play it as it lies?.....I don't think so

[trackster]

Just got done golfing my home course.  It was super windy and wet.  On the ninth hole I hit a very low drive into the wind.  For some reason the 9th hole at my course seems to soak up water like none other.  My drive was headed right down the middle of the fairway.  When i get up to my ball i find that it is 3/4s buried into the fairway.  Not 3/4s like the top 1/4 of the ball is visible but the bottom half of the ball was covered and the 1/4 on top of the ball farthest away from where i would strike was covered.

There was no visible causual water and there was no ground under repair marking but i determined that this was rediculous and i took relieve with out penalty and just dropped behind this massive crater.

To give some reference to how far it was buried, when i went to grab it with my hand i could not get it out and i had to dig a little hole off to the side to get a hold of it.

Did i do this right?  Free relief?  And even if i was wrong i would not change how i handled that.  If i would have made an attempt to hit that ball all i would have done was bury it deeper into the ground.

[dhanson]

sounds like you played it correctly:

Quote:

25-2. Embedded Ball

A ball embedded in its own pitch-mark in the ground in any closely mown area through the green may be lifted, cleaned and dropped, without penalty, as near as possible to the spot where it lay but not nearer the hole. The ball when dropped must first strike a part of the course through the green. "Closely mown area" means any area of the course, including paths through the rough, cut to fairway height or less.

[trackster]

alright sweet.....that thing was soooooo buried in there i have never seen anything like that in my life

[Whiskey84]

My home course is over-watered pretty regularly. I've had to pull my drives out of more embedded lies than I care to count lol.