Lost ball into tall grass

[Das_onionknight]

So to put this question into context, I have hit my tee shot into the middle of the fairway on a par 5. As I happily walk up to my ball to take my second shot and slice that second shot into long grass and lose it (and there are no OB markers). 

Here is my question...

Knowing that my ball is lost because it is 30 feet into long grass, when I take my drop, can I drop from my original shot position or do I have to take the shot from my best guess of where the ball passed the tall grass. 

I see a lot of answers that say you have to re-tee on the first shot, but on the second shot if it is better to hit out of the fairway can I just redrop from the fairway rather than hitting it out of the rough where the ball went in? Even if where the ball crossed the line is closer to the hole. 

The reason why is I feel better hitting from the fairway even if it is the longer shot. 

Edited July 3, 2016 by Das_onionknight
Missing words

[Abu3baid]

If you are strictly talking about golf rules there is only 1 option and that's to retake the shot from where you originally hit the ball plus a 1 stroke penalty known as stroke and distance penalty.

There is no golf rule that says you are allowed to drop where it "crossed" the line (unless of course you are talking about a lateral hazard which you didn't mention).

if you had found your ball and you didn't want to lose strokes hacking out of the grass you are always allowed to go back and retake your original shot with a stroke penalty as well.  It might be worth it if you think or know it will take you 5 shots to get out of the long grass.

[Das_onionknight]

14 minutes ago, Abu3baid said:

If you are strictly talking about golf rules there is only 1 option and that's to retake the shot from where you originally hit the ball plus a 1 stroke penalty known as stroke and distance penalty.

There is no golf rule that says you are allowed to drop where it "crossed" the line (unless of course you are talking about a lateral hazard which you didn't mention).

if you had found your ball and you didn't want to lose strokes hacking out of the grass you are always allowed to go back and retake your original shot with a stroke penalty as well.  It might be worth it if you think or know it will take you 5 shots to get out of the long grass.

No this is exactly what I wanted to know.

I played 2 rounds with a friend yesterday and everytime I hit it into the tall grass he argued me that I had to take the next shot from where the ball crossed the out of tall grass line.

This does bring up a new question, if there is no OB markers does tall grass mean instant OB or does there have to be some kind of marker that identifies aNY thing OB. I just wonder because if the tall grass is over 100 yards long and leads to a fence and a farmer field can I still play out of it as long as it is not marked?

[Jeremie Boop]

Sometimes courses have a local rule for these areas to be treated as lateral water hazards because they are something like "natural areas" or something like that. But, for the most part, it's stroke and distance for any lost ball. The tall grass doesn't necessarily mean "instant OB" because if you really wanted to you could try to find your ball and if you did you could then take a drop for unplayable. Again, however, it could be a local rule that the long grass marks the OB. The "natural area" and tall grass being OB would typically be written on the scorecard if they are local rules.

[Fourputt]

3 hours ago, Das_onionknight said:

No this is exactly what I wanted to know.

I played 2 rounds with a friend yesterday and everytime I hit it into the tall grass he argued me that I had to take the next shot from where the ball crossed the out of tall grass line.

This does bring up a new question, if there is no OB markers does tall grass mean instant OB or does there have to be some kind of marker that identifies aNY thing OB. I just wonder because if the tall grass is over 100 yards long and leads to a fence and a farmer field can I still play out of it as long as it is not marked?

There is no such thing as "instant OB".  Out of bounds must be marked with white stakes or defined by the natural or artificial boundaries of the golf course.  If defined by fences or such it must be noted on the scorecard or in some similar fashion.  My guess (and not knowing the course it's just a guess) is that over the fence would be out of bounds, anything up to there would be in play if the ball is found.

The penalty for out of bound and lost ball is the same - play again from the spot where the last stroke was made, and add a penalty stroke.  If the lost ball was your second stroke, you would be playing your 4th stroke after dropping.

You do not have to go forward and search if you are certain that the ball is going to be unplayable even if it you manage to find it.  We have native rough like that on my home course, so deep (up to 3½ feet tall) that even if the ball is found you don't have a swing.  You can immediately drop another ball and play under stroke and distance penalty.  You may also choose to play a provisional ball after so stating and informing your playing companion of your intent. If you find the original ball then the provisional ball is abandoned and play must continue with the original ball.  The choice of playing a provisional would be up you and your knowledge of whether you have a chance of finding the first ball in a playable lie.

Your friend is wrong.  He is incorrectly telling you to play it as a water hazard.  Tall grass by itself is not a water hazard.  Under the rules of golf it can never be part of a water hazard unless it happens to border a watercourse or pond.  Some courses choose to take the easy shortcut and mark these areas as lateral water hazards, but such a policy is not allowed by the rules.  A water hazard must meet the definition in the rules to be so marked.