Written by: Darin Green, Senior Director of Rules & Competitions
Golf courses in Florida are commonly surrounded by homes, and many of these homes have perimeter fences around them. Typically, courses use the homeowners’ fences to define out of bounds for the golf course. When a fence, or other boundary object such as a white stake or road defines out of bounds, the object must not be moved and there is no free relief available from the object. If the boundary object is moved by the player and not replaced before the stroke is made, the player incurs the general penalty (loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play).
There is a strange exception to this Rule. If a boundary fence has a gate, and the player has swing, stance, or lie of ball interference from the gate, the player has a few options. Per the definition of “boundary object,” a gate, angled fence supports, steps, and guy wires are not part of the boundary object; hence they are obstructions. So if a player has interference from a gate, and the gate is unlocked or open, the player may move the gate into a position where interference no longer exists. If the gate is locked, it then becomes an immovable obstruction and the player can take free relief by identifying their nearest point of complete relief no closer to the hole and drop a ball within one club-length of that spot.
Instead of dealing with boundary objects, just hit it straight and find the fairways and greens!
Enjoy the 125th U.S. Open!
