Temporary Immovable Obstructions (TIOS)
aniel Sommerville, R&A Rules manager, explains how a Local Rule allows players on tour to get relief from grandstands, TV towers, hospitality tents and other similar structures.
Such structures are called Temporary Immovable Obstructions (TIOS). A Committee can provide relief for interference from TIOS via Model Local Rule F-23 from the Official Guide to the Rules of Golf, as they aren’t considered part of the challenge of playing the course.
With a modern championship, the staging requirements are significant to provide fans at the venue and watching at home with optimal coverage, resulting in many different structures on the course. At this year’s Open, there were 20 rulings involving TIOS.
For relief to be allowed, the player must have either physical interference, line of sight interference or both. Physical
Dinterference is when the ball touches or lies in the TIO or the TIO interferes with the player’s area of intended stance or swing. Line of sight interference is when the player’s ball is in or touches the TIO, or the TIO is located on a straight line between the ball and the hole, or within a club length on an equidistant arc where the ball would be on the player’s direct line of sight to the hole.
This one club-length area, often known as the ‘corridor’, provides the player with some extra space to ensure they achieve full relief.
The TIO Local Rule cannot be used as an excuse to get out of a bad lie, and you will not be granted free relief if you are choosing an unreasonable stance or stroke to ensure interference exists, or, for example, if you cannot make a stroke because your ball is in a bush that lies outside of the TIO.
JB Holmes had a situation this year that required him to take TIO relief at The Open after a wayward drive on the 5th hole. After locating his ball, it was clear that the LED scoreboard stood directly between his ball and the hole, allowing him line of sight interference. As the ball was playable, he was entitled to relief.
The referee got Holmes to drop his ball in his relief area, which meant going to the nearest side where he didn’t have interference (along the equidistant arc), measuring one clublength (the ‘corridor’) and then measuring a second club-length and dropping the ball within this second club-length area. Holmes was now able to play his shot without interference from the LED scoreboard.