Mr. Bean

It is also good to remember that is a player gives permission to another player to lift his ball he is responsible for any breaches that other player should be guilty of, such as not marking the spot before lifting. At least this is what I remember having read in the Rules.

I do not see anywhere in the Rules that the referee could not point to the player that he could work his way through the procedure and simply point the player an area where to drop a ball. This spot might very well be further away frtom the hole than where the player would like it to be. I am still missing if a cart path that runs on the fairway to the direction of play would be crossing the fairway. Maybe you can clarify that? My dictionary implies that a crossing road is (more or less) perpendicular, not parallel.

Is that path really crossing the fairway..? Another thing. If you take full relief from TW downwards in the picture (1 cl) and again downwards from the path you will pretty soon arrive to a spot where you can get relief of both. This picture is not what IMO is described in 16.1/3 (essentially back where the player started). A completely different thing is whether the referee would like to speed things up (as in some previous posts) but it is certainly not necessary, provided the player honestly tries their best to get full relief from both conditions one at a time. Of course, if the TW parallels the path longer than in the picture the situation changes so I am only referring to this particular picture.

"Cart path crossing the fairway and temporary water. Ping pong." I have a hard time to picture this. There is always one club-length to work with. Could you draw a picture? (Of course, if the player does not really seek for suitable relief process this ping pong may happen. Or if the player is not really aware of the Rule.)

I am afraid you've missed my advice. Now, a player hits their ball from the tee left into rough and there is only sod. So they get a free relief, but where? If the "unplayable" area is between the fairway and woods (or whatever there is between the fairways) the relief area depends on which side of that area is closer. It is not always the fairway side. From your descriptions I fear that you have a demanding task ahead of you and there is no way your players will get equal treatment, unless you play it down everywhere and take unplayable whenever you cannot. Brutal but equal. Don't miss the fairways or greens...

In that case you seem to have only two choices: 1) Play the ball down everywhere. 2) Write a Local Rule that defines certain areas as GUR (eg. left side rough of fairway 6). This will certainly lead to various interpretations made by the players but could be more fair than option nr 1. Of course you might form a Committee before the tournament and ask from the GM if you may mark those areas. From the sound of your story this may not be a realistic scheme. One word of advice. If you declare rough areas as GUR it is 100% certain that most players try to take relief onto the fairway (side) regardless of the position of their ball instead of the Nearest Point of Complete Relief and successive relief area (in the deeper rough / woods). You might bend the Rules by declaring that relief may be taken onto the fairway side (sort of Drop Zone), just to speed up play and make things more consistent. OR you might go by the Book and emphasize the correct procedure, that is, the relief area may very well be in a worse place than where the ball originally lay. Good luck!

Hey, I did not get a chance to vote!! Ok, Sui's back 😁

I can only give you a general advice. Any area that is supposed to be a fair place to play a ball may be declared GUR if is it not in such condition. It is the responsibility of the Committee to define such areas and mark them properly. I am afraid that is all I can tell you.

How I wish I knew what another person knows. Johnny, what's your problem? This is a Rules Forum and people most often ask questions about Rules. They are not after how to deal with an irritating person or a barking dog, unless they spesifically ask. In this case OP did not ask.

This was already answered in the other thread. The one who breaches the Rule first loses the hole, and it is the hole being played.

Rule 11.3 Exception, 2nd bullet point: Exception – Moving Flagstick, Ball at Rest on Putting Green and Player Equipment: This Rule does not prohibit a player from lifting or moving: A removed flagstick, A ball at rest on the putting green (see Rules 9.4, 9.5 and 14.1 for whether a penalty applies), or No penalty for not removing Movable Obstructions. Deliberate actions of not moving or moving in order to affect the ball in motion result in penalty, see R 11.2.

It seems we are thinking this one in a very different way. It is very possible to comply with TW and LCP at the same time by only taking full relief from TW. Your example of not complying with LCP requirements was not about taking full relief but not following the requirements of LCP LR. And once more, LCP does not require any full relief, only relief within a certain relief area. No problem, let's move on.

Yes, this is often overlooked as a possibility. The key is not to play out of order in order to gain advantage. In OP case time saving could be significant.

He specifically asked about the Rule: "Does the rule apply if you are in the fairway, 20 feet away?"

I cannot remember if Ihave seen it either but I have learned the Rule some decades ago.