RULINGS FROM THE 147TH OPEN AT CARNOUSTIE

During the recently concluded Open championship, an international team of referees from 30 different organisations handled nearly 400 rulings. This was an average of over two rulings per group per round. The most common ruling was relief from either movable or immovable obstructions (Rules 24-1 and 24-2), such as roads, sprinkler heads and television cables, which occurred 70 times through the week. Due to the large infrastructure required to stage a major, there were also many grandstands, TV towers, food outlets and drinks tents located around the course. Despite these structures being located as far away as possible from the fairways, 48 rulings were needed to give relief from these under the Local Rule for temporary immovable obstructions (TIOS). As these structures are not part of the normal challenge of the course, this special TIO Local Rule also allows the players line of sight relief. Next on the popular rulings list were relief from water hazards and players asking if their ball was on or off the putting green. It was particularly difficult to tell where the edge of the 8th green was in parts and to assist with this, small blue paint dots were added to the edge of the putting green to highlight the definition.