April 2024 - Embedded Ball
Embedded ball: Unless local rules say otherwise, free relief for an embedded ball can only apply to a ball
in the general area, but there is an exception:
• on the putting green: the ball (once marked) may be lifted and cleaned, the ground repaired and
the ball replaced on its original spot.
There is no free relief if:
• the ball is embedded in a penalty area
• the ball is embedded in sand, unless that part of the ground is cut to fairway height or less.
• there is Interference by anything else other than the embedding itself e.g. a stroke cannot be
made because the ball lies under a bush.
• the ball is not in it’s own pitch-mark - it is unreasonable to assume that a ball that bounces over
a hill and out of sight and later found in a pitch-mark that it is in it’s own pitch-mark.
