ball came to rest on the fringe of
the green. There was a sprinkler head between his ball and the green. He
claimed that he could take a no-penalty relief because his putter head (in the
follow through of the stroke) would go over the sprinkler head. Is my friend
correct?
Thank you so much.
Lou from Toronto
Dear Lou,
A sprinkler head is an immovable obstruction. A player is
entitled to free relief if an immovable obstruction interferes with the area of
his intended swing. Your friend is entitled to free relief only if the putter will contact the sprinkler head on his follow-through. This could be determined by standing to the side of the sprinkler head and practicing the stroke. There is no free relief if the putter will pass over the sprinkler head with no contact.
While we’re on this topic, you might be interested to know
that there is a Local Rule that can be adopted that gives players free relief
from immovable obstructions close to the putting green that interfere with the
line of play from the ball to the hole. Players often opt to putt from the
fringe, and a sprinkler head on the fringe can interfere with normal play.
Please read Local Rule #6 in Appendix I, Part B for complete details.
Linda
Copyright © 2014 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
