Immovable obstructions

During their Saturday Ryder Cup foursomes at Whistling Straits, Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger encountered a Rules situation on the 15th after Berger’s drive ended up in thick rough behind a bunker, as Chris Wallace, Rules manager at The R&A, explains.

After assessing their lie, Koepka requested a ruling from the walking referee regarding possible free relief from what he believed was an artificial drainage channel. Many of the bunkers at Whistling Straits have man-made ‘cut-out’ areas to funnel water into the course’s drainage system and, because these channels are artificially made, they had been deemed immovable obstructions.

Rule 16 covers free relief from interference by animal holes, ground under repair, immovable obstructions or temporary water as these are all considered conditions that are not part of the intended challenge of playing the course. The question was whether or not Koepka would have interference from the artificially made drainage channel (immovable obstruction) when playing his next stroke.

Under Rule 16.1a, in the general area, interference only exists when the player’s ball touches, or is in or on, an abnormal course condition, or when it physically interferes with the player’s area of intended stance or area of intended swing.

Koepka, with robust support from Berger, argued that the drain in front of the ball would interfere with his through-swing for the shot he intended to play. However, while the Rules official agreed it was an immovable obstruction, he explained that, in his opinion, he didn’t think it would interfere with the area of intended swing.

Generally, if a player disagrees with a referee’s decision, they are not entitled to a second opinion. However, the Committee can, and in the case of the Ryder Cup, did adopt a policy of always permitting players a second opinion. With the Ryder Cup atmosphere stoking emotions, a second Rules official was called, but to the dismay of the Americans, both ruled the drain wasn’t going to interfere with the area of intended swing.

Koepka still had the option to take unplayable ball relief (Rule 18.1) for one penalty stroke, but opted to play and didn’t strike the drainage channel on his follow-through, incredibly finding the heart of the green to halve the hole.