There is something about channelling the rules in your favour that doesn’t always sit well with folk. But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. If the rules allow it, don’t feel guilty. Just get it done.
It is quite alarming, though, how many of you think this is wrong or in some way against the spirit of the game.
Let’s take the latest internet kerfuffle, which saw some posters getting upset during the third round of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
After a wayward tee shot on the 17th hole of his third round, Wyndham Clark was allowed to take relief after his ball landed close to a temporary immovable obstruction – in this case a camera stand.
He removed some loose impediments from the relief area first. This was fine was because the ball wasn’t being put back in a specific spot and a clarification to Rule 15.1a says “removing loose impediments before dropping or placing a ball is allowed”.
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Clark then dropped the ball twice and each time it rolled back onto the camera stand. That allowed him to then place his ball.
Some armchair viewers argued he had dropped it in such a way that he would be able to replace it. Their frustrations perhaps didn’t take into account that there was a rules official on the scene with Clark.
But, as a hypothetical, what if he had intentionally dropped the ball in a part of the relief area where he knew it would not stay and would therefore allow him to place it? Does that make any difference to the rules?
Golf relief area rule: Can you drop a ball knowing it will come out of the relief area?
Open your books up to Rule 14.3b. It says you must drop a ball in the right way. That means straight down, from knee height, and not touching any equipment or part of a player’s body before it hits the ground.
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It also says the ball must be dropped in the relief area and, says Rule 14.3c, come to rest in that relief area.
It doesn’t specify where you have to drop it in that area. Just that you must and it has to come to stay there.
So if you drop it in the right way twice, and it comes to rest outside the relief area on both occasions, then you must place a ball – on the spot where the ball dropped the second time first touched the ground.
As long as that point is in the relief area, you are off and running. The rules have been adhered to. If that results in what you consider to be a better lie, you’ve used the rules to your advantage on this occasion. Take your good fortune and celebrate it. There will be plenty of times when it doesn’t go your way.
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