Ball stuck in tree?

[abubacar]

I was playing with my friends yesterday and had a strange occurance happen..

My tee shot went way right (typical) and onto the adjacent fairway.  There was a tree line between the two, so I figured I would try to punch it through below the tops of the trees and back on to the other fairway.  I hit an iron and kept it low (about 5 feet off the ground) and hit a small pinetree.  I watched for the ball to drop on the other side of the tree (since it had some speed) and saw nothing.  Walked up to the tree and checked for my ball... still nothing.  My friend comes over and points this out to me:

Thats right... my bright orange e6 is lodged between two branches of a tree... Honestly who does something like this.

I figured my best bet was to try and baseball swing it out (to try and avoid a drop and just for fun).  Since i've never played baseball, I missed the ball and hit the branch instead making the ball fall to the ground.  I never struck the ball in any way, I simply moved a branch which happened to dislodge my ball.

My question is should this count as a stroke penalty or not?  I am not particualirly well versed in the official rules of golf, but i figured this would fall under some sort of "Changing the ball's lie" penalty or something of the sort.  My argument was that I never struck the ball with any part of my club, but my friends didn't buy it.  I took the stroke penalty but I am still curious...

[carpediem4300]

you made a stroke at the ball so yes you should of counted the stroke

[abubacar]

I took a gander in the rule book at unplayable balls and sort so I found my own answer.  Causing the ball to move with anypart of your equipment (even if it isn't a stroke) is a stroke penalty.  Technically i should have replaced it back in the tree though...

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by abubacar

I took a gander in the rule book at unplayable balls and sort so I found my own answer.  Causing the ball to move with anypart of your equipment (even if it isn't a stroke) is a stroke penalty.  Technically i should have replaced it back in the tree though...

No, because you made an attempt to strike the ball, it was a stroke and the ball is played from where it lies.  Had you been making a practice stroke, or otherwise caused the ball to fall out of the tree without making a stroke (see the definition of stroke in the Rules), then you would be correct that it must be replaced, unless you had already declared it unplayable.

In some areas it isn't that uncommon for a ball to lodge in a tree.  Here in the Denver area we have a lot of blue spruce trees, and they can grab a ball like nothing I've seen.  I can recall at least 3 instances where my ball stayed up in the tree, and it's also happened to several of my friends too.  It's happened once to me and once to a friend just this season.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by abubacar

My question is should this count as a stroke penalty or not?  I am not particualirly well versed in the official rules of golf, but i figured this would fall under some sort of "Changing the ball's lie" penalty or something of the sort.  My argument was that I never struck the ball with any part of my club, but my friends didn't buy it.  I took the stroke penalty but I am still curious...

But it isn't a penalty to change the ball's lie with a stroke.  That is kind of the point of the stroke, lol.  The fact that the club didn't actually hit the ball but hit the branch instead is irrelevant.  It is the same as when you play a shot out of a sand trap.  If done properly the club never hits the ball, it hits the sand and the sand lifts the ball out.  So you took a stroke, which counts, and then you play the next stroke from where the ball ended up.

[abubacar]

Originally Posted by turtleback

But it isn't a penalty to change the ball's lie with a stroke.  That is kind of the point of the stroke, lol.  The fact that the club didn't actually hit the ball but hit the branch instead is irrelevant.  It is the same as when you play a shot out of a sand trap.  If done properly the club never hits the ball, it hits the sand and the sand lifts the ball out.  So you took a stroke, which counts, and then you play the next stroke from where the ball ended up.

Ah yeah true... I guess its the same if you really botch a shot and make a big divot next to your ball but still manage to move your ball a few feet.  I've just never seen it before in about 10 years of golfing.  Atleast we scored it properly.

[Paradox]

It would be the same as if you were in tall grass and made a stroke at the ball but it never moved and all you did was tear a bunch of grass away.  Nothing to penalize as long as you made a legal stroke.  The sand reference is a pretty good one, too.