Hello Linda,
Last week a player hit her ball right of the fairway to
behind a large concrete block supporting a light tower. She could not make a
forward shot without hitting the concrete on the follow-through.
I mentioned she could, however, make a clean shot
perpendicular to her desired line of play onto the fairway with no trouble. She
thought she was “entitled” to a shot towards the green if given free relief.
I offered no real disagreement to the free relief. But
then I saw that in fact the NPR might be straight back away from the concrete
about one foot She wanted relief far to the right of the concrete, at what she
saw as the NPR, which gave her a shot towards the green.
So, two Questions noticed: Is player entitled to a shot
towards the target if granted relief from Immovable Obstructions? And if NPR
gives her a clean swing but the concrete and light tower remain in her ball
flight path, is she given relief from those as well?
I have searched for salient answers but nothing found which
contains all features of this Question.
Thanks for your consideration.
Lou from Chiang Mai, Thailand
Dear Lou,
The answers to both of your questions lie in Rule 24-2a and
the Definition of “Nearest Point of Relief.” 24-2a explains that the player has
interference from an immovable obstruction when the ball lies in or on the
obstruction, or the obstruction interferes with the player’s stance or area of
intended swing. Your player’s intended swing was towards the green, so she is
entitled to relief from the obstruction (but not line-of-play relief, as I will
explain shortly).
In seeking relief, the player must first find the nearest
point of relief. Looking at the Definition of “Nearest Point of Relief,” you
will learn that it is the point nearest to where the ball lies (but not closer
to the hole) where the player would have no interference to her stance or swing
from the obstruction if the obstruction
were not there.
However, this relief is for stance and swing only, not from line of play. Rule 24-2a
clearly states that the player is not entitled to relief from intervention by
an immovable obstruction on the line of play, except on the putting green.
If the obstruction intervenes on the player’s line of play
to the green after she drops within one club-length of the correct NPR, she
will have to aim her next shot in some other direction.
Linda
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
