Dear Linda,
I've written to you several times in my previous position as
golf league secretary. Now that I've relocated, I've managed to get on the golf
board again. Will I ever learn? Anyway, you've been so helpful in the past, I
hope that you can help me again.
Our situation relates to Immovable Obstruction (paved cart
path) Rule 24-2b(i): “the player must lift the ball and drop it, without
penalty, within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than
the nearest
point of relief.” The question is whether the ball must remain
in the same condition. There is a small strip of rough between the cart path
and the fairway. So, if the original nearest point of relief is in the rough
but the one club-length allowed puts you in the fairway, is that permissible or
must you remain in the rough?
Best,
Lulu from Canton, Georgia
Dear Lulu,
There is no distinction in the rules between fairway and
rough (Decision 24-2b/8). If the nearest point of relief from the cart path is
in the rough, and the area within one club-length of that point is on the
fairway, you are entitled to take your free drop on the fairway.
Linda
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