Last month’s Scottish Open once again provided a dramatic finish. In 2023 it was Rory’s 2-iron on 18, and this year it was Robert McIntyre’s eagle-par-birdie finish to edge out Adam Scott.
What the scorecard does not reflect, however, was the free drop that “Bobby Mac” received on the 16th hole. An errant tee shot left McIntyre with a sure “pitch out” and no chance to reach the par 5 in two. The golfing gods, however, were smiling on McIntyre. If his ball had to come to rest anywhere else or if he was a righty rather than a lefty he would have been out of luck. Instead, this perfect confluence of random events resulted in McIntyre having interference from a sprinkler head, a free drop, and, ultimately a much-improved lie.
How, many golf purists would ask, is this allowed? What happened to “play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it?” Old Tom is rolling over in his grave! While I share that sentiment, I can also appreciate how a situation like this arises.
During my many years with the CGA, I have had the good fortune of working with many smart students of the rules. At the top of that list was former CGA president, and USGA executive committee member, MJ Mastalir. MJ served as chair of the USGA Rules Committee in the early 1990s following the passing of the legendary PJ Boatwright. PJ was the definition of “horse's mouth.” When it came to the rules he left some very large Footjoys to fill.
Early in my rules of golf education I once asked MJ about situations such as the one McIntyre found himself. I cited examples where the rules seemed to allow a player to go from stone dead to smelling like a rose. As a young idealist, these outcomes troubled me.
MJ explained that the rules of golf were designed to deal with situations in categories to create consistency. While every rules situation is unique, we don’t want every ruling to be. To accomplish that we need to create clear definitions to guide us so that the nuanced and unique can become clear and consistent—at least as much as possible. As MJ explained, the overriding goal of consistency can sometimes result in odd “one-offs” that may indeed provide the player with a very generous-looking result.
In McIntyre’s instance, the category that led to free relief was an immovable obstruction—a sprinkler head. Immovable obstructions are part of a category in the rules referred to as abnormal course conditions. The philosophy with these conditions is that they are not a normal and natural part of the course intended to test a golfer’s skill. Equally important, playing a ball near these conditions can be downright dangerous. The two most common types of immovable obstructions you will find on most golf courses are sprinkler heads and cart paths.
The next step is to define what constitutes “interference.” An immovable obstruction interferes when it is so close that the player’s stance, lie of the ball, or area of intended swing is impacted. Former CGA Director of Rules and Competitions, Robert Duke, called this the “action area.” McIntyre’s action area was impacted as he would be standing on the sprinkler.
Provided the ball is not in a penalty area where there is no relief from abnormal course conditions, the final consideration requires some subjectivity. Should the player’s ball lie in such a horrible place (i.e. in the middle of a bush) relief may be denied. Rules officials often use a simple question to help guide them in these instances. What would you do (dear player) if that obstruction (sprinkler head in this case) were not there? If the player answers, “I would declare it unplayable” the official has his or her answer—"okay then, that’s exactly what we are going to do.” If, on the other hand, the player says, “I’d give it a whack and try to advance it as far as I can toward the hole” the player is entitled to relief. As unseemly as it may appear, this can result in what looks like a “get out of jail free” as was the case with McIntyre.
If you are interested in learning more, listen to this month’s Spirt of the Game podcast in this issue where I am joined by CGA Chief Rules Official, Brad Wiesley and we discuss other famous “Get Out of Jail Free” rulings.