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There wasn't really an argument, the player (a local PGA pro) asked if he was allowed to take relief.  We talked it over, I took a good close look, and said no.  He hit it to about 4 feet.  But it WAS right over the edge of the drain, a different referee might have made the opposite ruling.  You could also look at the nearly vertical sides of the depression and call it a "hole made by the . . . maintenance staff", which would be GUR by definition.

Also I know that the little reflective stickers are put in spots that you're *really* trying not to hit the ball, but stickers themselves could be used as an aiding device. I'm sure there are at least some stickers that would reduce the friction on the club face and cause less spin. Not that players with modern balls are usually trying to get less spin, but that's a foreign element on the club face that affects the behavior of the ball which it definitely makes sense to regulate. That being said, of course in an actual youth tournament, it feels lame to DQ a kid for something obviously innocent like this. But I agree this is a rule it makes sense not to get rid of or complicate like some of the dumb rules they've done away with, like accidentally tapping your ball off the tee counting as a stroke, for the reason above plus what Dave said. What was the argument that it was a (borderline) obstruction?

Day 5:  Oops, I missed practice on Mother's Day. But today I got a pile of mirror work done. Tomorrow will be a range day and then City League on Wednesday. 

I had another interesting ruling last week, in a pro "junior/senior fourball" event.  Near one of the greens was a drain, with the actual grate set maybe 3 or 4 inches below the ground surface.  It wasn't in a depressed area, basically just a straight-sided hole, with the surrounding ground pretty level.  A Player's ball was in some longer grass adjacent to the grate, maybe even overhanging a bit, to the "side" of the drain, so the path of his swing was "tangent" to the circular grate.  The ball was at ground level, so 3 or 4 inches above the metal grate itself.   As I saw it, there was no way at all that the actual Obstruction would impact any reasonable swing path, so I denied relief.  I did talk it over with another official, who said he would probably have allowed the relief, but agreed that it was a borderline call.

Here is where we're at so far.  (3) more spots left for Saturday, and (2) Sunday.  Again, if there are more folks interested in both days, we'll give preference to them.