Blue in Munich
Crocked Professional Yeti Impersonator
Ah, it's the volunteer's fault now, according to Patrick.
In fact, the head rules official has told him that he did it perfectly correctly... Jeez.
And Rich Beem now backing up.
Clearly you've never played Whipsnade Park,, in the middle of winter, the day after a downpour. Your ball doesn't make a hole in the earth after bouncing 2 feet...
So going by the rules as they are these days you are
Allowed to take a drop from an embedded ball anywhere on the course
You can take the drop without requiring clarification for a referee or playing partner
So on arriving at his ball he believes it to be embedded he can check and if he believes it’s embedded he can take the drop and carry on
That’s the exact process that it appears Rory did on the 18th and apparently because of the ground and the weather they have had
But what muddied the waters was calling for a referee- why ?
Was he unsure if he had done the right thing
or
Was is still in the mindset that you need the referee to confirm the drop
Or was he covering up
Going through the conversation the referee appears to have no issue with anything that Reed has done
So is it guilty because it’s him or because he did break the rules ?
He's guilty because he claimed it plugged because it didn't bounce, but it clearly did bounce. I cannot believe that the ball plugged from a height of 2 feet into rough that thick, therefore there is no entitlement to the drop.
If you want a referee to confirm what relief you are entitled to, leave the ball where it is and let him determine it.
Apparently the rule 16.4 allows him to mark and check if the ball has “broken” the ground , it seems that it only needs to leave an indent for them to get a drop - the same situation happened with Rory on the 18th except Rory just took the drop ? And Golf Channel said it happened to many people over the last couple of days because of the ground ?
I think you get a range of players from those play it as it lies to others who know the rules and will use them more often and potentially as they think it helps their situation (not cheating). I think Reed is in the latter category.
I reckon this is being made a meal of because it’s Reed. He thought it had embedded, he asked around, he told playing partner, he marked properly then on uncertainty checked and called rules official. Only error could have called official earlier but as mentioned Rory didn’t at all.
The thing is, what does he stand to gain from believing it is embedded unless it is sat so far down it is in a hollow/embbeded/a previous balls landing point i.e it looks to Reed it could be embedded.
There didn’t seem to be any real mud on the ball and we have multiple threads about rough not impacting pros in bomb and gouge era so he’d just hit it on the green. So what did he gain by checking if it clearly wasn’t embedded (I.e sitting ok)?