anielSommerville,R&A
Rulesmanager,looks
backonanincidentfrom
theopeningroundofthis
year’sMemorialTournament,inwhich
MattKucharhadalengthydiscussion
withPGATourofficialsastowhether
ornothisballwas embedded in the
17thfairway...
Foraballtobeconsidered
embedded,itmustbebelowthelevel
ofthegroundandembeddedinitsown
pitchmarkasaresultoftheprevious
stroke.Kucharclaimedthatthemark
madeinthegroundwherehisballwas
lyingwasanindentcreatedbyoneof
thebouncesafterhisdrivehadlanded
onthefairway.ThePGATourofficial
deniedKucharreliefonthebasisthat
theindentationhisballwaslyinginwas
notcreatedasaresultofhisprevious
stroke–itwasanoldpitchmarkfrom
someoneelse’sball,sohe was not
entitled to free relief.UndertheembeddedballRule(Rule
16.3),thereisnofreereliefiftheballis
embeddedanywhereexceptinthe
generalarea.Thegeneralarea
isanyareaofthecourse
exceptbunkers,penaltyareas,
theteeingareaofthehole
beingplayedandtheputting
green.Kuchar’sballwason
thefairway,buttheconcern
wasthatitwasnotinapitch
markcreatedbyhisball.After
muchdiscussiononthe
subject,thePGATourofficial
confirmedtoKucharthathe
wouldhavetoputtheball
backandplayitasitlies.
Kucharhadpickedupthe
ballwhilediscussingthe
ruling.Aplayerisentitledtolift
theballtoseeifitliesina
conditionfromwhichfree
reliefisallowedunderRule
15.2, 16.1 or 16.3. The ball mustbemarkedbeforeitisliftedandcannot
becleaned.Ifreliefisavailable,the
playercanproceedunderthe
respectiveRule.However,if
theplayerisnotentitledto
relief,theballmustsimplybe
replacedonitsoriginalspot.
Failuretofollowtheprocedure
resultsinaone-strokepenalty.
Whenreliefispermissible
undertheembeddedball
Rule,theplayer’sreference
pointisdirectlybehindwhere
theballisembedded.The
playerhasareliefarea,which
isoneclub-lengthfromthis
referencepointinany
directionnonearerthehole.A
ballmustbedroppedand
cometorestinthisreliefarea
inthegeneralarea.Ahelpful
diagramcanbefoundunder
Rule16.3bintheRulesof Golf
or at http://www.randa.orgEmbedded BallDMattKucharcampaigned
unsuccessfullyforembedded
ball relief at The MemorialPhotography:
Getty Images, Kenny Smith
RulesEnhance your knowledge WordsbyDaniel SommervilleEmbedded
Ball
Essentials
nForrelief,aball
mustbe
embeddedinits
ownpitchmark
andbelowthe
levelofthe
ground
nReliefis
permissiblefor
anembedded
ballonlyinthe
generalarea
nAplayercan
liftthe(marked)
balltoseeifrelief
is available