Friday, August 17, 2012

Ask Linda #508-Sprinkler on green


Hi Linda,

We have a couple of greens that have permanent sprinklers embedded in the middle of greens - there is a small hole, about big enough to fit a golf ball in, above the sprinkler head - pretty much impossible to putt over.

What kind of relief is granted under the rules? We are proposing, for our league, to give line of putt relief.

Cordially,
Lou

Dear Lou,

If a player’s ball lies on the putting green, he is entitled to free relief from a sprinkler head that lies on his line of putt [Rule 24-2a]. He must lift his ball and place at the nearest point of relief that is no closer to the hole. This point may be off the green, but it cannot be in a hazard [Rule 24-2b (iii)].

You don’t need a Local Rule for this relief, as it is provided right in the Rules themselves. However, it won’t hurt to spell it out for your league to avoid any confusion about how to proceed.

Linda
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