A not so out of bounds question

[ndb8fxe]

Playing a par 4 today I hit a tee shot that went well right of the fairway.  There is building and area where there are some grounds keepers tools and such.  At any rate my ball landed in this area which is separated from the fairway and rough by some low hedges, there are no markings, stakes, etc.  I knew my tee shot was questionable so I hit a provisional.  So I find my ball in the above mentioned area and have a descent shot out to the fairway.  I asked a couple of the workers if I could hit my ball and they said OK so I get positioned to swing and a 3rd worker comes out of the building making a fuss and tells me to place my ball on the other side of the hedge and hit from there.  What should be done and which rules would be applied?

[caniac6]

Ask the pro at the course what you should have done. There may be a local rule that deals with the area in question. Unless this is the case, I guess it would have been ok to play it if not marked ob.

[zeg]

What he said. The course should address this. I've usually seen a comment on the scorecard with the various local rules that indicates that maintenance yards are OB, but really they ought to put up stakes.

[jimmizu]

If it's not staked or marked, and the scorecard provides no guidance, it's in play.

Your instinct to play it as you found it was correct.

[TourSpoon]

Maybe the third guy has seen enough bad shots in his life that he didn't want to risk more damage from a shank that could hit a window, mower, worker, etc, at close range. It sounds like he knew you weren't playing the US Open and just wanted to avoid a potential catastrophe by having you drop in a "safer" location.

I agree that it should be marked if it is truly out of play and addressed under a local rule for any exceptions.

[ndb8fxe]

Thanks for the replies.  There is nothing on the scorecard.  So how do I handle the score/penalty?  I almost feel like it is an "outside agent," but I could not replace.

[szaino]

- What the worker told you probably had no bearing.

- If it was not OB or, not in an area defined as GUR, you needed to play the ball as it lied.

- If it was not OB you could not play your provisional, because once you find the original ball (not OB) the provisional is null and void.

- If you dropped on the other side of the hedges, you played from a wrong place.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by szaino

- What the worker told you probably had no bearing.

From a rules of golf perspective, you are correct. May not be great advice from a not-getting-thrown-off-the-course perspective, though.

[bwdial]

When you moved your ball to the other side of the hedge, was your path to the fairway more, or less, obstructed?

[ndb8fxe]

Originally Posted by bwdial

When you moved your ball to the other side of the hedge, was your path to the fairway more, or less, obstructed?

It would have been less obstructive, but given the situation I thought playing the provisional and taking my penalty was more fair to the score, yet I still don't feel right about it.

Originally Posted by zeg

From a rules of golf perspective, you are correct. May not be great advice from a not-getting-thrown-off-the-course perspective, though.

exactly!

Originally Posted by szaino

- What the worker told you probably had no bearing.

- If it was not OB or, not in an area defined as GUR, you needed to play the ball as it lied.

- If it was not OB you could not play your provisional, because once you find the original ball (not OB) the provisional is null and void.

- If you dropped on the other side of the hedges, you played from a wrong place.

That is the dilemma. I was forced to play a shot that did not abide by the rules.  What I did way play my provisional and took my penalty, but I feel cheated out of my score as I believe I could have saved the penalty stroke and scored 2 less on the hole(maybe).

[Jefferey13]

Was it a casual round? If so, just move your ball and hit it, no penalty.  No big deal and done. You already breaking the rules so trying to "fix" them by adding strokes won't work. In a tournament situation you need to follow the rules and make the argument, but for a casual round just respect the employee and don't worry about it.