Dear readers,
Several of you have written to ask whether the player in
#922, after dropping his ball on the six inches of grass between the cart path
and the out-of-bounds stakes, would be entitled to relief from the cart path if
he wanted to turn around and hit the ball left-handed.
The answer is “yes.” A player is entitled to relief for an
abnormal stroke (left-handed for a right-handed player) if the abnormal stroke
is reasonable under the circumstances [Decision 24-2b/17]. The nearest point of
relief (NPR) will most likely be on the other side of the cart path. After he
drops the ball, he may turn around and hit it right-handed. If he has
interference from the cart path for that right-handed stroke, he is again entitled
to relief from the cart path. Each time he drops the ball he has to deal with a
new situation.
You might be interested in reading Decision 24-2b/9.5, which
diagrams and explains a series of drops that could get a player away from a
cart path, past a tree, and into the fairway. Sometimes it really pays to know
the Rules!
Linda
Copyright © 2014 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
