Hi Linda,
Trust you are well.
On our course almost the entire length of a particular
fairway has been edged with logs, some as long as 8-10 feet and most at least 8
inches in diameter. To the other side of the logs there is a path, mainly used by
green-keepers’ vehicles, that is integral to the course.
Presumption is that logs have been positioned in order to
stop the green-keepers taking their tractors across that fairway.
Question: What to do if my ball is up against one of these
logs?
They do not fit the definition of immovable obstruction
because they are not artificial...even though my stance and swing are affected.
I guess they may be loose impediments but they are clearly
immovable.
Is this another case of playing as it lies? Is there
something in the rules to afford relief? Or does the committee need to make a
local rule that they are GUR or something?
As ever grateful for advice.
Regards
Lou from West Wickham, England
Dear Lou,
If these logs have been cut and shaped to serve as a
barrier, they are immovable obstructions (in the same way that an interior
fence or a wooden bench is an immovable obstruction). Players are entitled to
free relief under Rule 24. If there is some concern that all players will not
treat them the same way, the Committee could write a Local Rule declaring the
logs that line the fairway of Hole #__ to be immovable obstructions. This right
of the Committee is guaranteed in the Note to the Definition of
"Obstructions."
Linda
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