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Q. When taking a free drop from GUR the rules say I should drop within one club length of the "nearest point of relief", how do I establish this point?

Ans, The nearest point of relief (NPR) is defined as "the point on the course nearest to where the ball lies, which is not nearer the hole and at which if the ball were to be so positioned, no interference (from the condition we are claiming relief from) would exist." (Italics mine.)

We can claim a drop from certain conditions encountered, basically these are (1) Immovable obstructions. (Rule 24).and (2) casual water, GUR and a hole, cast or runway on the course made by a burrowing animal, reptile or bird. (Rule 25). These conditions are said to be interfering if they interfere with the lie of the ball, the area of swing, or our stance.

Many golfers think that this automatically entitles them to a lie where the ball will be playable, but as we shall see this is not so.

So how do we establish the NPR? in the diagram the ball lies in GUR at point (A), for a right handed golfer the NPR is at (B), as this is the nearest point to where the ball lies  where there is no longer any interference from the GUR. The NPR is not at (C) as this is further away than (B)

                                      

The player may now drop within one club length of this point. But as we can see at point (B) the ball will be virtually unplayable because it is in dense rough and in the trees. Some will now argue that seeing as the ball will be unplayable, point (B) is not a point of relief. This line of reasoning is not in line with the rules of golf, the rules are very generous in allowing us relief from the condition in the first place, but they are not so benevolent as to guarantee us a playable lie, true we may find ourselves in a far better position after taking our free drop, but we could equally be worse off.

The wise player will be careful to work out where the free drop will get them before proceeding in taking relief, and may find it would be more advantageous to play the ball as it lies, or for a one stroke penalty proceed under Rule 28 (unplayable ball)

We have used GUR as an example for the purpose of illustrating  how to establish the NPR but the same procedure must be followed for all free drop situations.