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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