Nearest point of relief, not nicest point of relief

Nearest point of relief, not nicest point of relief

By Paul Gueorgieff

I recently read what is the most frequently breeched rule of golf, even by the most seasoned club player.

The article said it was when a golfer was entitled to free relief such as when the ball is on a cart path, on ground under repair or when the ball is in abnormal course conditions.

There is free relief under such situations but the article stressed that the point of relief is the nearest point of relief — not the nicest point of relief.

For example the nearest point of relief could be in thick rough, behind a tree or in a bush. That's an exaggeration but remains correct.

Once the nearest point of relief, not nearer the hole, is determined, that point is marked and the player still has one club-length in which to drop the ball.

In a match I recently played, I thought I had witnessed a breech of such a rule but was not close enough at the time to say so.

The player had hit his ball into a puddle just off the fairway and he dropped the ball to the right of the puddle.

The main reason, I thought, he dropped the ball to the right was because there was tree to the left ahead of the puddle. However, once again, I was not close enough at the time to determine if that was actually the case.

But once again I raise this situation to underline that relief is the nearest point of relief, not the nicest point of relief.

Let's take this example a bit further. Let's say the ball is slightly in the right of the puddle. That does not necessarily mean the nearest point of relief is to the right — it could be to the left of the puddle or the back of the puddle. 

This is because you have to take into account the player's stance when taking relief. 

If the player is right-handed, the point of relief is where the player would place the club head on the ground which could be much further right of the puddle than if the player went to the left or behind the puddle. 

It must also be pointed out that the nearest point of relief can change depending on whether the player is left-handed or right-handed.

But just a reminder, once the nearest point of relief is determined, the player still has one club-length into which the ball is to be dropped and this can help avoid an obstacle.

Paul Gueorgieff is a NZ Based golf Journalist