Dear Linda,
Our club has a Par 3 with a concrete path along the right
side. There is a narrow band of ground between the right side of the path and
the out of bounds fence to the right. A player’s ball landed on that narrow
band, he sought free relief because the path interfered with his stance. He
chose to drop some six yards back where the strip of ground between the path
and the out of bounds was much wider, in his view the nearest point of relief
that would allow him to drop without interference from the path. My view was
that his nearest point of relief would be estimated to be on a spot out of
bounds. My view was that the Rule provided for relief from the path but was not
there to provide relief from out of bounds. His options would therefore be to
play the ball as it lies or on penalty of one stroke replay the shot from the
previous spot.
The debate, friendly, goes on. Please advise.
Lou from Ireland
Dear Lou,
The nearest point of relief (NPR) must be on the golf
course. The Rules will never require the player to drop a ball off the course.
In seeking relief from the cart path, the player must find the point on the course, nearest to where his
ball lies, that is not closer to the hole and provides complete relief for his
stance and the area of his intended swing [Definition of “Nearest Point of
Relief”; Rule 24-2].
Note that the player in your narrative must find the nearest relief. While that point may
very well be six yards back where the strip widens, I suspect that it is more
likely to be on the other side of the cart path (unless your course has built
an exceptionally wide path).
The NPR may require the player to drop in a virtually
unplayable lie (shrubs, thick rough, tall fescue), or may allow the player to
drop from a difficult lie onto the fairway – “nearest” means nearest. However, the nearest point
must always be a point on the golf
course.
Linda
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