The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.
In a recent round, my drive wound up near a decomposing animal carcass that interfered with my swing path. After my group said a quick silent prayer for the dearly departed, we decided it was a loose impediment … but nobody wanted to watch me heave up my breakfast by trying to move it, so we decided a free drop was appropriate. Is there an actual rule that covers this situation? – Mickey Boland, via email
Thank you, Mickey, for not specifying the animal, so that Rules Guy doesn’t have too clear a picture in his head.
The first decision you all made was correct — the dearly departed was indeed also a loose impediment. Here’s where it gets a little … messy: As a loose impediment, your free relief was to remove the carcass, which you are allowed to do in any way, so you need not have put your hands on it, and so forth, but a free drop would only be granted if the Committee decided to grant relief for ground under repair (see Definition of Loose Impediment and Rule 15.1).
If it were the remains of a larger animal, that might have been the appropriate solution. Regardless, Rules Guy will pass on the steak tartare tonight.
For more loose-impediment guidance from our guru, read on …
When playing under winter rules, is it permissible to place your ball on a worm cast to elevate your ball prior to your shot? – Mike Dearden, via email
Mike, Rules Guy is going to be honest with you: we had to look up “worm cast.” You’re always learning in this business.
As to legality, when put into effect by the committee “winter rules,” a.k.a. the preferred lies local rule, lets you place the ball within a specified distance.
Beyond that, however, it’s still undergirded by the notion of playing the course as you find it. If there is worm cast (a loose impediment) within the specified radius of where your shot came to rest, you are by all means free to place your ball atop it — you just can’t pull some from beyond that area, or from your pants pocket or your golf bag, et cetera.
That said, if before you make your stroke the ball were to move due to natural forces, you’d have to play it as it lies — no replacing the ball atop the worm cast. And, with that, Rules Guy hopes and expects never to type “worm cast” again.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: golf.com
