During the 2007 CGA Public Links Championship at Highland Meadows Golf Course in Greeley (held on June 22-24) a player hit his ball over the ninth green during the first round. His ball came to rest in an area that had not been clearly defined. The boundary stakes had been installed in such a way that it was unclear whether the player’s ball was in bounds or out of bounds. Rule 33-2 states that the committee is responsible for defining the course, including the out-of-bounds margins. Based on the configuration of the stakes the player’s ball was clearly in bounds and he was allowed to play from the area in question.
Following this instance, the committee installed a new boundary stake that made the boundary much more clear, and did so in such a way that any other balls during the championship that came to rest in this same area would also be in bounds. This was done in order to maintain the integrity of the course boundaries during the three rounds of the tournament and so that all players would be playing the same “course” for the duration of the championship. The Rules of Golf do allow the committee to declare areas as ground of repair during a championship as weather conditions and course construction and repairs sometimes create abnormal ground conditions that did not exist at the beginning of the event. The boundaries of a golf course, however, are not affected by such temporary conditions and should not be altered during a championship.
During this same event a construction crew working to the left of the first hole removed a boundary stake at the dogleg of the hole. With the stake removed, a very large area that had been in-bounds for the first round was now technically out of bounds with the stake removed. Decision 33-2a covers this situation and states when a boundary stake has been altered through unauthorized removal of a boundary stake, the stake should be replaced.
In both cases the players were smart to call for a ruling and both could have said the same thing”””Don’t fence me in!”
