Your Queries Resolved
QMy playing partner was taking a drop away from a cart path but did it slightly carelessly so that the ball landed on the grass and then bounced off his foot, before coming to rest within his one clublength relief area. It wasn’t lying particularly well and he insisted that he could re-drop because the ball had touched his foot. I wasn’t so sure and felt that was now considered a good drop. Who was correct?
Arthur Smithson, Builth Wells
AIn this case, you were indeed correct. In the situation you describe, when the ball came to rest in the player’s relief area, the player had completed taking relief and must play the ball as it lies. As long as the ball was not deliberately deflected by the player, there is no penalty if a ball dropped in the right way, after hitting the ground, accidentally hits any person, equipment or other outside influence before coming to rest – Rule 14.3c.
In a recent match, my opponent’s ball came to rest close to an area marked out as Ground Under Repair (GUR). To play the shot, he had to stand in the area of GUR. I thought he had to take relief away from the GUR, but he felt relief was optional and he was entitled to play it as it was lying. Was I right or wrong? Oliver Daly, Worksop
Q
AThe answer depends on whether the Committee had defined the area of GUR as a ‘no play zone’. In the majority of circumstances, under Rule 16.1, if a player has interference from an abnormal course condition such as GUR, they have the option to take free relief if they wish to, but it is not mandatory. If the Committee has made the area a no play zone, however, the player must take relief when his or her ball is in a no play zone, or when it interferes with his or her area of intended stance or area of intended swing. In the absence of anything which says that the GUR has been defined as a NPZ, then your opponent was correct.