The CSGA Links Volume 2 Issue 3 May, 2014 | Page 43

Part 1: A player’s ball comes to rest outside of a water
hazard, but his swing is interfered with by a bridge that
lies inside the water hazard. Is the player entitled to
relief?
Answer: The key to any rules situation involving an obstruction
is not where the obstruction lies, but where the ball lies. In
this first scenario, the players ball lies outside the margin of
the hazard and is interfered with by an immovable obstruction
(the bridge). According to Rule 24-2, the player is entitled to
relief without penalty when a ball lying through the green is
interfered with by an immovable obstruction. Thus, the player
may either (a) play the ball as it lies, or (b) lift the ball and drop
it, without penalty, within one club-length of and not nearer
the hole than the nearest point of relief. The nearest point of
relief is the nearest spot, not nearer the hole, that provides
complete relief from the obstruction, and is not in a hazard and
not on a putting green.
Part 2: A player’s ball comes to rest inside of a water
hazard and his swing is interfered with by a bridge that
lies inside the water hazard. Is the player entitled to
relief?
Answer: In this scenario, the players ball lies in a hazard.
Although the bridge is an immovable obstruction which
interferes with the players swing, he is not entitled to relief
since his ball lies in a hazard. (See Rule 24-2b). The player
may either (a) play the ball as it lies, or (b) proceed under Rule
26 (Water Hazards), dropping the ball outside the hazard until
penalty of one stroke. If the player elects to play the ball from
the bridge, it is permissible for the player to ground the club, as
the bridge is not considered the “ground” of the hazard.

Connecticut State Golf Association

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