Ruling Question

[BSweet]

Okay so today i sliced a ball into the playground of a schoolyard today. The playground runs parallel with the fairway. There were no white stakes. I played it. Is this okay?

[iacas]

Unless there was a local rule saying "the playground is out of play" or something to that effect, sounds fine.

But I'd have to say the odds of that rule being in effect are pretty high. A playground? They typically don't want people hitting golf balls from a playground

[BSweet]

Unless there was a local rule saying "the playground is out of play" or something to that effect, sounds fine.

There is no local rule in effect. During school hours there is another tee box that we have to use to avoid putting balls on the playground. Today the playground was empty. So it was okay I think.

[srjorion]

Sounds like you knew the answer before you asked. If there are alternate tee boxes for "playground hours" then there are provisions in place to keep you from playing from the playground when kids are there.

Bottom line though, sounds like you played it like you should have.

[BSweet]

Now heres the thing. I'm scared to death right now. This was a club championship round. (I shot 78) I'm going to go down to the course tomorrow and check the local rules again and make sure that it's not considered O.B. Like I said there are no white stakes. Now if it is O.B. I'm going to have to DQ myself.

[Fourputt]

Now heres the thing. I'm scared to death right now. This was a club championship round. (I shot 78) I'm going to go down to the course tomorrow and check the local rules again and make sure that it's not considered O.B. Like I said there are no white stakes. Now if it is O.B. I'm going to have to DQ myself.

Why didn't you check that out TODAY???? Why did you wait? You should have found the answer before you returned your scorecard, and you should have played a second ball under rule 3-3 to ensure that you ended up with no worse than a stroke and distance penalty. I can assure you that on ANY course I've ever played you have been out of bounds. The 6th hole on my home course runs parallel to a school playground. A few years ago they planted 2 evergreens right on the left front corner of the back tee box to prevent players from even attempting the 250 yard carry to clear the lake because of the risk of hooking the ball into the schoolyard. Now if they hit the massive hook needed to avoid those evergreens the ball will just end up in the fairway or in the lake, not in the schoolyard. And the schoolyard is definitely out of bounds.

[pjsnyc]

I guess I need to get out more:
Does anyone here find it kinda dumb to put a playground near a golf course...or put a golf course near a playground? Someone educate me on this cuz it seems like a really really bad idea.

[Harry Longshanks]

Did you kill or maim a child?

Cause I'm pretty sure that's a 2-stroke penalty.

[CosmosMpower]

I guess I need to get out more:

I rushed on to play 9 after work and the first hole has a daycare playground 50 yards to the left. Of course I ran up there and hastily teed it up and let her rip. Of course with my luck it hooked dead straight into the playground, thank God it was 6:30 PM and no one was there. I proceeded to have a blow up hole of 8 on a par 4. Great way to start a round.

[pjsnyc]

I rushed on to play 9 after work and the first hole has a daycare playground 50 yards to the left. Of course I ran up there and hastily teed it up and let her rip. Of course with my luck it hooked dead straight into the playground, thank God it was 6:30 PM and no one was there. I proceeded to have a blow up hole of 8 on a par 4. Great way to start a round.

OK - so I'm not alone on this one, eh?

[Q.Q.Quillume]

Okay so today i sliced a ball into the playground of a schoolyard today. The playground runs parallel with the fairway. There were no white stakes. I played it. Is this okay?

IMO your ball was out of bounds.

According to http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/pdf/2008ROG.pdf the definition of out of bounds is: ""Out of bounds" is beyond the boundaries of the course or any part of the course so marked by the Committee." IMO your ball was clearly "beyond the boundaries of the course" and therefore was out of bounds.

[iacas]

IMO your ball was out of bounds.

That's a good point. Out of bounds CAN be marked with white stakes, but doesn't need to be, I guess.

[BSweet]

Okay a couple things here.

1.) There was no white stakes or local rule saying what I did was illegal. So it is legit.

2.) Granted yes...it is not part of the golf course but it is part of the property. My course is Hop Brook Golf Course and the playground I hit it into was Hop Brook School. It's all town owned...it's not like it was someone's backyard.

3.) Didn't Tiger do something similar a couple years back? He flew a clubhouse and was granted a free drop? Why wasn't that O.B.?

[whip_it_out]

Techinically, yes you were right to play it, but you gotta be pretty sure a play ground of a school is NOT part of a golf course. so im not sure wwhat you would do there. Common sense says drop, butt that could be a ruling in your favor. Or laziness-of-the-greens-keeper in your favor, for not putting the stakes down.

[Fourputt]

Okay a couple things here.

Just because it was part of the "property" doesn't make it part of the golf course. I can't imagine anyone mistaking a school playground as being within the boundary of a golf course, regardless of it's lack of an identifying margin.

And Tiger's ball was still on the golf course. His ball went over the clubhouse and into the parking lot, which had never been marked as OB because nobody had ever hit a ball there before. It was still definitely part of the golf course though, and is now probably marked properly. I can't conceive of a golf course that wouldn't find a way to protect a school playground from stray golf balls, and I certainly would never think that I was still in bounds if my ball landed there.

[BSweet]

I said before that there is a separate tee box used for school hours. However, it probably should be marked O.B. anyway. But everyone knows...you do what's necessary to make par.

[Q.Q.Quillume]

I said before that there is a separate tee box used for school hours. However, it probably should be marked O.B. anyway. But everyone knows...you do what's necessary to make par.

Why don't you ask the pro at the Hop Brook Golf Course for a ruling?

I hate to suggest that "you do what's necessary to make par" is a curious comment to make . . .

[Fourputt]

Why don't you ask the pro at the Hop Brook Golf Course for a ruling?

You are too kind... that comment is more than just curious.

I do whatever I can to make par within the bounds of the Rules of Golf . That is a huge difference.