Friday, November 1, 2013

Ask Linda 741-Drop rolls onto cart path


Dear Linda,

At our golf course we have a cart path intersecting the fairway and on both sides is a steep slope (so steep that it is impossible for a ball to stay on the slope …it will always roll back onto the path). As this is the case, can a player take relief from the cart path far away from where his ball came to rest in order to find a “friendly” area to drop the ball or…must he play the ball off the cart path?

Thank you,
Lou from Ontario

Dear Lou,

The Rules require that a ball be dropped within one club-length of the nearest point of relief from the cart path that is no closer to the hole [Rule 24-2b]. If the player drops the ball and it rolls onto the cart path, he must re-drop [Rule 20-2c (v)]. If the re-drop also rolls onto the cart path, the player must place the ball on the spot where it hit the ground when it was dropped the second time [Rule 20-2c, last sentence]. If the placed ball will not remain at rest after two tries, it must be placed at the nearest spot that is no closer to the hole and not in a hazard where it will stay put [Rule 20-3d (i)].

The player may not seek a “friendly” area far away from the cart path. This would constitute dropping in a wrong place. If he played that ball, the penalty would be two strokes/loss of hole.

Linda
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