Hi Linda,
Could you please let me know the ruling on balls that have embedded into the ground.
My society plays throughout the year and during the winter months in the UK it is common for the ball to splat into the ground and become embedded. We have always allowed the player to lift and clean the ball and replace it as near as possible but not nearer the hole.
Is this correct or are there certain conditions when balls can or cannot be lifted?
Regards
Lou
Dear Lou,
When a ball is embedded in any closely mown area (fairways, dew paths, swaths through the rough), you may lift, clean, and drop it as close to where it lay, no closer to the hole. This is a free drop [Rule 25-2].
This is different from other free drops in that you are not entitled to drop a club-length away – your drop must be right next to the pitch mark.
If the ball rolls back into the pitch mark when you drop it, you must re-drop [Rule 20-1c(v)].
If conditions are so poor that players should be given permission to take relief for an embedded ball through the green, the Committee may adopt Local Rule 4a (see Appendix I, Part B, in the back of the Rule Book). This will allow the player to take free relief for a ball embedded in the rough. There is no free relief for a ball embedded in a hazard under any Rule.
Linda
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