When it comes to taking relief from cart paths and other immovable obstructions on the golf course, most golfers have their own way of “spelling” relief. The relief procedure for immovable obstructions is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Rules of Golf. The most common mistake golfers make is assuming they are entitled to relief from immovable obstructions when such obstructions meet their own definition of “interference” which is basically, “the *&%$ thing is in my way!” Just because an immovable obstruction is “in your way” does not necessarily mean you are entitled to relief under Rule 24-2.
To illustrate, let’s say your ball comes to rest near an irrigation control box. Your ball is several feet behind the obstruction, close enough so that the control box blocks the flight path you hope your golf ball will follow for your next stroke. For most golfers, this would constitute “interference.” Not necessarily. Rule 24-2 stipulates that “interference” from an immovable obstruction occurs only when the obstruction physically interferes with the lie of your ball, your stance or the area your club will travel in making the stroke. In other words, unless there is physical contact between your ball (at rest), your stance, or your club in making the stroke, there is no interference and, therefore, no relief. (And don’t get cute and invent an abnormal stance or unrealistic line of play to try to create physical interference that would not otherwise exist.)
Once you have determined that interference does in fact exist, you have a choice to make. Unless the committee has declared mandatory relief from your situation (i.e. flower beds) you can always play the ball as it lies. On the other hand, if you want to take relief you are required to take “complete relief” as outlined in Rule 24-2. Again, let’s use an example to help explain the concept of “complete relief.”
Your ball has come to rest on a cart path. Your nearest point of relief from the path is the point on the course, no closer to the hole, where, if the ball were so positioned there would be no interference from the cart path. What is interference? Again, by the Rules of Golf definition, interference is physical interference from stance, lie of ball or area of intended swing. So, if I want to take relief I must take it from all of these things, not just the one that I want””in other words I must take complete relief from this whole “bundle.”
Why would someone want to take “partial” relief? Let’s say that the closest edge of the cart path that my ball has come to rest on has a nice 2-foot wide strip of perfectly maintained grass immediately right of the path. My nearest point of relief is in that direction and I want to drop the ball on that nice patch of grass to avoid the bad lies, trees and other “bad country” that exists further off the path. If the Rules did not stipulate “complete relief” I would be able to drop on that runway of grass (taking relief from lie and swing but not stance) and avoid the potential hazards that exist further away from the obstruction. The philosophy here is that if you want to get out of jail free you can’t use this as an opportunity to manipulate your drop to gain an advantage from conditions (deep grass, trees, etc.) that are natural hazards from which no relief is available under the Rules.
So, remember, we all know that relief is spelled R-E-L-I-E-F, but under the Rules, relief may still leave you with an upset stomach.
