Backward was an option. But Celine Boutier went with the one where she was able to place her ball atop a tuft of grass — an analyst thought the move looked like she was re-teeing — and fire her ball down the fairway.
To reach that point during first-day play at the Solheim Cup, there had been a little bit of everything. A mishit off the tee. An assessment of a fan bridge. An employment of a rarely seen rule.
And a defeat. Let’s recap it.
– The mishit off the tee. That came on the 479-yard, par-5 16th hole at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands, as Boutier and European teammate Nanna Koerstz Madsen were playing the American duo of Alison Lee and Lauren Coughlin in an alternate-shot match. Madsen teed off for the Europeans, and her ball sailed right of the fairway. It ended up to the right of a creek, but in a penalty area — and in patchy rough and on a sideslope.
Boutier, hitting next, was in jail.
“Celine has a really challenging shot,” announcer Kay Cockerill said on Golf Channel. “She is thinking over all of her options. It’s just an awkward stance. She’s really got to be thinking about going almost backwards, back toward the fairway.”
– An assessment of a fan bridge. Yes, the walkway was about 25 yards in front of Boutier — and it was deemed a temporary immovable obstruction. According to the Rules of Golf, rules relief would be given if it were believed to be in Boutier’s line of sight of the hole — though it wouldn’t be if “a player chooses a club, type of stance or swing or direction of play that is clearly unreasonable.” The relief would also need to be taken inside the penalty area.
On an overhead look via the Golf Channel broadcast, it appeared the bridge was between Boutier’s ball and the hole, but it looked like Boutier’s play would be to the left of the bridge and back into the fairway. Boutier talked with an official, Koerstz Madsen and their caddies, then picked up her ball and crossed the bridge.
– An employment of a rarely seen rule. The “point of maximum relief” was ruled to be to the left of the creek — and on a downslope. The downslope was important. Twice, Boutier dropped her ball, and twice an official standing between her and the water stopped it before it rolled into the water. Because of that, Boutier was able to place her ball — and she did so atop the tuft of grass.
Has TIO relief been taken from inside a penalty area? It has, but it’s rare, given all that’s needed for it to happen. As the process played out, U.S. captain Angela Stanford also talked with a rules official.
Said analyst Alison Whitaker on the Golf Channel broadcast: “It almost looks like Celine Boutier didn’t take the tee out, how well the ball is now sitting.”
Said analyst Paige Mackenzie: “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen where a temporary immovable obstruction comes into play while you’re in the penalty area. It’s very, very rare cases. And very smart of the European team to inquire about that free relief.”
Said Cockerill: “Yeah, this is so much easier. Yes, the ball is below her feet, but she can handle this.”
– A defeat. After all of that, the match actually ended a few shots later.
After her drop, Boutier hit an iron down the fairway. But the Europeans three-putted the hole, and the Americans, up two holes entering the 16th, won the match 3 and 2.
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