Let’s start at the beginning by unpacking those three letters – TIO stands for Temporary Immovable Obstruction.
The Rules of Golf address movable obstructions in Rule 15.2 and immovable obstructions (one of the four types of abnormal course conditions) in Rule 16.1, so what are temporary immovable obstructions?
Well, we will all have seen players on tour getting relief from grandstands, TV towers, hospitality tents and other similar structures and these would all be classified as TIOs due to their nature – they are temporarily situated on the course and are not intended to be a permanent feature.
Structures such as TV towers would be classed as TIOs at The Open and other golf tournaments
(Image credit: Getty Images)
While club golfers are likely to encounter TIOs less frequently, you will need to know what you are allowed to do if one does interfere with your stroke – perhaps a scoreboard by the 18th green at a big open day or a marquee serving food and refreshments close to the 9th green on captain’s day.
Committees can provide relief from such TIOs via Model Local Rule F-23 as these are not considered to be part of the challenge of playing the course. Such a Local Rule allows you an additional option over what you can do when taking relief from an immovable obstruction under Rule 16.1.
First, for relief to be allowed, you must have interference from the TIO. This means either physical interference, line-of-sight interference (which you don’t get from an immovable obstruction), or both physical and line-of-sight interference.
Jon Rahm taking line-of-sight relief under a TIO Local Rule from a grandstand at the 2023 BMW Championship
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Physical interference is when the ball touches or lies in the TIO, or the TIO interferes with the player’s area of intended stance or swing. Line-of-sight interference is when the player’s ball is in or touches the TIO, or the TIO is located on a straight line between the ball and the hole, or within a club-length on an equidistant arc where the TIO would be on the player’s direct line of sight to the hole.
The one club-length area is often known as the ‘corridor’ and is there to…
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