out of bounds

[owens251109]

Morning, I was playing in a tournament this past monday, one of the players in the foursome hit it in to the thick fescue along the course, but it was not marked white or nor we were told that if you hit it there it was OB, i personally thought it was lateral. could someone help maybe clarify this for me? thanks

[Bezatron]

If it was outside the course boundary it's OB. If it's not marked it's not a hazard so no lateral either way.

[owens251109]

the thing about it is that it was not outside the course it was maybe 5 yards of the rough on both sides. so would that still be OB. personally i thought it always had to be marked atleast white to be OB. thanks

[MEfree]

Out of Bounds typically is marked with white stakes.  As Bezatron states, anything off the course property is also OB- this typically includes anything the wrong side of a boundary fence.

If there were no stakes and the area appears part of the course property, then I would say it was in bounds and play it as if it was through the green (unless a local rule indicated otherwise).

Edit- your 2nd post confuses me more than it clarifies things.  Why would it "still be OB'?

[owens251109]

so what would the ruling be? is it a lost ball retee or is it 2 club lengths for the point of entry, (no closer to the hole)?

[luu5]

Was the ball lost? If it was then it is stroke and distance, i.e. penalty and retee. It does not matter if it was lost in OB or just in fescue. If the ball was not lost and it was not OB, then he can continue from there.

It is not lateral hazard if it is not marked as such. If it was lateral hazard (red stakes/line) then there are more options than just 2 cl.

So was it OB or not?

[Golfingdad]

  owens251109 said:

so what would the ruling be? is it a lost ball retee or is it 2 club lengths for the point of entry, (no closer to the hole)?

Lost ball.  If it's not marked with white stakes or white line (or not obviously off the course) then you're correct that it's not OB.  But to be a lateral , it would have to be marked with a red line or red stakes (or on a lot of courses, just full of water), and since it was neither, it's just grass on the course.  Go back and re-tee.

[owens251109]

  luu5 said:

So was it OB or not?

The ball was not lost in was short of the high stuff. so the conclusion is if it did go in but you can find it you may hit it. just as marked red. Basically my whole questions boiles down to is if it is not marked white and is not off the course it is not OB. correct?

[Dormie1360]

It is a question of fact as to the status of the ball.  Any questions as to where the ball is would be directed to the committee.  If an answer were not readily available, the player could play two balls.  OB is marked with white stakes, white line, or something is identified on your rules sheet.  Hazards are marked yellow or red

If it is not OB, the player would need to find his ball.  If unable to find the ball, it's a lost ball and the player would have to proceed under R27-1.  If the area was a hazard, doesn't sound like it from your description, the player could proceed under the hazard rule R26-1.

Hope this helps.

[luu5]

  owens251109 said:

The ball was not lost in was short of the high stuff. so the conclusion is if it did go in but you can find it you may hit it. just as marked red.

Basically my whole questions boiles down to is if it is not marked white and is not off the course it is not OB. correct?

The ball was in play. Correct.

Let´s not bring any red/yellow in this as it has nothing to do with ball being in grass. When there are some colourful lines, it makes things more complicated.

[owens251109]

  luu5 said:

yes the ball was in play. thanks for the help

[ColinL]

What made you think of Out of Bounds in the first place?  There is nothing in what you describe to suggest it.