Relief from animal dung?

[cliveb]

A couple of days ago, my ball came to rest close to a pile of fox/dog poo. To take my stance, I would have needed to stand right in the poo. My reading of the rules is that the poo is a loose impediment and I can move it, but it was a substantial pile and frankly I didn't want to touch it with any of my equipment! In the end I took an awkward stance (and duffed the shot, of course).

My question is whether there is any relief available when a loose impediment is something that no reasonable person would want to touch. (For example, what if the poo in question is a fresh cow pat that can't be moved?) My gut feeling is that it's just tough - a rub of the green, but I'd be interested to know if there have been any rulings around this area.

 

[guest100718]

its tough sh.. I'm afraid

 

[rulefan]

This is the only situation that I know of where relief may be given. But it is very specific in its application.

[h=2]33-8/32.7[/h] [h=4]Local Rule Providing Relief from Excessive Bird or Animal Dung[/h]Q.Bird or animal dung is a loose impediment, but if a course suffers from an excess of dung that is difficult to remove and interferes with the proper playing of the game, may a Committee make a Local Rule providing relief from the excessive dung?
A.Yes. The Committee may declare dung that is prevalent on the course to be ground under repair and provide relief under Rule 25-1b.

 

[jim8flog]

I would imagine that clubs that allow horse and cows to roam around the course would have such a local rule in place. I used to play the New Forest Golf Club which did have such animals roaming around but sadly it was such a long time ago I cannot remember if they had the local rule.

 

[rulefan]

As a result of sharing common land with cows and horses, Beverley & East Riding has the following approved Local Rule.

course They share the common land with cows with the golfers are often a herd of cows leads to the existence of a couple of Local Rules:
‘​

Dung: If a ball lies in or touches dung or when dung interferes with stance or area of intended swing relief is taken under Abnormal Ground Conditions in accordance with Rule 25-1′.

g the course with the golfers are often a herd of cows leads to the existence of a few Local Rules:



‘Dung: If a ball lies in or touches dung or when dung interferes with stance or area of intended swing relief is taken under Abnormal Ground Conditions in accordance with Rule 25-1′.

‘’.



Posts and wires help keep the greens in immaculate condition and if a ball is to hit either the post or the wire then rule 4b applies ‘If a ball strikes any part of a protective fence around the green of the hole being played, the player may disregard that stroke, either abandon the ball or retrieve it and play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was played in accordance with Rule 20-5′.

The post or wires around the green are treated as immovable objects and therefore relief can be taken in accordance with Rule 4b ‘Protective fence relief, for a ball lying outside the wire, relief will always be outside the wire, and for a ball lying inside the wire relief will often be taken outside the wire’.
​

 

[cliveb]

Thanks for the replies, chaps. Our course doesn't have a widespread problem with dung, it was just an isolated pile that I was unlucky enough to end up next to. So in this case it was just tough s**t, both metaphorically and literally

 

[SaintHacker]

I would imagine that clubs that allow horse and cows to roam around the course would have such a local rule in place. I used to play the New Forest Golf Club which did have such animals roaming around but sadly it was such a long time ago I cannot remember if they had the local rule.

We certainly still do

 

[woody69]

Queens Park in Bournemouth has a local rule for relief from dog faeces as it's on a common where people walk their dogs