Immovable Obstruction .... sprinklerhead cover

[Albatross]

There exists behind the 9th green ( West course ) @ the Outaouais G.C., on the fringe a 10 " ( 25 cm ) sprinklerhead cover . My ball came to rest near the cover , approx. 18 " to the right of the cover when viewed from behind the green.

I am right-handed and putt using a 52 " putter. When addressing the ball in preparation for putting from the fringe my heel ( s ) encroached on the sprinklerhead cover by approx. 2".

In order to avoid complete interference of my stance I took my new address position which allowed me to take my new stance immediately to the right of and not touching the sprinkler cover . This resulted in the " nearest point of relief " being approx. 2 " to the right of the original ball position, not nearer the hole. I proceeded to mark this point with a tee. Being now entitled to what I believed was a club lenght of relief , I took my 52" putter and measured one club lenght distance from the aforementioned " nearest point of relief ", not nearer the hole and not on the green and placed another tee there. Ithen dropped the ball within the one club lenght. Now, since we were playing 12" preferred lies ( moving the ball with clubhead only ) I then moved the ball the permissable distance, not nearer the hole and proceede to putt out.

My playing partner objected to my " nearest point of relief " determination saying that the nearest point of relief should have been a point nearest the sprinklerhead cover that afforded complete relief, even if this point were further from the ball's original position than the nearest relief I determined above.

Who is correct ?

[Gary Hill]

Who is correct ?

You are.

You can find thousands of points where there is no interference by the obstruction and is not nearer the hole. Only one of those points can be the nearest to the ball. That point is the nearest point of relief.

The definition of Nearest Point of Relief states: "It is the point on the course nearest to where the ball lies: "

It is not the point nearest to the obstruction itself.