Rules of Golf Review: They just aerated the fairways and greens. Can I take relief from all these holes?

It's never great when you show up to play your local public golf course and find that the superintendent just had the fairways or greens punched—or both. Obviously, it's a necessary part of golf-course maintenance, otherwise you'd eventually be playing on dead grass, but it can wreak havoc on everything from putting to chipping to full-swing irons shots.

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If you're new to the game, you should know that there are times when you can repair damage to a golf course. Under Rule 13.1c, for example, you can repair things such as spike marks, ball marks, old hole plugs and animal tracks on a putting green. Rule 16.1b allows you to take relief from abnormal course conditions in the general area.

But here's the thing: The definition of abnormal course conditions does not include aeration holes. If the maintenance crew created a hole after removing turf, a tree or to repair drainage pipes, you absolutely get relief. And the plugs created from punching the aeration holes are considered loose impediments and can be removed. However, the hole itself is considered just a normal part of course maintenance. If your putt is bumpy as a result, or your chip takes a sideways bounce on its way into a green, unfortunately, that is just part of the game.

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Now here's where your local course or committee can put a smile on your face. It doesn't always have to be against the rules to grant relief from aeration holes. There is a Model Local Rule (E-4) that does allow for free relief in some cases. Here's how it works:

If your course or committee has enacted E-4, you can take relief if your ball lies in or touches an aeration hole. However, you still do not get relief if your stance, swing or line of play is interfered with by an aeration hole/s. This includes your line of play on the putting green. If your ball is in a hole, you can take relief (remember to place the ball on the green, don't drop it) because the thought is that the initial roll would be greatly impacted. The ball would likely start by hopping out of the hole. But all those holes between you and the cup are just part of the challenge that day. No relief.

There are a couple of reasons for not being able to take relief from aeration holes impacting your stance, swing or line of play. The main being that you would spend half your round trying to find a suitable spot to move your ball with all those holes on the course.

Also, note that if you do take a drop for relief from an aeration hole under Model Local Rule E-4, and your ball finds another aeration hole, you can drop again and continue to drop until you get a lie away from one of them. But hurry up, the group behind you is getting impatient.

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