Ropped off areas

[leftylucas]

A couple of questions here. I have seen this a few times in the last couple of weeks. There are no signs saying ground under repair but areas on the fairways or just off the fairways are ropped off. I assume that it may be GUR or that it may be to keep garts away as it may be too wet or soft. This seemed to be the case at Sorcier this weekend as some areas seemed fine except that they were wet. If there are no signs then I guess the only way to find out is to call the course?

Also, in a case where it is GUR what would the relief be from the ropes? 1, 2 club lengths and from where? Is it from where the ball entered the GUR or is a lateral relief allowed? Can you also play from the GUR if you feel it is a better lie than any releif you may get outside the GUR area?

Thanks.

[gbower]

Some courses will rope off areas to keep power carts off that area but they will also rope off areas that will temporarily be GUR and not have it noted anywhere so it's hard to tell what it may be at Le Sorcier.
If it's relief from GUR it's a one club length relief as no penalty is involved and you would drop at your nearest point of relief, no closer to the hole. This may be to the side or where it had entered the GUR. Unless specified specifically that you can't play from the area the option is there to play from the GUR.
If there are ropes that are immovable it can be treated as an immovable obstruction for relief but usually they are movable so you can just temporarily move the rope and then make sure to replace it. The obstruction would have to be interfering with your stance or swing not just line of sight relief.

[leftylucas]

Thanks Gbower, its good to know. At Sorcier it was pretty obvious it was because of the wet ground conditions. So if after taking releif from the ropes I see that my feet are still pushing up casual water, I can take relief again?

At other courses it was not that clear. I was pretty sure how to take relief from it but I just wanted to make sure.

[BC MIST]

A couple of questions here. I have seen this a few times in the last couple of weeks. There are no signs saying ground under repair but areas on the fairways or just off the fairways are ropped off. I assume that it may be GUR or that it may be to keep garts away as it may be too wet or soft. This seemed to be the case at Sorcier this weekend as some areas seemed fine except that they were wet. If there are no signs then I guess the only way to find out is to call the course?

Also, in a case where it is GUR what would the relief be from the ropes? 1, 2 club lengths and from where? Is it from where the ball entered the GUR or is a lateral relief allowed? Can you also play from the GUR if you feel it is a better lie than any releif you may get outside the GUR area?

All good questions. Clubs mark their ground under repair in different ways and roping it off is obviously one. Others paint a white circle around the area, usually for tournaments if they have the manpower, others put a GUR sign, they use Rainbird flags and so on.

The Rules allow you to play from GUR if you wish. Or, your relief is ONE club length from the nearest point of relief. Take the club you would hit the shot with IF the GUR was not there to determine the NPR, and place a tee at this point, measure one club length, and its any club you wish, driver being the wisest choice, and mark a second point with a tee. Drop the ball between these marks, no closer to the hole.

Now, if your ball is lost in the GUR and it is "known or virtually certain" that it is, meaning that there is NO DOUBT that the ball lies in the GUR, your nearest point is determined from where you saw the ball last cross the "margin" of the GUR and then repeat the above procedure.

If the area of GUR is newly seeded, for example, and your playing a stroke from within it would further damage the area, then as a courtesy to the club, the ball should be moved out.

Hope this helps.

[leftylucas]

Yes, that answers it very well, I will remember this.

[Kiwi battler]

The obstruction would have to be interfering with your stance or swing not just line of sight relief.

If its movable , you feel free to move it ..no limitations as to what it interferes with , it might only be a visual distraction , or casting a shadow

Be careful tho , a roped off area isnt automatically GUR , it must be deemed as such by the committee or greenkeeper...check the local rule board