On a short par 3, I hit my gap wedge, and ended up with a major league embedded ball. The ball was 3/4 below the surface of the green. It was beyond repair. I tried to repair it, but what I ended up with was level grass around where the ball mark was, but there was still a cavern underneath. I couldn't find any rule to cover that.
But....
I placed the ball on top of the highly damaged spot and went to read the putt. While I was reading the putt, the ball moved (due to gravity) a couple of inches. In this situation, Decision 20-4/1 is pretty clear. If the ball moves due to gravity, then the ball must be played from the new position.
So I'm pretty sure that I played within the rules. As far as I can tell, if the ball didn't move, then I would have had to putt it while it was precariously balanced on top of the semi-repaired ball mark.
The embedded ball rule is changing in 2019. Rather than just a closely mown area, you can get relief from a ball embedded in the rough starting in 2019. Our club has played that as a local rule for the last couple of years (not in a hazard, though).
No comments:
Post a Comment