goofy rule situation

[goblue107501]

I just heard this story and situation today and didn't really know how to respond.

This guy was teeing off at a residential area golf course. He hadn't ever been to the course before so he didn't know the area. He slices his ball off the hole and seemingly into someone's yard. The house is out of view and he never sees the ball land or hit anything so he assumes it is OB. He hits a provisional and that ball is in play. So he is driving down the cart path and sees his provisional ball and another ball rolling down the cart path way up in front of him. He proceeds to that ball and looks at it and it was his first ball. Again he never sees the ball land or what might have happened after it was out of view. He played the first ball and made birdie. His thinking was that since he was unsure what happened, and it was his first ball, he was free to play it where it ended up. What would the ruling be?

His best guess is that he hit the ball in someone's yard and they just decided to throw it back on the course. I know rule 19-1 states that a ball moved by and outside agency is 'rub of the green' and play it as it lies. He gained a huge advantage from the outside agency so would the rule still be in effect and played as it lies?

[zrlaegel]

i find that to be an odd situation. one way or another he shouldnt have made birdie

[tjy355]

  goblue107501 said:

I know rule 19-1 states that a ball moved by and outside agency is 'rub of the green' and play it as it lies. He gained a huge advantage from the outside agency so would the rule still be in effect and played as it lies?

Rule 19 covers a "ball in motion" stopped or deflected.

Rule 18 however, stipulates that a "ball at rest" moved by an outside agency must be replaced. In this situation, I have no idea the ruling.

[2bGood]

Last week my partner lost his ball near a tree that is by a red staked hazard. We search and can't find the ball. He drops second ball. Well he takes a practice swing the wind blows his first ball out to of the tree. (; soemtimes you get a break in golf - but most times you don't

[jdub]

I believe if you drop a ball that is officialy your new ball of play and a 1 stroke drop

[goblue107501]

  tjy355 said:

Rule 18 however, stipulates that a "ball at rest" moved by an outside agency must be replaced.

Good point. I was only looking at the ball in motion rule. The certainty thing in the rule would be the big issue. Although you would think that for a ball to change direction and be moving a few minutes after it was hit, it would have to come to rest then the outside agency would have to have moved it. In that case the ball should have been replaced. It would have been OB then he should have played the provisional.

[VOX]

There were situations when Arnold played when fans would intentionally block balls headed for the water or slap balls in flight toward the fairway/green. The rulings in those cases were to play the ball from where it most likely would have ended up. Probably "in equity".

[Ignorant]

  VOX said:

There were situations when Arnold played when fans would intentionally block balls headed for the water or slap balls in flight toward the fairway/green. The rulings in those cases were to play the ball from where it most likely would have ended up. Probably "in equity".

What U r referring to is somewhat different from the problem at hand and decisions can be found solving the former. The original question is much more complicated.

As usual, facts are decisive. If it is more or less clear that the ball ended OB it has to be regarded to have been OB and any action thereafter is really not of any importance. From the original description I got the impression that considerable time had elapsed between the landing of the ball and reappearance of it. This speaks for the assumption that an outside agency had been involved. Not an easy case to solve, though, at least beyond any doubt.