Here’s the scenario: Someone you are playing with in the Saturday roll-up has played a shot very close to the out of bounds line – in this instance, it’s an invisible boundary marked by white stakes.
On arriving at their ball, you both agree their ball is touching the golf course and so is in bounds. Good news for them.
But things are still not clearcut. Just out of bounds, and close to the ball, is an empty plastic container. It’s lying exactly where your playing partner would like to stand to play a shot at the ball.
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Without saying anything, they pick up the empty container (it’s large but not heavy) and move it out of their way. They then play their shot free from any obstruction. As you walk on, you just wonder… ‘Were they allowed to do that?’ Is it against the Rules to shift a movable obstruction that is out of bounds?
First thing to note is – what is a movable obstruction? In the definitions section of the Rules, a movable obstruction is – an obstruction (an artificial object apart from integral objects and boundary objects) that can be moved with reasonable effort and without damaging the obstruction or the course.
OK – the plastic container was easily moved, and it was moved without damaging it or the course. So far so good.
But could it be moved when it wasn’t actually on the course?
The answer is, yes. Rule 15.2 deals with movable obstructions and Rule 15.2a(1) says that “Without penalty a player may remove a movable obstruction anywhere on or off the course and may do so in any way.”
So, a movable obstruction can be moved “off” the course. That means the golfer above who moved the plastic container was totally entitled to do so even though it was out of bounds.
If the ball had moved when they were moving the plastic container, there would still have been no penalty. They would have replaced the ball on its original spot.
Their ball was in bounds so they were able to play it and, although their stance was hampered by a plastic container, it was a movable obstruction and could be shifted under Rule 15.2.
There was no penalty and the player was free to carry on. They were lucky on this occasion!
Even if it had been a rock lying out of bounds in the stance of the player above, they could have moved it without penalty (if it could be moved). A rock is a loose impediment and Rule 15.1a says that a player may remove a loose impediment anywhere on or off the course.
They would have to be a little more careful when moving a loose impediment though. If moving the rock caused the ball to move, they would get a one-stroke penalty and they would have to replace the ball on its original spot.