Is it legal to take a free drop on a dirty cart path with a concrete curb?

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thank you, we have a guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book from front to back. Have a question? You have all the answers.

My home study has a dirty cart track, where my gun landed. With a concrete ledge between my ball and the green, I decided to take a drop from the fairway. Can I do that without penalty? —Craig Twitchell, Chandler, Ariz.

A dirt cart road with a concrete curb? Aesthetic arguments aside, under Rule 16.1b there is no free easement in the way of pollution unless the Committee has defined it as an immovable obstacle. According to rule 16.1a(1), the concrete edge will interfere with the player only due to physical interference (the lie of the ball, the intended swing area or the intended standing area) and not the line of play.

Of course, unless one's football is exposed, relief is not found in obstructions on the line of play alone.

For more cart path guidance from our guru, read on…

He finds relief in the way of the chariot. Your feet are still on the wagon path, but you love lies and have chosen to play the gun. Is that a penalty? —Tim Booker, via email

How does golf spell relaxation? FINISH.

For a cart lane, under Rule 16.1(b) interference includes lying the ball, standing and swinging. Even if only one of those things is causing the disturbance in the first place, you must take relief from all of them to create the complete relief needed (!).

If you try to break free but are still standing in the carriageway, you are playing from the wrong position, per rule 14.7, and incur the usual penalty of two strokes in stroke play and loss of the hole in match play.

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