bobmac
Major Champion
There is an issue if there is no Local Rule in force.
There shouldn't be an issue, it's common sense.
Protect your course, free relief from staked trees/hedges unless LRs state otherwise (why would they?)
There is an issue if there is no Local Rule in force.
If a club wants to protect something they should make a local rule. It's not the responsibility of the RBs.There shouldn't be an issue, it's common sense.
Protect your course, free relief from staked trees/hedges unless LRs state otherwise (why would they?)
As has been explained by multiple contributors, a stake not covered by a local rule can enable no relief other than for an obstruction (for the stake itself). There is no rule of golf providing relief for "common sense".There shouldn't be an issue, it's common sense.
Protect your course, free relief from staked trees/hedges unless LRs state otherwise (why would they?)
Even if there was, it would be rarely used!As has been explained by multiple contributors, a stake not covered by a local rule can enable no relief other than for an obstruction (for the stake itself). There is no rule of golf providing relief for "common sense".
Common sense is not that common and often not sensible.
Well, being a paid up referee, I would have checked the Local Rules first. I may be as common as muck but I'm also sensibleSo if you were playing a course for the first time and your ball finished up against a staked tree and you didn't have a copy of the local rules, would you not use your common sense and drop away from the young tree to protect it?
In my experience, "relief from staked trees" is one of the most common local rules , and is nearly always printed on the back of the scorecard. If it's not on the scorecard I'd suggest that its (somewhat bizarrely) not in forceSo if you were playing a course for the first time and your ball finished up against a staked tree and you didn't have a copy of the local rules, would you not use your common sense and drop away from the young tree to protect it?
In my experience, "relief from staked trees" is one of the most common local rules , and is nearly always printed on the back of the scorecard. If it's not on the scorecard I'd suggest that its (somewhat bizarrely) not in force
So if you were playing a course for the first time and your ball finished up against a staked tree and you didn't have a copy of the local rules, would you not use your common sense and drop away from the young tree to protect it?
Fair enough..
On our 9 hole course we have the rule in our local rules book but not on the card - we only have one such tree and it is no where near any point of the course where it would interfere.
We could actually remove it from our 18 hole course card as we only have 2 trees where it would apply.
That is a terrible local rule as it extends relief to any wild shrub growing 50 yards off in the rough that meets the height requirement.I played somewhere where the local rule was relief from trees if less than x height. I think it was two driver lengths height so easy enough to measure.
That negates the requirement by the club to remove stakes from trees that are mature enough not to need protection
Applies universally, not just to golf(ing)!Common sense is not that common and often not sensible.
Fair enough.
(Although I'd be tempted to say from a tree management point of view, its pretty short sighted if you only have 2 or 3 trees on the course that need stakes ...)
That is a terrible local rule as it extends relief to any wild shrub growing 50 yards off in the rough that meets the height requirement. A club here used to have that but finally saw the light and staked the trees they wanted to protect.