The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’’e got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

To scare waterfowl away from the lake shores, our course uses fake birds on slender poles attached by string and wire that can “fly” with the breeze—soaring, dipping, turning, and so on. A few of these fake birds can be in the line of play from a tee box or near a green. What happens if a shot hits one of these “birds”? It is possible to take the pole out of the ground, play the shot, and replace the pole before hitting, though this can slow the pace of play quite a bit. Movable obstruction? Immovable? Help! —Bill Spahn, via email

You’re trying to sneak in a multipart question, Bill! We’re almost rooting for the waterfowl at this point.

As to the first question, if you play near one of those “birds” and hit one, you’ll have to play the ball as it lies — no different than bouncing off a moving cart or a stationary pole, per Rule 11.1.

As far as being able to remove them, that depends on how they’ve been installed and, potentially, if the course has decided to treat them as immovable (versus, say, temporary immovable obstructions).

With no specific Rules in effect, if the “birds” can be moved with reasonable effort and without causing damage to the course or “bird,” then you can move them. If not, they’re immovable obstructions and must not be moved if doing so improves your situation (in particular here, line of play).

Check out Rule 8.1, 15.2 and Definition of Movable Obstruction. If the course has decided to treat the “birds” as temporary immovable obstructions, line of sight relief would be allowed, though this doesn’t apply if the “birds” are permanently installed — see Model Local Rule F-23.

Rules Guy is now going to fly off for a well-deserved nap.

For more obstruction-related guidance from our guru, read on …

My ball lies in a red penalty area. It’s playable, but there’s a fence between the ball and the green. The fence is out of bounds, my ball is not. Do I get relief from an immovable obstruction? If so, must I drop within the penalty area, or just within two club-lengths of the closest point of relief? —Gary Ahlstrom, Charlotte, NC

First things first, Gary: No, you do not get free relief from an immovable obstruction if your ball is in a penalty area, per Rule 17.3.

Further, since the fence is out of bounds, even if the ball wasn’t in a penalty area, you still wouldn’t get free relief from it. Alas, this renders your follow-up question moot, although it never hurts to ask!

Need a handicap? Get started here.

Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.

One of AEW’s top talents and champions, Andrade, sent a message to a WWE superstar shortly after the latter’s World Heavyweight Title match against Roman Reigns. El Idolo appeared to applaud the performance of Penta this week on Monday Night RAW, even though the former Death Triangle member failed to unseat The OTC.

This past August, WWE held a tournament to crown the #1 contender for Roman Reigns’ World Heavyweight Championship. After defeating Laredo Kid in the opening round and La Parka in the semifinals of the tourney, the fan-favorite defeated his tag team partner and brother Rey Fenix in the finals to earn his shot at the Head of The Table. This past Monday on RAW in Mexico City, the erstwhile Pentagon Jr. challenged Reigns for his strap in the Mexico City Arena, and pushed the leader of The Bloodline to his limits.

Unfortunately, Penta was unable to dethrone The Tribal Chief, who managed to retain his World Heavyweight Championship in a hard-fought victory. With fans still buzzing over the former Intercontinental Champion’s performance against Reigns, the masked luchador received a message from AEW National Champion Andrade El Idolo, who took to X/Twitter to seemingly recognize Penta’s effort against Roman with a fist-bump emoji.

“@PENTAELZEROM 👊🏼,” posted the AEW star.

The Real Latino Man has shared the ring with the former Penta El Zero Miedo on multiple occasions, both in AEW and in WWE.

Andrade El Idolo has been busy and successful in AEW lately

Last month at All In: London, Andrade El Idolo participated in and won a Men’s Casino Gauntlet Match to earn a contract for a future shot at the AEW World Championship. Days later on AEW Dynamite, the beloved star teamed with his United Empire stable-mates Callum Newman, HENARE, Francesco Akira and newly crowned AEW Men’s World Champion Will Ospreay to defeat The Demand and The Dogs in a ten-person tag team bout.

On the September 5 episode of AEW Collision, El Idolo retained his National Championship against Gabe Kidd. Last week on Dynamite: Rebel Heart, he once again successfully defended his strap against The Beast Mortos.

It remains to be seen when Andrade might execute his World Title contract for a match against The Aerial Assassin.