Definition: Obstruction

Any artificial object except for integral objects and boundary objects.

Examples of obstructions:

Artificially surfaced roads and paths, including their artificial borders.
Buildings and rain shelters.
Sprinkler heads, drains and irrigation or control boxes.
Stakes, walls, railings and fences (but not when they are boundary objects that define or show the boundary edge of the course).
Golf carts, mowers, cars and other vehicles.
Waste containers, signposts and benches.
Player equipment, flagsticks and rakes.

An obstruction is either a movable obstruction or an immovable obstruction. If part of an immovable obstruction (such as a gate or door or part of an attached cable) meets the definition of movable obstruction, that part is treated as a movable obstruction.

Paint dots and lines, such as those used to define boundaries and penalty areas, are not obstructions.

See Committee Procedures, Section 8; Model Local Rule F-23 (Committee may adopt a Local Rule defining certain obstructions as temporary immovable obstructions for which special relief procedures apply).