Two Ruling Questions from Today's Round

[Rulesman]

6 hours ago, gbogey said:

• Right Handed
• Tree right next to cart path on right side - no more than two inches of ground before roots
• Cart path was about two strides wide, so 5-6 feet
• Ball was on right edge of cart path, maybe a few inches from the edge
• Playing from where it lies tree is blocking shot to green

An attempt at criley4way's suggestion. Click to enlarge.

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by Rulesman

[gbogey]

Correct except the ball was further forward in line with the front 1/3 of the tree, not the back 1/3 and the green was a little more towards 11 o'clock.  So if I had done this I could have punched out and maybe hit a punch towards the green, but I think the trunk would have interfered with my stance to prevent a normal swing.  I'm comfortable that with a one stroke penalty my score is correct.

[jlbos83]

Also, to remember.  An unplayable lie does not guarantee you relief from anything!  You can take S&D. and drop within one CL of that spot, not closer to the hole.  You can go back on a line defined by the hole and the location of the ball, pick a spot, and again, drop within one CL, no closer to the hole. Or you can drop within two CL of the location of the ball, again, no closer to the hole.  Any of those options is available at the cost of on PS.  You could take the unplayable, and drop on the path, for one PS, and then take free relief from the path, which might be a useful move.  Also to remember, once you pick the ball up, you can't decide that you didn't want to and just put it back.  (I am trying to verify that this is still the case in the updated rules, and have not found it definitively, yet.  I am also not 100% sure whether you must state which rule you are invoking, in this case unplayable vs. relief from obstruction, before you pick up the ball.) 

 

[Buckeyebowman]

On 5/24/2019 at 9:34 AM, klineka said:

If that were the case then I would have considered hitting it off the path rather than taking the unplayable

This is a point! Try picking it off the cart path, no matter what it's paved with. Here's another idea. If you don't want the problems, don't hit it over there in the first place! 

[DaveP043]

On 5/28/2019 at 6:13 PM, jlbos83 said:

 Also to remember, once you pick the ball up, you can't decide that you didn't want to and just put it back.  (I am trying to verify that this is still the case in the updated rules, and have not found it definitively, yet.  I am also not 100% sure whether you must state which rule you are invoking, in this case unplayable vs. relief from obstruction, before you pick up the ball.) 

You're right, if you pick up your ball, and then decide you want to play it from the path, you must replace it, and take a one-stroke penalty for intentionally moving the ball (Interpretation 9.4b/6).  You don't have to declare why you are lifting a ball, and in fact can change your mind as long as you place/replace/drop the ball in the appropriate location and take the appropriate penalty strokes.