The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.
On the 18th hole of a match-play final, my drive embedded in the loose sand on the upslope of a fairway bunker. Spectators had seen my ball enter this bunker, but I couldn’t locate it. It was ruled a “lost ball,” and I returned to the tee, playing 3. I lost the hole and with it, the final. It’s always been a bad memory. Was the lost-ball ruling correct? And you’re not allowed to dig for the ball, right? – Martin Simpson, Sydney, Australia
Martin, we want you to sleep better at night, and here’s hoping what follows helps.
While you didn’t finish the way you wanted to, the ruling was correct. Even though you knew that the ball was somewhere in the bunker, to take any kind of relief other than stroke and distance — the penalty you paid for the lost ball — you must find the ball, per Rule 18.2….
Here’s what may lead to some tossing and turning, however: Because knowing a ball’s general whereabouts in a specific spot isn’t enough to identify a ball (see Rule 7.2), you were in fact allowed to dig for the ball to try to find it, under Rule 7.1. Sleep tight.
For more embedded-ball guidance from our guru, read on …
In stroke play, my fellow competitor skipped his tee shot over a pond, but the ball lodged in its muddy bank, which was not staked as out of bounds. He claimed embedded-ball relief and took relief in the general area. Although I disagreed, it was getting late and I wanted to finish. What was the correct ruling? – Larry Lohman, via email
The desire to finish a round, or simply end a disagreement without resorting to strong words or pistols at dawn, has precipitated countless bad rulings — including this one.
A body of water such as a pond is by definition a penalty area, even if it’s not staked. And when the edge is not defined by the committee in charge, it’s defined by its natural boundaries, in this case, where the ground breaks down toward the water.
So it sure sounds like that muddy bank is in the penalty area, and as such your fellow competitor wasn’t entitled to embedded ball relief, since there is no relief for other rules where the ball is in the penalty area per Rule 17.3. You can stake your reputation on that.
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