Out Of Bounds Stake Intefering With My Golf Swing

March 20th, 2010 • Related • Filed Under

Golf Nut,  this happened in a recent round.  My golf ball came to rest next to a white out of bounds marker.  My ball was still in play, but the marker interfered with my backswing.  Can I get relief in this situation?Probably the first rule I would look at is Rule 24 of the Rules of Golf which deals with obstructions.  But the question is, is an out of bounds marker an obstruction?  Well let’s look at the definitions in the rule book.

An “obstruction” is anything artificial, including the artificial surfaces and sides of roads and paths and manufactured ice, except:




a. Objects defining out of bounds, such as walls, fences, stakes and railings.

So by the way that I read the rules, the marker that you ball is next to is not an obstruction.  Unless the local Committee has set up some kind of local rule, you do not get relief and the marker would be treated like having to play around a tree or other natural object.

This is one of those rules that sometimes doesn’t make sense. But if we are going to honor the game, we must also honor the rules of golf and just play according to these rules, even the ones that don’t make sense to us.

Until next time, good golfing!




There Is 1 Response So Far. »

  1. Comment by George Hanks on 10 September 2010:

    You may not make a local rule concerning Out of Bounds Markers that makes them immoveable obstructions. The boundry line of a golf course is an integral part of the course and therefore cannot be designated otherwise. See 33-8/16

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