Know the Rules: Ball on a Cart Path

It's not unusual for a golf ball to wind up on a cart path. It's also not unusual for a player not to know what to do.

A cart path is an immovable obstruction (See Obstructions, Definitions; Rule 24-2).

You get a free drop from the cart path, but it has to be taken at the right spot. That spot is based on the nearest point of relief. Many people think this point is off the side of the path closest to where the ball is resting, but that is not so. Remember that the nearest point of relief is the spot where the ball would lie when you take a stance, with the club you would normally use to hit the upcoming shot, in the direction you would be hitting it, and not be interfered with by the cart path in any way.

The best way to determine the nearest point of relief off a cart path is to establish a point of relief on each side of the path, marking each one with a tee, and then measuring from the ball to each point to find which point is the nearest to where the ball lies.

Once the nearest point of relief has been found, measure one club-length away from that spot, but no nearer to the hole, and put another tee in the ground. Use any club you like to make that measurement. If it's your driver, take off the clubhead cover first.

Pick up your ball from the cart path and drop it so it hits the ground somewhere between the two tees and behind the line between them. As soon as you have a legal drop, play on.

If the ball rolls back onto the cart path, you must drop it again. If the ball rolls onto the path again, you must place the ball as close as possible to the spot where it hit a part of the course, usually the ground.

What happens if the cart path is right next to a bush, and the nearest point of relief is inside the bush, and one club length from it would be either inside the bush or in a place where the bush obstructs your swing? You can substitute "tree" for "bush" and the problem is the same. Those objects are not obstructions, but part of the course, so you get no further relief from them.

The answer is that you might be better off playing the ball as it lies on the cart path. Just because you can take a drop doesn't mean you have to take a drop. Once you pick the ball up, though, you are obliged to drop it, so think about it first.

Once again:
1. Find the point of relief on each side of the cart path and drop the ball within one club-length of the point closest to the ball, but no nearer to the hole.
2. If it is difficult or impossible to play from there, you might have to play the ball as it lies on the cart path.


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