We had a couple of unusual rulings to make in our foursome at St.
Mark's last weekend. The first was casual water on the green, which
doesn't happen in San Diego very much, especially in May.
Rule
25-1 indicates that an abnormal ground condition exists if the ball is
on the putting green, and casual water is in your putting line. If you
are off the green (even in the fringe), then you would only get relief
if the abnormal ground condition interfered with your stance or swing, not
the line to the flag. But on the green, you are entitled to relief if
the casual water is in the line of the putt. Relief is to the nearest
point of relief, not closer to the hole, which may be off of the putting green. Off of the green, you would drop the ball, but on the green, you would place it.
The
second was a boundary fence interfering with the swing of a player.
Normally, a fence interfering with your swing would be an immovable
obstruction. In this scenario, free relief is available if the fence
interferes with your stance or swing, but not if it is just in
your line of play (see 3/17/18 - Riverwalk). In the case it's a
boundary fence, and so the fence itself is out of bounds, and cannot be
moved. This is noted on the scorecard. So you can either play the ball
as it lies, or take an unplayable lie and a one-stroke penalty.
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