Golf Obstructions

Obstructions 1
What do you do when your ball lands under a parked car or on a bench? The ruling on movable and immovable obstructions is quite logical - find out how to gain relief. You are normally entitled to relief without penalty from obstructions - defined as anything artificial, including the artificial surfaces and sides of roads and paths.

There are three exceptions, and for these you cannot claim relief. The first two concern out of bounds obstructions. There is no relief from any objects defining out of bounds, such as walls, fences, stakes and railings. And you can't claim relief from any immovable object - such as a building - which is out of bounds.

These may not seem important exceptions, but remember that you are allowed to stand out of bounds to play a ball which is just in bounds. You quite often find that an out of bounds fence, or a post outside it, prevents a swing at a ball that would otherwise be playable. In this situation it's usually best to declare the ball unplayable and drop it with a penalty of a shot.

The third exception is the one that often causes confusion. This is the clause which allows the committee to declare what would normally be an obstruction an integral part of the course. The most famous example of this exception is the tarmac road which runs behind the 17th green of the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland.

Many golfers who are used to enjoying relief from roads on their own courses cannot understand why they see professionals having to play from the road at the headquarters of golf. The reason is that the committee of the club has declared this particular road to be an integral part of the course.

This rule underlines the important point that when playing at an unfamiliar course you should first check the card of the course carefully for local rules. You must know if the committee of the club has taken advantage of its powers to declare what would normally be obstructions as integral parts of the course where no relief is available.

Movable obstructions
When an obstruction is movable -a bench, for instance - you take relief from it in one of two ways. If your ball does not lie in or on the obstruction, you may remove the object. If your ball moves, there is no penalty - you simply replace it.

If your ball lies in or on the obstruction you may lift your ball without penalty, and move the object. On the green you then place your ball; anywhere else on the course you drop it. You do this so that the ball finishes as near as possible to the spot directly under where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole. You may clean your ball when you lift it.

Obstructions 2
You are entitled to relief when an immovable obstruction interferes with your shot, but don't pick up your ball and take relief without checking the rules thoroughly.

You can claim relief from an immovable obstruction -something fixed and artificial such as a bridge or marker post - when your ball lies in or on the object, or so close to it that it gets in the way of your stance or the area of your swing.

There is no relief from objects which define out of bounds, or from any part of an immovable obstruction that is out of bounds. The committee can also declare any construction to be an integral part of the course - this means that there is no relief from it.

You must check the card of the course carefully to make sure that roads and buildings which would normally entitle you to relief have not been declared integral parts of the course. If they have, the information is on the card.

The fact that the obstruction is on your line of sight does not entitle you to relief. You may have seen professional golfers receiving line of sight relief from objects such as advertising hoardings, but that is an official's decision, because hoardings are temporary and abnormal additions to the course.

Taking relief
Before you claim relief from an immovable obstruction through the green you must find a point on the course nearest to where the ball lies without crossing over, through or under the obstruction.

Say your ball lands beside a fixed bench. You cannot measure a club length under the bench-you must take relief clear of the object. The point must be clear of interference, not nearer the hole, and not in a hazard or on a green. When you have found a satisfactory spot you lift the ball and drop it within a club length of this point.

The rule about not crossing over, through or under the obstruction does not apply to artificial surfaces of roads, or when the ball lies in or on the object. If your ball lies on a road you can bring it back across the road to find the nearest point of relief not nearer the hole.

To claim relief from an immovable obstruction in a bunker -perhaps your ball lies beside the exposed concrete wall of a man-made bunker - the ball must be dropped in the bunker. If your ball lies in or touches a water hazard there is no relief without penalty from interference by an immovable obstruction.