If your ball lies next to a cart path which causes you to take your stance on the cart path, do you get free relief? Googled for the answer and most state that you can get free relief if you're standing on the cart path. However, I found the rule regarding immovable obstructions very ambiguous (as do all golf rules):
So the bolded part is what gets me. If I understand it correctly, if your stance is not abnormally affected by the cart path and neither is your swing path, then you are not entitled to a free relief.
quote:
24-2. Immovable Obstruction
b. Relief
Except when the ball is in a water hazard or a lateral water hazard, a player may take relief from interference by an immovable obstruction as follows:
(i) Through the Green:If the ball lies through the green, the player must lift the ball and drop it, without penalty, within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief. The nearest point of relief must not be in a hazard or on a putting green. When the ball is dropped within one club-length of the nearest point of relief, the ball must first strike a part of the course at a spot that avoids interference by the immovable obstruction and is not in a hazard and not on a putting green....
Exception: A player may not take relief under this Rule if (a) it is clearly unreasonable for him to make a stroke because of interference by anything other than an immovable obstruction or (b) interference by an immovable obstruction would occur only through use of an unnecessarily abnormal stance, swing or direction of play.
So the bolded part is what gets me. If I understand it correctly, if your stance is not abnormally affected by the cart path and neither is your swing path, then you are not entitled to a free relief.