Obstruction hit in backswing

[GreggerKBR]

So I was playing the 18th in a match, having just gone 1up on 17th.
My ball was lying at the base of a tree, nr fairway, not in a hazard.

On my backswing I hit the tree, my swing naturally stalled
but I continued with the stroke and nudged the ball forward a few yards.
In hitting the tree on my backswing I think I did dislodge a bit of bark, fairly sure I did.

Now, I could've backed out of the attempt to hit the ball but I didn't.
So as far as I can see there's no penalty or anything as I made a stroke and it counted as a stroke.

... but...

My opponent (who's on our committee etc) seems to think that I could have stopped my swing after I hit the tree on my backswing and not gone ahead and hit the ball WITHOUT penalty.
I'm pretty sure he's wrong?

But I said
(1) I was already in the process of making a stroke so I had to try and make contact with the ball, if I didn't it would have counted as a stroke as I had intended to make a stroke - it wasn't a practice swing.
(2) I most probably dislodged some bark in my backswing so would have incurred a penalty anyway for moving part of an immovable obstruction therefore technically improving my swing area etc.
He seemed sure I was wrong and that I could've backed off and had another go at it without penalty.

We both had a chuckle that shifting a bit of bark off a 40ft tree would've improved things but...

I had a quick browse through the rules but struggling to figure out how he concluded this?

The good news is I smashed the next shot to 8ft and he conceded for me to win anyway (par 5). Happy Days.

 

[Region3]

If you don't improve your area of intended swing it's not a penalty if you stop your swing and try again.

You knocked a bit of bark off, but presumably there's still a big tree in the way so it's not really helped you.

Decision 13-2/0.5

Q.
Rule 13-2 prohibits a player from improving certain areas. What does “improve” mean?

A.
In the context of Rule 13-2, “improve” means to change for the better so that the player creates a potential advantage with respect to the position or lie of his ball, the area of his intended stance or swing, his line of play or a reasonable extension of that line beyond the hole, or the area in which he is to drop or place a ball. Therefore, merely changing an area protected by Rule 13-2 will not be a breach of Rule 13-2 unless it creates such a potential advantage for the player in his play.

Examples of changes that are unlikely to create such a potential advantage are if a player:

repairs a small pitch-mark, smooths a footprint in a bunker or replaces a divot in a divot hole on his line of play five yards in front of his ball prior to making a 150-yard approach shot from through the green;
whose ball lies in the middle of a long, shallow-faced fairway bunker, smooths footprints five yards in front of his ball and on his line of play prior to playing a long shot over the smoothed area;

accidentally knocks down several leaves from a tree in his area of intended swing with a practice swing, but there are still so many leaves or branches remaining that the area of intended swing has not been materially affected; or

whose ball lies in thick rough 180 yards from the green, walks forward and pulls strands of grass on his line of play and tosses them in the air to determine the direction of the wind.

Examples of changes that are likely to create such a potential advantage are if a player:

repairs a pitch-mark through the green or replaces a divot in a divot hole five yards in front of his ball and on his line of play prior to making a stroke from off the putting green that might be affected by the pitch-mark or divot hole (e.g. a putt or a low-running shot);

whose ball lies in a greenside bunker, smooths footprints five yards in front of his ball on his line of play prior to playing a short shot intended to be played over the smoothed area;

accidentally knocks down a single leaf from a tree in his area of intended swing with a practice swing, but, as this was one of very few leaves that might either interfere with his swing or fall and thereby distract him, the area of intended swing has been materially affected; or

pulls strands of grass from rough a few inches behind his ball to test the wind, but thereby reduces a potential distraction for the player, or resistance to his club, in the area of his intended swing.

The determination as to whether a player has created a potential advantage by his actions is made by reference to all the circumstances immediately prior to his stroke. (Revised)

 

[backwoodsman]

No penalty. Look at rule 13/2. The rule says what you can't do, but half way through the rule is the bit that says " ... the player incurs no penalty if the action occurs ... in making a stroke, or the backward movement of his club club for a stroke and the stroke is made ..."

In effect, the crucial bit of whole whole rule is that you can't improve the area of your intended swing - ie the area of the swing for the stroke you are about to make. It is not a prohibition regarding the stroke you are actually making.

 

[GreggerKBR]

Yes, I think we both agreed a splinter of bark would not have affected my area of swing, the tree was large!
So perhaps he's right - if I had stopped it would not have been a penalty then?

Seems strange that I could make an intended backswing as part of my stroke and then stop after I hit something and that be okay.

can't help but feel it could be abused... you could keep doing it until you missed the tree on the backswing and only then continue on the downswing...

 

[Foxholer]

...
can't help but feel it could be abused... you could keep doing it until you missed the tree on the backswing and only then continue on the downswing...

That WOULD be 'improving your area of swing....etc' so WOULD warrant a penalty! Any such abuse would be pretty obvious!

 

[GreggerKBR]

That WOULD be 'improving your area of swing....etc' so WOULD warrant a penalty! Any such abuse would be pretty obvious!

But if you hit the tree repeatedly on a backswing without moving, removing or breaking anything you would not be "improving" your area of swing.

And so, if you did that but removed a small splinter of bark each time, you are still according to what I'm reading here and in rules, "improving" the area of swing - the tree is still there, obstructing your path to the ball.

 

[woody69]

You're allowed to check your swing and not make a stroke at any time. Woods did it when that bird flew across his face (no hidden meaning here) and Na even said he deliberately missed the ball on his downswing for one reason or another.

Also, a tree isn't an immoveable obstruction

 

[Foxholer]

But if you hit the tree repeatedly on a backswing without moving, removing or breaking anything you would not be "improving" your area of swing.

And so, if you did that but removed a small splinter of bark each time, you are still according to what I'm reading here and in rules, "improving" the area of swing - the tree is still there, obstructing your path to the ball.

Er...Those 2 phrases are contradictory! As I posted, it would be pretty obvious what was going on if you repeatedly took a 'practice' backswing, removing a splinter each time, until there was no longer a hindrance! Not too dis-similar to the more common example of cheating - where a ball in the rough is 'addressed', by pressing the rough down with a wood, a sufficient number of times to get a clear area of ball to be struck cleanly, either with the wood or an iron!

So simply refer to the Decision Region3 quoted!