Pluged Ball ruling

[One_Putt_Blunder]

greenside fringe/fairway/rough/in the green

I had this situation happen to me 3 times this weekend, when the ball plugs in soft ground what is the ruling? Can I take free relief? if so is it restricted to fairway and green or can I take relief if it is burried in turf in the greenside rough(if you can call it that in AZ)
In my last 2 rounds I have managed to plug a 3wood from 240 out landed in a nice heavily watered spot, sucked to it landed about 7 yards short of the green was tracking right at the hole and would have left me a nice eagle putt, plugged a PW just off the green on a par 3, and last but not least a 7 iron just short of a green. It hasnt even rained out here for a while, I must have angered the golf gods or something, I even plugged 2 into the green at Talking Stick South Course a few months ago.

Here is how I played it this was just a casual round so nothing at stake, I just want to know that if something would be at stake I get it right.

Balls that pluged in fairway and or fringe/green I took free relief, ball that pluged in greenside rough I took an unplayable and took a drop to get up and down for bogey. Is this correct?

[mihi4]

Balls that pluged in fairway and or fringe/green I took free relief, ball that pluged in greenside rough I took an unplayable and took a drop to get up and down for bogey. Is this correct?

IMHO, yes...

Rule 25-2:

A ball embedded in its own pitch-mark in the ground in any closely mown area through the green may be lifted, cleaned and dropped, without penalty, as near as possible to the spot where it lay but not nearer the hole. The ball when dropped must first strike a part of the course through the green. “Closely-mown area” means any area of the course, including paths through the rough, cut to fairway height or less.

 

greetings

michi

[bigred90gt]

So, if your ball is plugged in the rough, you do not get to remove it from the plug and it must be played as it lies, buried in the mud and all?

[PingG10]

So, if your ball is plugged in the rough, you do not get to remove it from the plug and it must be played as it lies, buried in the mud and all?

 

Yup, unless you can take relief for another reason (i.e. marked as ground under repair, casual water, etc). You of course, have the option to declare it unplayable and take relief with the associated penalty-which is probably better than trying to play a plugged in the rough ball-it happens with fair frequency in the NW-even in the dryer months.

[sigmapete1]

Could you make the argument that if it is wet enough to plug deep into the mud then it is wet enough to be deemed casual water? After all, mud is nothing more than dirt with a higher than normal concentration of water.

 

Probably not, according the the rules as they are, but I always thought it was an overly harsh and kinda dumb rule that you end up essentially taking a penalty stroke for simply missing the fairway if its muddy out. If that was the intention then all fairways would be islands surrounded by water.

 

In my humble opinion, unplugging the ball and dropping in the wet rough is enough of a "penalty" consistent with fair play. Rough 1 yard off the fairway should not cost a full stroke.

[PingG10]

If I recall, and I'm sure somebody will correct me if my recollection isn't quite correct, that there is a pretty loose definition of "casual water"-such that if water wells up around your feet when you're standing in a patch of heavily overwatered rough (like our greenscrew seems to always do)-you are able to consider that "casual water" and take relief under that rule.

[jaskanski]

The water must be visible - either before or when you take you normal stance.

[PingG10]

See-now that's what I mean by quickly!! I knew I should have called up the rule before I went by my rapidly failing memory!

 

added to complete post

 

So that would mean, as I said originally, that you could potentially take relief under the casual water rule should you find yourself in an area of rough (and not in a water hazard) where water can be seen before or after you take your stance.

[AirTime23]

Got to add that in most proper tournaments there is usually a local rule in effect that allows a free drop through the green (aka everywhere but hazards) when your ball is plugged in its own pitchmark. That rule really sucks...my home course is notoriously muddy at times and I hate getting penalized like that when missing the fw/green.

 

I remember an incident at TPC Sugarloaf in the PGA event, where somebody hit it right on 18 and found himself in really deep grass and got relief for a plugged ball.

[Stankleberry]

Last week I had a ball vanish into a wet fairway. I knew exactly where it landed and had 2 other guys helping me search, but it was completely underground.

[bigstunnerdude]

I've always played in situations where the rule has been a ball plugged in the rough can be lifted and dropped, but you can't clean it. This has been the case in competitions as well.