Rule 16 outlines relief from abnormal course conditions. It covers what you can and can’t do when encountering immovable obstructions on the golf course.
Rules officials are not there to decide on the validity of the rules, but rather to enforce them and make sure they’re administered equally for all 156 players in the field.
Nearly a week after six-time LPGA winner Nasa Hataoka was disqualified from the ShopRite LPGA Classic after she signed an incorrect scorecard because she was deemed to have taken too long to search for her ball, the Japanese star posted on social media a long and critical response.
Although the R&A and USGA, golf’s governing bodies, have considered on various occasions handling divot holes in another manner, there is no “practical solution” other than to leave it as just a part of the game.
There is a popular misconception that if are you taking free relief from a sprinkler head (see Rule 16.1), then you must stay in the same “cut of grass” that you were in. That is not the case.
If you want to know how to deal with pine straw – and loose impediments in general – in terms of removing them and playing your next shot without penalty, read on.
Australian Golf Digest
