Pine Needles And Immovable Obstructions

Many of the old courses have immovable obstructions near putting greens. Pine Needles has many such immovable obstructions so we put the Local Rule in Appendix I in effect. It is listed in Section B (Specimen Local Rules) as number 5 within Appendix I. The exact language on the Notice to Players states the following:

Immovable Obstructions Near Putting Greens: The Local Rule prescribed in Appendix I is in effect. Furthermore, a hole containing a sprinkler head near a putting green is deemed to be part of the sprinkler head (obstruction).

The sprinkler heads are quite small and retract down a few inches. Without this language on the Notice to Players, a player who ends up standing on a hole but not touching the obstruction would not get relief.

Here is an example of a couple immovable obstructions near a putting green:

Can you even see them? Believe it or not, there are two sprinkler heads on either side of the ball in the photo. They are very small heads and retract down a couple of inches. These heads haven’t been used very often and between the lack of use and the mowers, the grass has grown over the holes. Here’s another photo to show you the actual hole:

And here they are again, after we cleared the holes out, with the golf ball in the middle:

These certainly are not the normal size sprinkler heads from what I’m used to seeing.

To learn more about immovable obstructions, check out the USGA's Web site. There is a terrific animation demonstrating the relief procedure.