Golf rules are full of little technicalities that are difficult to wrap your head around sometimes. One of these rules is the Model Local Rule E-5, as described per the USGA. This rule, only used in lower levels of golf, states you can take a relief in certain conditions.
Therefore, if you are confused about Model Local Rule E-5, you may wonder: Can You Use The Fringe As The Nearest Fairway Edge For Model Local Rule E-5?
In this article, we will tell you exactly whether you can use the fringe as the nearest fairway edge for model local rule E-5.
Can You Use The Fringe As The Nearest Fairway Edge For Model Local Rule E-5?
Yes, you can use the fringe as the nearest fairway edge for Model Local Rule E-5, as the fringe is technically part of the fairway, and its turf height is shorter or equal to the fairway’s turf height. However, to use the fringe, you need to make sure you are not getting closer to the hole as you take relief.
Since 2019, Model Local Rule E-5 has been in effect for lower levels of golf, as per the USGA regulations. Model Local Rule E-5 states that you can take relief when you send the ball out of bounds or lose your ball, in exchange for 2 penalty strokes. You can read more information about Model Local Rule E-5 here.
Model Local Rule E-5 uses 2 elements: the ball reference point, and the fairway reference point.
The ball reference point is the point where your golf ball crossed the course boundary to go out of bounds or come to rest on the course.
The fairway reference point is a point you determine (in this article, we want to know if this point can be the fringe). The fairway reference point is the point of the fairway that is nearest to the ball reference point, but it cannot be closer to the golf hole than the ball reference point is.
As per the USGA rulings, the “fairway” is the section of a golf hole turf that is cut to fairway height or less. This means that the fringe is part of the fairway.
So, can you use the fringe as the nearest fairway reference point? The answer is generally yes, as the fringe turf height is smaller than fairway height. Furthermore, as we have written in a different article, the fringe is part of the fairway, which is a condition for the fairway reference point or fairway edge.
However, the fringe will not always contain a point that can serve as a nearest reference point, as you need to be close enough to the golf hole for that to be the case.
In fact, your nearest fairway reference point must be taken somewhere on the arc with the golf hole as the center, and the distance between the golf hole and the ball reference point as the radius.
This means that if you are too far from the hole, the radius will be too big for the fringe to contain a suitable fairway reference edge.
In other words, if the fringe lays somewhere on the arc with the golf hole as the center and with radius equal to the distance between the golf hole and the ball reference point, you can use the fringe as the fairway nearest edge reference point.
Conclusion
There you go! After reading this article, you have learned that you can use the fringe as the fairway edge considered in Model Local Rule E-5.
Did this article help you? Do you always use Model Local Rule E-5? Let us know in the comments down below!
