Grass Cuttings

[Flaxton]

We had a situation where a ball had landed in an old pile of grass cuttings within some woodland. There was never the intention to remove these so should be treated as 'loose impediment'. At what point with a ball landing in such an area and 'plugging' should you proceed under 'plugged ball' rather than trying to remove the 'loose impediment'?
Thanks
Malcolm Greaves

 

[chrisd]

In the situation you describe relief is available so I'd drop NPR no nearer the hole

 

[Flaxton]

Thanks
Under which rule is relief available?

 

[rulefan]

We had a situation where a ball had landed in an old pile of grass cuttings within some woodland. There was never the intention to remove these so should be treated as 'loose impediment'. At what point with a ball landing in such an area and 'plugging' should you proceed under 'plugged ball' rather than trying to remove the 'loose impediment'?
Thanks
Malcolm Greaves

Plugged or embedded ball would not be appropriate as part of the ball is not below the level of the ground.

 

[jim8flog]

We had a situation where a ball had landed in an old pile of grass cuttings within some woodland. There was never the intention to remove these so should be treated as 'loose impediment'. At what point with a ball landing in such an area and 'plugging' should you proceed under 'plugged ball' rather than trying to remove the 'loose impediment'?
Thanks
Malcolm Greaves

There is no free relief other than proceeding under the loose impediment rule, obviously something to be very careful with, it would be easy to cause the ball to move.

You only get plugged ball relief for a ball that is embedded in it's own pitchmark in soil.

 

[rulefan]

Thanks
Under which rule is relief available?

Unless there is a Local Rule re that pile of grass, none that I can see.

 

[jim8flog]

In the situation you describe relief is available so I'd drop NPR no nearer the hole

And you would be wrong. You only get free relief when it is piled for removal.

 

[williamalex1]

Wasn't there a rule about relief from grass cuttings/debris left by the green staff to be uplifted later

 

[LincolnShep]

Wasn't there a rule about relief from grass cuttings/debris left by the green staff to be uplifted later

Yes, there was - but the OP has been clear that these cuttings were not due to be removed.
TBH, I'm not sure if that distinction has made it through to the 2019 version of the rules. I'm sure someone will clarify.

[Edit. I've just checked and it's still there. The definition of GUR includes "grass cuttings, leaves and any other material piled for later removal"; it goes on to confirm that natural materials piled for later removal are also loose impediments so you could proceed down either route.]

 

[rulefan]

'Loose impediments' would be tricky given that the ball must not move.

 

[Colin L]

I once inadvertently stood on a heap of grass cuttings piled for leaving while I was searching for a ball. Over the ankle in green smelly slime. There was some very good social distancing going on around me for the rest of the game long before we knew about social distancing

 

[IanM]

Had similar recently where 40 yards out inthe trees a guy landed in some rotting grass cuttings.

Thats a free drop he said. Everyone laughed at him.

 

[jim8flog]

I did get asked to make a ruling recently about relief from a pile of animal scrapings. "Just one problem" I said " that is a pile of grass cuttings"

 

[chrisd]

And you would be wrong. You only get free relief when it is piled for removal.

Sorry, I knew that just didnt read it properly

 

[Flaxton]

Thanks for all your replies I will pass on the information.

 

[KenL]

How would you know if the were piled for removal? I assume they would need to be marked GUR?

 

[rulefan]

One will generally know if you are on your own course. Elsewhere, it is often easy to determine if there is 'historical' evidence of long term disposal. Very rarely do greenkeepers tip casually in areas of play.

 

[Colin L]

Materials piled for removal are GUR by definition, no marking required. How you know is another matter but you could, for example know that grass cuttings are always removed on the particular course, or reasonably assume that a sawn up and neat pile of fallen timber was going to be picked up, or that a heap of sand near a green was going to be lifted and spread. A reasonable deduction from what you see, in other words.

 

[hovis]

This could be a minefield in a comp. Imagine trying to determine if they will be collected or not. You could say they usually get taken away during the winter months along time after they were dropped

 

[rulefan]

This could be a minefield in a comp. Imagine trying to determine if they will be collected or not. You could say they usually get taken away during the winter months along time after they were dropped

In a properly run comp they would be marked as GUR if that is what they are.