Ball stays in ball mark on green

[Cantankerish]

Wet conditions today.  My nephew hit his 6-iron well and ended up on the green.  The ball embedded itself where it landed.  Can he repair the ball mark and replace the ball?

[Missouri Swede]

  Quote

16.3  Embedded Ball

a. When Relief Is Allowed

Relief is allowed only when your ball is embedded in the general area. But if your ball is embedded on the putting green, you may mark the spot of your ball, lift and clean it, repair the damage, and replace your ball on its original spot.

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[David in FL]

Yes

[Vinsk]

Unless you’re Matt Kuchar in which your ball may become embedded in its own pitch mark from a drive where after the ball sprung forward it spun back and landed in its pitch mark. A third opinion from the officials may be warranted.🙂

[klineka]

Had one of those a couple years ago

[Rulesman]

  On 10/20/2019 at 5:23 AM, Vinsk said:

Unless you’re Matt Kuchar in which your ball may become embedded in its own pitch mark from a drive where after the ball sprung forward it spun back and landed in its pitch mark. A third opinion from the officials may be warranted.🙂

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And what was the ruling given?

[Asheville]

  On 10/20/2019 at 4:03 AM, Cantankerish said:

Wet conditions today.  My nephew hit his 6-iron well and ended up on the green.  The ball embedded itself where it landed.  Can he repair the ball mark and replace the ball?

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Yes. Read all about it in Rule 13.1, here: https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-2019/rules-of-golf/rules-and-interpretations.html#!ruletype=fr&section=rule&rulenum=13&subrulenum=1

[Vinsk]

  On 10/20/2019 at 8:49 AM, Rulesman said:

And what was the ruling given?

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Lol..yeah they basically told him to stop being ridiculous and play it as it lie.

[Casualgolfer]

I get those all the time! I repair and replace.

[Rulesman]

  On 10/20/2019 at 10:54 AM, Vinsk said:

Lol..yeah they basically told him to stop being ridiculous and play it as it lie.

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Oh dear!

16.3a(2)/1 – Concluding Whether Ball Is Embedded in Its Own Pitch-mark

It must be reasonable to conclude that the ball is in its own pitch-mark for the player to take relief under Rule 16.3b.

An example of when it is reasonable to conclude that the ball came to rest in its own pitch-mark is when a player’s approach shot lands on soft ground just short of the putting green in the general area. The player sees the ball bounce forward and then spin back. When the player arrives at the ball, he or she sees that it is embedded in the only pitch-mark in the area. Since it is  reasonable to conclude that the ball spun back into its own pitch-mark, the player may take relief under Rule 16.3b.

But did this happen this year?

Edited October 20, 2019 by Rulesman

[dennyjones]

Kuchar's bizarre ruling

[Vinsk]

  On 10/20/2019 at 1:41 PM, dennyjones said:

Kuchar's bizarre ruling

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@Rulesman...yes it was this year. Silly. Kuchar being Kuchar.