x
Skip to main content
Golf Logo
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
Rules Guy: Can I take relief from this tricky cart path situation?
SHARE
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
Golf Logo
  • News
    • Latest
      • News
      • Features
      • Shows
      • PGA Tour Schedule
    • Series
      • Tour Confidential
      • Monday Finish
      • Hot Mic
      • Rogers Report
    • Shows
      • The Scoop
      • Subpar
      • Seen & Heard
  • Instruction
    • Game Improvement
      • Driving
      • Approach Shots
      • Bunker Shots
      • Short Game
      • Putting
      • Rules
      • Fitness
    • Series
      • Top 100 Teachers
      • Rules Guy
      • The Etiquetteist
    • Shows
      • Warming Up
      • Play Smart
      • Short Game Chef
      • Pros Teaching Joes
  • Gear
    • Clubs
      • Drivers
      • Irons
      • Hybrids
      • Fairway Woods
      • Wedges
      • Putters
    • Other Gear
      • Balls
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Golf Accessories
    • Series
      • ClubTest
      • Winner’s Bag
    • Shows
      • Fully Equipped
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • Travel
      • Course Finder
      • Courses
      • Resorts
    • Lifestyle
      • Accessories
      • Celebrities
      • Food
      • Style
      • Betting Advice
    • Shows
      • Super Secrets
      • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Shop
      • Clubs
      • Shafts
      • Training Aids
      • Balls
      • Bags
      • Technology
      • Apparel
      • Accessories
      • Our Picks
      • Shop All
    • Collections
      • The GOLF Collection
      • The Birdie Juice Collection
      • The Fully Equipped Collection
      • Shop All
  • Newsletters
    • Sign Up for GOLF’s Newsletters
      • Hot Mic
      • Monday Finish
      • Play Smart
      • Our Picks
      • Top Stories
      • Sign Up for All
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Features
    • Shows
    • PGA Tour Schedule
  • Instruction
    • All Instruction
    • Driving
    • Approach Shots
    • Bunker Shots
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Rules
    • Fitness
  • Gear
    • All Gear
    • Drivers
    • Irons
    • Hybrids
    • Fairway Woods
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Balls
    • Shoes
    • Apparel
    • Golf Accessories
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • All Travel
    • All Lifestyle
    • Course Finder
    • Courses
    • Resorts
    • Accessories
    • Celebrities
    • Food
    • Style
    • Betting Advice
  • Series
    • Tour Confidential
    • Monday Finish
    • Hot Mic
    • Rogers Report
    • Rules Guy
    • The Etiquetteist
    • ClubTest
    • Winner’s Bag
  • Shows
    • The Scoop
    • Subpar
    • Seen & Heard
    • Warming Up
    • Play Smart
    • Short Game Chef
    • Pros Teaching Joes
    • Fully Equipped
    • Super Secrets
    • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Clubs
    • Shafts
    • Training Aids
    • Balls
    • Bags
    • Technology
    • Apparel
    • Accessories
    • The GOLF Collection
    • The Birdie Juice Collection
    • The Fully Equipped Collection
  • Newsletters
    • Hot Mic
    • Monday Finish
    • Play Smart
    • Top Stories
    • Our Picks
    • Sign Up for All
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
InsideGolf

Over $140 of value - Just $39.99

InsideGOLF
Rules

Rules Guy: Can I take relief from this tricky cart path situation?

By: Rules Guy
October 20, 2020
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
ball in bush

What are your options when you're attempting to hit a shot that's unlikely to be successful, but want relief from a cart path?

Getty Images

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

Near the green, there’s a golf cart turnaround landscaped with a bush in the center. A player in my group hit his shot into it, the ball suspended in the bush. He would have needed to stand on the cart path to try to play the shot, and he asked for free relief from the path. Not unreasonable, but there was no relief available on that side of the path — everything would have been in the planter. Also, it seemed highly unlikely he could extricate the ball playing from the bush, so I thought an unplayable with a 1-stroke penalty was the correct call, cart path or not. Do you agree? —Bob Smith, via email

This question does take us down two different paths. It’s a common local rule that a landscaped area encircled by a cart path is treated as being part of the cart path.

Rules
marking ball on green
Rules Guy: Can you ask your partner not to mark his ball on the green?
By: Rules Guy

If that local rule is in effect, the player is entitled to free relief from all of it, cart path and landscaped area, under Rule 16.1b: He takes one club length from the nearest point of complete relief, no closer to the hole.

If it isn’t in effect, then you indeed get into the question of whether the player could reasonably make a stroke at the ball as it lies. If not, under Rule 16.1a(3) he doesn’t get free relief just because he’s standing on a cart path — either he has to try to play the ball as it lies or take unplayable relief.

If — this is a decision tree with many branches! — it is reasonable that he can get a club on the ball and make a stroke, then he would be entitled to relief, and it’s just a matter of where is the nearest point of complete relief. In theory, that point could be within the landscaped area, because that’s not part of the cart path in this situation.

Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.

Latest In Instruction

1 day ago

PGA Championship contender's drill for solid contact with wedges

1 day ago

Those mud balls at the PGA? Here's why the pros detest them

2 days ago

Why this common putting strategy is actually the 'worst advice in golf'

2 days ago

The 4 keys for pitching off wet lies

generic profile image

Golf.com

Related Articles

Rules
golf ball behind fence

Rules Guy: Are you allowed to take a swing through a fence?

By: Rules Guy
Rules
golf balls

Rules Guy: In a four-ball match, do you have to share a wrong-ball penalty with your partner?

By: Rules Guy
Rules
two men standing on a green

Rules Guy: What do you do when your match is interrupted and you forget to mark your ball?

By: Rules Guy
Rules
golf cart driving

Rules Guy: What do you do when your ball lands on a golf cart that drives away?

By: Rules Guy
Rules
Rory McIlroy headcover

Rules Guy: Is it legal to take a practice swing with the headcover on?

By: Rules Guy
Rules
tree stump

Rules Guy: Can you move a loose impediment like an old tree stump to assist your stance?

By: Rules Guy
Rules
upset golfer

Rules Guy: What is the penalty for holing out with the wrong ball?

By: Rules Guy
Rules
aeration plugs

Rules Guy: Is it legal to remove a loose impediment behind your ball if doing so improves your lie?

By: Rules Guy
Rules
Golfers marking balls on green

Rules Guy: How do you decide who putts first when two players are the same distance from the hole?

By: Rules Guy
Sign up for GOLF's Newsletters
Get the latest news, the hottest instruction tips, new product releases, golf media insider reports and more delivered directly to your inbox. Choose your favorites now.
Sign Up
Categories
  • News
  • Instruction
  • Gear
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
Services
  • Masthead
  • GOLF Media Kit
  • GOLF Magazine Customer Service
  • TERMS OF SERVICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Opt-out of Ads/Sharing
  • Your Privacy Choices
Social
  • facebook
  • x
  • instagram
  • youtube
Membership
InsideGOLF Logo
More than $140 Value for JUST $39.99

INCLUDES 12 SRIXON Z-STAR XV GOLF BALLS, 1 YR OF GOLF MAGAZINE, $20 FAIRWAY JOCKEY CREDIT - AND MUCH MORE!

LEARN MORE

© 2025 EB Golf Media LLC. An 8AM Golf Affiliated Brand. All Rights Reserved. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.

Go to mobile version