Friday, March 2, 2018

Ask Linda #1711-Relief area from NPR less than one club-length

Hello Linda,
NPR off cart path. The situation is that the NPR was not the nicest point of relief. OB is just about a driver’s length from NPR. My question is if the driver did in fact cross the OB line while measuring the one club-length do you get relief from the one club-length? Complete relief was accomplished but the one club-length could have encroached the OB. I do not believe this was the case. I believe that my opponent did not want that NPR because she had to drop into a bush.
Thank you,
Lulu from Abington, Massachusetts

Dear Lulu,

The Rule for taking relief from an immovable obstruction states that the player must drop within one club-length of the nearest point of relief, not closer to the hole [Rule 24-2b (i), (ii), and (iv)]. The key words that will answer your question are “within one club-length.” Nothing in the Rule states that the player is entitled to a full club-length; it merely states within one club-length. If the NPR is on the golf course, and there is a bit of room for a drop past that point, that is where the player must drop her ball.

In seeking the nearest point of relief, the player is not guaranteed a favorable lie. If the area within one club-length of the NPR is a bush, fescue, tall grasses, or some other virtually unplayable lie, the player might want to reconsider taking relief and instead play the ball where it lies on the cart path. I always recommend that a player assess her relief option before lifting her ball. Once she lifts it, if she subsequently decides that her only reasonable chance to play the ball is to replace it on the path, she will incur a one-stroke penalty for lifting her ball in play.

Linda
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