The last hole at Zaca Creek is a long par 3, and there is a fence protecting the first tee from the tee shots off of #9. The fence is well placed.
My tee shot went into the fence, and came to rest about a foot from the fence. The fence was definitely in my line of play, but I could take a stance and swing parallel to the fence. But that wasn't the shot I wanted to play. To play towards the flag, the fence definitely would have impeded my swing. So I was entitled to free relief within a club length of the nearest point of relief, no closer to the hole.
The nearest point of relief for my stance and swing still left the fence in my line. And that's just tough luck. You don't get relief for your line of play (except on the green).
So I tried a flop shot over the fence. I am no Phil Mickelson. I took a 7.
Bryson DeChambeau had a similar situation this weekend, but his was a boundary fence. You don't get relief from a boundary fence, but he was also on a cart path, so he was granted free relief for that. Without the cart path, he would have had to take an unplayable lie.
No comments:
Post a Comment