Linda, this came up in a recent match.
The tee shot landed just off the fairway and was in a damp
area but no standing water. The ball was actually on a soft dirt
patch. When the 2nd shot was attempted, the ball was topped and
driven forward but down into the ground and is now plugged/embedded .
The local rule was in effect for embedded ball through the
green, but what defines an “embedded ball in it’s own pitchmark?” Does
this constitute a “pitch mark?”
I’m sure this is more likely to happen in the face of a
steep bunker, just above the sand (not in the hazard), where one might drive
the ball into the ground when trying to hit up and out. Again, is this a “pitch
mark?”
Should you get free relief for hitting a bad shot and
burying it?
It is embedded, but is it embedded in it’s own “pitch mark???”
Lou from New York State
Dear Lou,
A pitch mark is
created when a ball flies through the air and crashes into the ground [Decision 25-2/6]. A ball
is embedded when it has landed and remained in its own pitch mark. Part of the
ball will be below the level of the ground [Decision 25-2/0.5].
If a player tops a
ball and drives it into the ground, it is not embedded in its own pitch mark,
since it was never airborne. If the golfer decides that the ball he drove into
the ground is unplayable, he may take relief under one of the options in Rule
28 for an unplayable ball. All of those options include one penalty stroke.
The Rules rarely
reward you for bad shots. This case is no exception.
Linda
Copyright © 2013 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
