Rules Guy: Can you take free swing relief from a ball washer?

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.

I hit my tee shot on a par 3 well over the green onto the tee box on the next hole. As I prepared to hit my recovery shot, I noticed that the ball washer interfered with my intended swing. I notified my playing partner that I was taking free relief. He said that the ball washer was a permanent structure, and I had to play my ball as it lies. Instead, I took proper relief, no nearer to the hole, hit an amazing chip, and made the putt for par. He said I should put down a bogey for taking an unplayable lie. Who was correct? —Matt Davis, Woodbury, Minn.

Matt, the answer depends on whether there was any fluid in the ball washer. Kidding! The answer depends on whether the ball washer was movable or not.

Based on your description, it sounds like it was permanently installed, in which case you were allowed to take free relief since it interfered with your area of intended swing, per Rule 16.1a(1). Thus, provided the relief taken was correct (i.e., nearest point of complete relief, one club-length, no nearer the hole) then there is no penalty.

It is worth noting that the other outcome would have been playing from a wrong place, which earns you the general penalty of 2 strokes, not 1 stroke for unplayable, since you had no intent to proceed under the unplayable Rule. That is also the outcome if the washer were in fact movable, since the free relief permitted for movable obstructions is to move the object out of the way.

Rules

By the way, we’re sure the ball washer had no fluid — it rarely does!

For more relief guidance from our guru, read on …

Teeing off, I drove my ball completely underground, eight inches forward. I said the ball was embedded, entitling relief. My opponent said it was unplayable, necessitating a one-stroke penalty. Rules Guy says… —Aaron Lowe, via email

…to consider a driver with more loft.

Rule 16.3a(2) says that a ball driven straight into the ground without becoming airborne is not embedded, and thus free relief for an embedded ball isn’t allowed.

That said, should the ball remain within the teeing area — on the off chance you teed up more than eight inches behind the markers so your ball is in the ground still behind the markers — you can lift the ball and tee it up again anywhere inside the teeing area without penalty, hitting 2, under Rule 6.2b.

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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.