Temporary construction fence - free relief or unplayable?

[danthegolfer]

Stroke play competition.  Along the right side of a hole, there is new home construction going on.  The edge of the construction area has a ~2 foot high tarp fence that runs along the length of the hole, presumably to prevent debris etc. from sliding onto the course. While the fence may be there for a few months, it's clearly "temporary." In the attached two images, one image is of a similar looking fence, and the other shows the actual location of the fence on the course (blue line).

The player's ball lies against the tarp fence so his swing is impeded. There are no markings to indicate if this is course boundary/OB.

1. With only this information available, does player get free TIO relief from the fence or would they need to take an unplayable?

2. If it's known that the fence is represents course boundary, what then?

3. If the fence was inside a red penalty area but is NOT representing course boundary, what then?

Edited October 15, 2023 by danthegolfer

[rogolf]

26 minutes ago, danthegolfer said:

Stroke play competition.  Along the right side of a hole, there is new home construction going on.  The edge of the construction area has a ~2 foot high tarp fence that runs along the length of the hole, presumably to prevent debris etc. from sliding onto the course. While the fence may be there for a few months, it's clearly "temporary." In the attached two images, one image is of a similar looking fence, and the other shows the actual location of the fence on the course (blue line).

The player's ball lies against the tarp fence so his swing is impeded. There are no markings to indicate if this is course boundary/OB.

1. With only this information available, does player get free TIO relief from the fence or would they need to take an unplayable?

2. If it's known that the fence is represents course boundary, what then?

3. If the fence was inside a red penalty area but is NOT representing course boundary, what then?

1.  While it is likely temporary, I doubt that the club committee would consider it a TIO.  The Local Rule regarding TIOs is, imo, to difficult for club players to understand and apply.  It could certainly be considered an immovable obstruction for the time that it was there.  If the fence is not a boundary fence, then there would be free relief for interference to the lie of the ball, area of intended stance or swing.

2.  If the committee decides that the fence represents the out of bounds line, then it is a boundary object and there is no free relief available for interference.

3.  If the fence is within a penalty area, there is no free relief if the ball is also within the penalty area.  If the ball is outside the penalty area and the fence interferes with the area of intended stance or swing, then free relief would be available (outside the penalty area).

[Augster]

5 hours ago, rogolf said:

1.  While it is likely temporary, I doubt that the club committee would consider it a TIO.  The Local Rule regarding TIOs is, imo, to difficult for club players to understand and apply.  It could certainly be considered an immovable obstruction for the time that it was there.  If the fence is not a boundary fence, then there would be free relief for interference to the lie of the ball, area of intended stance or swing.

2.  If the committee decides that the fence represents the out of bounds line, then it is a boundary object and there is no free relief available for interference.

3.  If the fence is within a penalty area, there is no free relief if the ball is also within the penalty area.  If the ball is outside the penalty area and the fence interferes with the area of intended stance or swing, then free relief would be available (outside the penalty area).

100% and I challenge anyone to write it more clearly than rogolf has done. 🙂

 

 

[davep043]

6 hours ago, Augster said:

100% and I challenge anyone to write it more clearly than rogolf has done. 🙂

No thanks.