My ball landed in someone’s lunch – what do I do?
There’s never a dull week on the European Tour, so here’s how our Rules of Golf experts recommends you proceed if you find yourself in Callum Shinkwin’s bizarre scenario
You don’t see this very often. It was the first round at the European Tour’s inaugural Cyprus Open and Callum Shinkwin, who would go on to win the tournament, launched another massive drive.
Only this time, it didn’t find the lush confines of fairway. No, it landed in someone’s discarded lunch bag.
Yes, that is how it was lying. How on earth do we sort this one out? Let’s get stuck in…
How do the rules deal with this movable obstruction?
Yes, of course he gets a free drop. He’s not actually going to play out of a spring water can. But these are the Rules of Golf and so there is a certain process to go through.
Shift your attention to Rule 15.2: Movable Obstructions if you ever find your ball stuck in a lunch box, plastic bag, rake, towel – whatever it might be.
What is a movable obstruction? The rules say it is an obstruction that can be “moved with reasonable effort and without damaging the obstruction or the course”.
Rule 15.2a says that, with a couple of exceptions, “without penalty, a player may remove a movable obstruction anywhere on or off the course and may do so in any way”.
In this case, the ball is actually in the movable obstruction and so, to take relief, you need to lift the ball, remove the obstruction, and then drop that ball or, indeed, another ball.
Your reference point for taking relief is the “estimated point right under where the ball was at rest, in or on the movable obstruction”. The relief area is then one club length from that point, no nearer to the hole and it must be in the same area of the course as the reference point.
So in Shinkwin’s case, he lifted his ball from the bag, removed the obstruction, and dropped in the relief area.
Then he made birdie…
What if the ball was next to the lunch bag and the ball moved as Shinkwin lifted the bag? In that case, there is no penalty and the ball must be placed on its original spot (estimate if you weren’t paying attention).
Got a question for our expert?
Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
What do you think about these movable obstructions and abnormal course conditions rules in general? Let me know by leaving a comment on X.
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
