Hello people

We came across a situation today that perhaps somebody could help with
a rules dispute. I happened to land in a pile of grass cuttings at the
base of a tree that had obviously been left by a green keeper. I
showed my playing partner the lie of the land (or to be precise, the
lie of my ball) & suggested that I was entitled to a free drop as I'm
sure I've read in the past that a free drop can be taken from such a
situation (it may have been read on this NG). He was dubious so
without wanting to dwell on the point I hacked the ball out with some
success & wasn't too disappointed with the result (& as it was a
social round not a comp.) didn't take the matter any further. Was I
right to have thought that relief could have been taken though & if so
what rule would it be covererd by?

Mark.

On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:55:56 -0700 (PDT), Mark 
wrote:

> Hello people
> 
> We came across a situation today that perhaps somebody could help with
> a rules dispute. I happened to land in a pile of grass cuttings at the
> base of a tree that had obviously been left by a green keeper. I
> showed my playing partner the lie of the land (or to be precise, the
> lie of my ball) & suggested that I was entitled to a free drop as I'm
> sure I've read in the past that a free drop can be taken from such a
> situation (it may have been read on this NG). He was dubious so
> without wanting to dwell on the point I hacked the ball out with some
> success & wasn't too disappointed with the result (& as it was a
> social round not a comp.) didn't take the matter any further. Was I
> right to have thought that relief could have been taken though & if so
> what rule would it be covererd by?
> 
> Mark.

Mark, see Definitions, Ground Under Repair
The relevant statement is:
"...Ground under repair includes material piled for removal and a h
ole made by a groundkeeper, even if not so marked.  Grass cuttings and
other material left on the course that have been abandoned and are not
intended to be removed are not ground under repair unless so marked."

The critical question is, of course, whether the grass cuttings you
encountered were piled for removal, or had been dumped and abandoned.
You'd have to know the general practice of the groundskeepers at that
particular course to be able to determine in which category those
leavings fell.

HTH,
Peter

"Mark"  wrote in message 
news:5c823436-1b5f-46c0-805c-c66de92563e2@k30g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
> Hello people
>
> We came across a situation today that perhaps somebody could help with
> a rules dispute. I happened to land in a pile of grass cuttings at the
> base of a tree that had obviously been left by a green keeper. I
> showed my playing partner the lie of the land (or to be precise, the
> lie of my ball) & suggested that I was entitled to a free drop as I'm
> sure I've read in the past that a free drop can be taken from such a
> situation (it may have been read on this NG). He was dubious so
> without wanting to dwell on the point I hacked the ball out with some
> success & wasn't too disappointed with the result (& as it was a
> social round not a comp.) didn't take the matter any further. Was I
> right to have thought that relief could have been taken though & if so
> what rule would it be covererd by?
>
> Mark.

Mark,

Material piled for removal is by definition Ground Under Repair. Grass 
cuttings left on the course that have been abandoned and are not intended to 
be removed are not G.U.R. unless so marked. This seems to be the case in the 
situation that you describe: grass cuttings that were intended to be removed 
would hardly be piled up around the base of a tree.

However, they are Loose Impediments, and as such can be removed by the 
player by any means.

Hope this helps

JohnT