A Smattering Of Incidents

Another 4 a.m. wake-up call, another forecast that is not so great. It’s beginning to remind me of the movie "Ground Hog Day."

There haven’t been too many Rules incidents because there hasn’t been too much golf played. But of the Rulings that have been made, the majority seems to be for Obstructions.

Linda Moses of Arizona had to help Meg Mallon on the 15th hole when her ball came to rest underneath a spectator’s folding chair. Rule 24-1 helped Meg in this situation. The chair is a movable obstruction. Linda had Meg place a mark next to her ball as a precaution. If the ball moved when the chair was removed it would have to be replaced. In this instance, the ball didn’t move when the chair (and the spectator sitting in it) was removed. If the ball had moved, there would not have been a penalty and Meg would have had to replace the ball.

Another interesting Ruling came from official Mary Keen of Michigan. She had a player whose ball was near a fence and gallery roping. The gallery roping is movable but the split rail fence is not. Rule 24-2 explains what to do when a player has a problem with an immovable obstruction. Mary removed the movable obstruction then had the player take relief when she realized she had interference from an immovable obstruction. That was good use of Rule 24.

Here is a cool video from the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open when Aree Song hit her ball near a drain on the 18^th hole at Pumpkin Ridge. There are many other fun videos you can see on the USGA's Web site. To get a good explanation as to the relief procedure for immovable obstructions, check out this Rules animation.

Wendy Uzelac

USGA Director of Regional Affairs, Midwest Region