Ball resting on a fallen branch

[Bird E3]

Yes, and since I looked it up, if the ball won't stay there when placed, and rolls down the hill, you attempt one more time to place it, and if it moves again, then "it must be placed at the nearest spot where it can be placed at rest that is not nearer the hole and not in a hazard" (rule 20-3(d)(i)).

So placing might be the better option, a little more certain than dropping. Unless there's an area behind where dropping will give you flatter ground that will make the shot easier.  But it sounds to me like the flatter ground here was in rough. And even if the nearest spot it will rest is down the hill in the rough, I'd rather place it there than drop it (might get a better lie).

i guess the chip was the wrong choice even though if i had it again I would have played the same shot that I played. The ball was lying against a thinner part of the branch with the top half of the ball visible. The ball was on such a severe slope that I would not want to place it after it dropped and rolled down twice. i guess the better option was to go as far back as I wanted which would have been the flat area.

[acerimusdux]

i guess the chip was the wrong choice even though if i had it again I would have played the same shot that I played. The ball was lying against a thinner part of the branch with the top half of the ball visible. The ball was on such a severe slope that I would not want to place it after it dropped and rolled down twice. i guess the better option was to go as far back as I wanted which would have been the flat area.

Well the best answer may well be, if you had to do it again, don't hit it as hard.

You said you played it like a bunker shot, but usually that's a shot where you open up a little and take a pretty quick stroke with something soft under there, like sand or maybe soft grass if the ball is sitting up.  With something hard like a branch there, that's maybe too risky. Maybe playing it back a little, with a steeper attack, maybe you could have popped it out without it coming out too hot? Hard to say without seeing the exact setup.

Most of the time though, you probably can do something more productive with it than losing a stroke and basically hitting from the same spot, without the branch.  Even if you got it just to the top of the hill, and it was off the green still, you'd be in a better place for a chip shot. You don't need to be Victor Dubuisson.

Again, hard to know without seeing it. If the odds were high of ending up in a worse position, move the branch, take the penalty and place. If your odds weren't that bad, maybe you just made a bad shot. But there's some reward there for a good shot. Next time going for it might save a stroke.

I guess another question here is, were you going for the pin, or just trying to aim for the safest part of the green to give yourself the greatest margin of error?

[acerimusdux]

Well a bit off topic from the rules question I guess, but since I mentioned Victor Dubuisson, this is what I had in mind:

See, easy!

[Bird E3]

Now that we got a ruling on that, what if instead of a branch it was a club someone left from a previous hole. I think it's possible.

[Shorty]

Now that we got a ruling on that, what if instead of a branch it was a club someone left from a previous hole. I think it's possible.

?....... Or a rake, or a coke can or a golf buggy. Surely you know you get relief.

[acerimusdux]

Anything manmade, it's a movable obstruction, no penalty if the ball moves, just remove the object and replace it.

[Shorty]

Anything manmade, it's a movable obstruction, no penalty if the ball moves, just remove the object and replace it.

Please, nobody ask how you replace something that would be in mid air when the man made object is removed. :~( On the ground beneath where it was is fine.

[Asheville]

Quote:

Originally Posted by acerimusdux

Anything manmade, it's a movable obstruction, no penalty if the ball moves, just remove the object and replace it.

Please, nobody ask how you replace something that would be in mid air when the man made object is removed. On the ground beneath where it was is fine.

24-1 has the answer.

[acerimusdux]

Well I wasn't going to get into it, but actually, if the ball is directly on top of the movable obstruction, technically in that case you are supposed to drop it at that spot rather than place it after you removed the object. And a two stroke penalty if you placed when you should have dropped, or vice-a-versa.  But no penalty if you correct it before the next stroke.