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  • Sprinkler head

    I recently hit a decent shot up the middle of the fairway but found that my ball had rolled into a steep little depression around a sprinkler. I think nine times out of ten the ball would have rolled down on to the actual sprinkler head, but it had apparently been stopped on the way down by a little tuft of grass. So the sprinkler itself wasn't interfering with my shot.

    Although the stance would have been a bit awkward, nothing would have prevented me from hitting the ball, but because of the steep slope I would have had to use something like a wedge just to get out of the depression. A couple of yards away in any direction on the fairway I would have had a good chance of reaching the green with a 3 or 4 iron.

    I've used the word "depression" but actually it was just a big hole in the ground, obviously there only because of the sprinkler.

    It was a friendly game and my opponent suggested I should drop the ball away from the "hole in the ground", without a penalty. But what would the decision have been under the rules?

  • #2
    Re: Sprinkler head

    The sprinkler head its self is considered an imoveabe obstruction and relief can be taken if the ball lies in a position where the sprinkler head obstructs the shot. The ground around the sprinkler head is not an imoveable obstruction so no relief is allowed in this area.

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    • #3
      Re: Sprinkler head

      I saw Phil Mickelson get relief from a situation that was very much the same as what you described. It was on hole #10 at the FBR Open (now Waste Management Open) at TPC Scottsdale in 2008. I was surprised that he was granted relief by the rules official.

      So my answer would be, it depends but I'm not sure what it depends on. I guess in some cases it depends on your negotiating skills.

      I do agree that BrianW's answer is the correct answer though.

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