Can you get free relief from a man-made object?

The Rules of Golf Are Complicated! Thankfully, we have the teacher. our Rules Guy knows the book inside out. Have a question? He has all the answers.

My friend pulled his approach high but left of the elevated green. His ball was inside the boundary cart path in a fairway about 20 yards away. He has a clear stance, but his backswing to hit a fairway would hit a granite slab engraved with the number and distance information of the next hole. I was about to suggest that he free himself from this man-made object interfering with his swing when he somehow played a wonderful shot that ended up within inches. When I asked him why he hadn’t gotten relief, he said it wasn’t possible because it only applied going up to the green, not once around it – something about “through the green”? Since it wasn’t my ball and he hit it anyway, I didn’t follow through… but that doesn’t seem fair to me. -Tom Enderle, by email

Without wishing to sound smug – heaven forbid! — note that this revolves around a rather amusing misunderstanding of a pre-2019 Rules term. “Across the green” is what we now call “the general area”… and it actually had nothing to do with whether or not you had reached the surrounding green area.

Your friend was allowed to take free relief before 2019 and is allowed to do so now with his ball lying in the general area (and not through the green). Please refer to Rule 16.1 for all specifics.

For more free tutorial guidance from our teacher, read on…

A course I play planted some new trees recently but didn’t jump around them. Can I move my ball so I don’t potentially damage a tree if it’s on my way to the hole? -Peter Bemis, La Crosse, Wis.

Model Local Rule E-10 treats young trees as no-play areas to protect them from damage, but it is the Committee’s responsibility to approve said rule and decide which trees are protected.

If the Committee has not done so, nothing in the rules allows you to cheat. That said, if you’re not willing to risk potential damage to the tree, you can always declare the ball unplayable and get penalty relief—and maybe win an award from the Sierra Club!

Do you need a handicap? Start here.

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