Relief from footpath

[backwoodsman]

In last Saturdays non qualifying comp at my club, one of the four ball had a word in my ear about taking relief from a footpath.

I dropped the ball as close as I possibly could to the path, at the nearest point of relief and further from the hole.

My stance put my front foot on the path and back foot off the path. Had I taken full relief with both feet off the path, my back swing would have been impeded by branches of a shrub. My fellow competitor suggested I should have taken full relief and I was in breach of the rules in not doing so. Was he right? I was under the impression that taking relief from a path was optional and not compulsory

Do you not recall that Rory Mc was penalised not so long since for this exact thing - ie not taking full relief

 

[sawtooth]

A lesson I learned the hard way a while ago is ALWAYS figure out where your NPR is before you pick your ball up. You might be better off where it is.

Exactly right, sometimes better off playing it off the path.

My understanding is that full relief in this case is free relief from the path. Its tough if your NPR puts you into or near a bush. I've seen some people drop the wrong side of the path (to avoid just that) and they seem to think that if they drop it further away its OK.

You cannot drop it into a hazard.