Dropping Zone.

[oltimer]

we have an almost full width of fairway under gur, whilst it is possible to drop out at the nearest point in some instances but would be within the trees can a club make a local rule requiring all balls in the gur to be dropped out in the DZ which is in the middles of the fairway ?

 

[rulefan]

Yes. One of the versions of Model Local Rule E-1 may be modified to make the DZ relief compulsory without penalty.

But why not make it optional?

 

[oltimer]

Yes

thanks - thats a surprise

 

[rulefan]

thanks - thats a surprise

Why?

 

[oltimer]

Why?

Why?

\because and apparently am mistaken I thought a dz could only be applied when the nearest point of relief was not available/possible
as in this situation mis directed shots are now getting the benefit/advantage of being dropped and played from the middle of the fairway, but as usual
you will be correct.

 

[rulefan]

\because and apparently am mistaken I thought a dz could only be applied when the nearest point of relief was not available/possible
as in this situation mis directed shots are now getting the benefit/advantage of being dropped and played from the middle of the fairway, but as usual
you will be correct.

It could be modified such that if the GUR was split into sections then multiple DZs could be created for each area of the GUR. So that balls in the trees are played from a specific DZ with a relatively restricted line of play.

 

[Colin L]

\because and apparently am mistaken I thought a dz could only be applied when the nearest point of relief was not available/possible
as in this situation mis directed shots are now getting the benefit/advantage of being dropped and played from the middle of the fairway, but as usual
you will be correct.

DZs are quite often in place as an additional relief option.

If you have more than one DZ in order to keep relief more equitable, you could, depending on the layout of the area and the positioning of the DZs, require relief to be taken in the nearest DZ

 

[rulie]

We recently held a significant championship at our course. A section of one of our fairways was in very tough shape, several large areas and several smaller areas that could/should have been marked as GUR. If we were to mark all of them, it would have looked like a moonscape. Instead, we decided to mark the larger areas (larger than one club-length in radius) and identify a section of the fairway (cut to fairway height or less) where lift, clean and place within one club-length was permitted. The player could take relief from the large areas marked as GUR and then do LCP. The area where LCP was permitted was identified by four blue stakes, two on each side of the fairway marking the beginning and end of the area.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

So just to confirm. For an area of GUR a Drop Zone has been provided. However as there is no LR in place to mandate use of the DZ a player may choose to play from the NPR (assuming they can identify one).

 

[Steven Rules]

Use of a dropping zone will always be (or at least is meant to be) outlined in a Local Rule.

Normally a dropping zone will be provoded as an additional (i.e. optional) relief option in addition to the 'normal' relief options available under the Rules. See Model Local Rules E1.1 and E1.2.

Occasionally/rarely a dropping zone will be mandated as the only relief option (aside from stroke and distance, which is always available under the Rules). Model Local Rule E1.3 provides an example.

 

[jim8flog]

\because and apparently am mistaken I thought a dz could only be applied when the nearest point of relief was not available/possible
as in this situation mis directed shots are now getting the benefit/advantage of being dropped and played from the middle of the fairway, but as usual
you will be correct.

This was certainly the case pre 2019 and was covered by the Decisions Book.

However since 2019 I have not seen anything to replace the decision.

I had occasion to research it when they created a NPZ right next to a path and created a DZ despite the fact that a ball could be dropped on the opposite side of the path (albeit in a horrible lie).

 

[rulefan]

This was certainly the case pre 2019 and was covered by the Decisions Book.

However since 2019 I have not seen anything to replace the decision.

I had occasion to research it when they created a NPZ right next to a path and created a DZ despite the fact that a ball could be dropped on the opposite side of the path (albeit in a horrible lie).

If you were referring to Dec 33-8/19 it was 'eliminated' in 2019 according to the Mapping Summary Chart: Location of Decisions in the 2019 Official Guide to the Rules of Golf

 

[rulie]

IIRC, the R&A make use of dropping zones for TIO relief from grandstands at The Open mandatory, ie, not an "additional option".