Handling dangerous situations on course

He had made his home in a nice section of Kitale Golf club. The bush was well-knit and the shadows camouflaged him from the eyes of golfers, an unsettled lot driven a perverse dislike for his kind.
He had recently struck at the heel of one such golfer who had ventured into the bush.

Since then, he had not been bothered and he only heard them saying “there’s a black mamba in that bush” as they walked on by.

On a bright warm morning, the resident black mamba sniffed the air to find out if there were any intruders in his bush.

Finding none, he slithered down from the tree where he had spent the night.

He settled himself on the soft soil, squirming himself into a comfortable bed lined with soft leaves, rested his head on his coils and soon the sound of his snoring filled the bush. It was sheer bliss.
CARELESS ABANDON

He was startled out of his reverie by a loud thud of a foreign projectile falling to the ground right next to him. He jerked his head and craned his neck in alarm.

A few inches from where he was, lay the object that had so rudely spoiled his slumber.

It looked like an egg but unlike all the eggs that he had seen, it was perfectly round with symmetrical dents.

He was able to make out the words “Titleist Pro-V” on the ball.

Reading was a skill that he had picked from the days that he spent on the rafters of a school as a young hatchling.

The words did not make sense. As he contemplated the strange object, he heard loud footsteps coming from behind him. He saw the rather large human walking towards him.

“Good grief,” he muttered, “another golfer.

And a stranger in this part of the country from the careless abandon.”

He had nothing against golfers, per se. He only believed that their place was on the short grass and not in the bush.

If the miscreant who had interrupted his morning sleep thought that he planned to lie docile as he desecrated his sanctum sanctorum, he had another think coming. Black mamba raised his head menacingly.

“I am going to mess him up if he makes one more step!” thought the black mamba.

A loud shriek followed by some quick back-peddling by the golfer saved him from the wrath of the black mamba.

As the golfer stood there terrified, sweating profusely like one who had malaria, his caddie approached with a seven iron in hand.

He struck the ground repeatedly with club, sending loud menacing sounds through the ground. Black mamba knew that he stood no chance against a seven iron and knew it was time to make a hasty retreat.

As he was leaving the scene, he caught a glimpse of the golfer with the seven-iron, taking a quick low shot out of the bush before running out like a bat out of hell.

“Didn’t the golfer know that he did not have to get into the bush?” thought the black mamba, “he could have taken relief for dangerous situation…”

The Rules of Golf don’t cover everything under the sun.

The situation with the black mamba is one such situation.

However, the Rules provide that if there is anything that is not covered, a decision should be made in accordance with equity.

A snake near the ball in play is a dangerous situation.

It would not be prudent to try and find out if it is venomous or not. In such a case, a golfer should identify the nearest point where the snake would not pose any danger.

The golfer may then drop a ball (they don’t have to retrieve the original ball) within one club-length of the nearest point of relief.

Makes shot impracticable

This relief is not available for a bush just because it may look like a perfect abode for snakes.

A snake must actually be seen for the relief to be claimed. It is also not available for situations that involve dangerous plants.

If a ball is right next to poison ivy or prickly cacti, then the ball must either be played as it lies or declared unplayable.

Unlike snakes, poisonous or thorny plants are very unlikely to attack.

The relief must, however, not be taken if something else other than the snake makes the shot impracticable.

If, for example, the ball lay below a huge boulder where a golf shot would not be possible, a snake lying next to the ball would not be reason enough to get relief.

It is, however, necessary to end with a caveat: the Rules of Golf have covered majority of the situations encountered out on the golf course.

Not knowing which Rule to apply in a situation is not a good reason to use the Rule on equity.