Friday, February 16, 2018

Ask Linda #1701-Relief from greenside ground under repair (GUR)

Hi Linda,
Could you give me your opinion as to relief from greenside (not on green) GUR?
The nearest point of relief may be behind GUR. Please confirm that there is no line of play relief and the player must play over the GUR from the relief position.
Regards,
Lou from Australia

Dear Lou,

The nearest point of relief is the closest point to where the ball lies that is no closer to the hole and gives the player complete relief from the ground under repair. That nearest point may turn out to be on the left or right side of the GUR or behind it. Since the GUR you describe is not on the green, the player may not drop on the green or in a hazard [Rule 25-1b (i)].

There is no line-of-sight relief when taking relief from GUR. If the nearest point of relief is behind the GUR, the player must deal with hitting over or around the GUR on his next shot. If the nearest point of relief is to one side or the other of the GUR, it is possible that the player will not have to hit over the GUR to reach the green.

Line-of-sight relief is generally granted only for temporary immovable obstructions, such as bleachers, tents, TV towers, etc., that you would not ordinarily find on a golf course. Please read this column I wrote in 2012 about line-of-sight relief:
Here is an excerpt from that column:
I suspect that golfers become confused about this issue because they see officials giving players line-of-sight relief when they watch golf tournaments. The Rules of Golf provide for line-of-sight relief from a temporary immovable obstruction (TIO). Some examples would be tents, scoreboards, grandstands, and televisions towers. Since such obstructions are not normally found on a golf course, Committees are authorized to establish a Local Rule to provide relief. That Local Rule can be found in Appendix I, Part A, #4b.

Linda
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