Cart driven over ball

In our Spring Championship today I found my ball embedded in the rough. From the cart tracks I and others in my group assumed either I or others had driven over my ball while searching for it. That said, the area was quite soft and my drive may indeed have embedded even without the cart’s help. I know that a searched-for ball can be replaced if it is moved accidentally. In this case the question was - place the ball in the assumed (non-embedded) lie, or take a drop as you would for an embedded ball?

We we unsure and eventually decided since the ball was embedded I should drop and not place. After the round my pro agreed. But... he wasn’t sure either. In the end the rain washed out the round so it didn’t matter.

So - if you step on or run over a ball in the act of searching for it, and discover it is embedded, do you drop or place the ball?

You do not drop anytime you are required to replace the ball. You only drop for relief.

The primary question is was your ball moved? If you know or have virtual certainty that your ball was moved then that is the rule you operate under, R9 (R7 if moved during search) and ball must be replaced, R14.2. If the original lie was altered (eg embedded) you operate under 14.2d. If you do not have KVC the ball was moved, the rules require you play as lies unless some other rule is relevant. In your original scenario, if you do not have KVC that the ball was moved, you can proceed under the embedded ball rule, R16.3

> @SNIPERBBB said:

> You do not drop anytime you are required to replace the ball. You only drop for relief.

And just to be sure this is clear, as the OP decided to proceed under the embedded ball rule he was correct in dropping his ball.

Further. If you know you did run over your ball causing it to embed, then the ball was moved. Downwards, even if in no other direction.

Thanks to all. We did not know with virtual certainty that the ball had been moved. While it is likely that the cart tracks were from one of our carts, it is certainly possible they were from a prior group and my ball had simply landed and embedded in the track. As I said, the ground was pretty soft there. So - it sounds like using the embedded ball rule and taking a drop was correct.

And to follow up - in either case (replacing a ball accidentally moved during a search or dropping a ball that was embedded) I believe 14.1.c says I was allowed to clean the ball before placing/dropping, correct?

> @Schulzmc said:

> And to follow up - in either case (replacing a ball accidentally moved during a search or dropping a ball that was embedded) I believe 14.1.c says I was allowed to clean the ball before placing/dropping, correct?

Yes.