D
Relief on Your Line of Putt Rules of Golf by Ryan Farb, PGA
uring 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Sectional Qualifying at Serrano Country Club, I had a unique ruling due to a somewhat rare
situation. In the middle of the 18th green, there was a small cut-out hole at the bottom of which was a small pop-out sprinkler. Two women called for an offi cial because, although their putts were about a foot apart, the small hole was in each of their putting lines, and they wanted to know if they were entitled to relief. The answer was yes, both players
were entitled to relief without penalty, but it took an understanding of sev- eral defi nitions and rules to complete the ruling.
When the player’s ball lies on the
putting green, Rule 25-1a grants relief for intervention on the line of putt by an
abnormal ground condition that is also on the putting green. In this situation, the condition in question was this little cut-out hole. The defi nition of ground under repair states that a hole made by a greenkeeper is ground under repair, and ground under repair is by defi nition an abnormal ground condi- tion. So the remaining question was, “Did the players have intervention on their line of putt?”
The line of putt is the line the
player wishes the ball to take after a stroke on the putting green, and in- cludes a reasonable distance on either side of the intended line. So even though the two players had slightly different intended lines from about a foot apart, once a reasonable distance on either side of their intended line was included, the abnormal ground
When taking relief on the putting green, balls are placed, not dropped, even if the nearest point of relief is taken off the putting green.
condition clearly intervened on both of their lines. At that point, relief was actually quite simple. Rule 25-1b directs the player to lift and place the ball at the nearest point of relief (that point may or may not be on the putting green, but may not be in a hazard). This is where the ruling became tricky. I was not per- mitted to advise the players in any way as to what their line of putt actually was, so in order to get them the proper relief I had to ask each player, “Show me the nearest spot, no nearer the hole where you no longer have intervention on your line of putt, keeping in mind that the line of putt includes a reasonable distance on either side of the line.” The result was unique because one player’s nearest point of relief was to the left and the other player’s nearest point of relief was to the right. I had them place their golf balls at their respective points of relief and play went on. In the situation above,
When the player’s ball lies on the putting green, you are
granted relief from an abnormal
ground condition or obstruction that is also on the putting green.
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NCGA.ORG / SUMMER 2015
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