Rabbit Hole

[TerryA]

Played at a friends club on Sat and before we went out were warned that one of the fairways had a large number of rabbit holes. My playing partner teed off and we saw the ball land in middle of the fairway. On reaching where the ball landed it was nowhere to be seen. It was obvious it had disappeared down one of the rabbit holes but we were not sure which one. We allowed him free relief from where we thought the ball landed. Was this correct ?

 

[Wiggy]

Probably should have gone back to the tee and re-taken his tee-shot with no penalty would be my guess.

 

[MashieNiblick]

Interesting Dilemma.

A hole made by a burrowing animal (e.g. a rabbit) is an "abnormal ground condition" and a ball lost in an "abnormal ground condition" is covered by Rule 25-1c:

"Ball in Abnormal Ground Condition Not Found

It is a question of fact whether a ball that has not been found after having been struck toward an abnormal ground condition is in such a condition. In order to apply this Rule, it must be known or virtually certain that the ball is in the abnormal ground condition. In the absence of such knowledge or certainty, the player must proceed under Rule 27-1.

If it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in an abnormal ground condition, the player may take relief under this Rule. If he elects to do so, the spot where the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the abnormal ground condition must be determined and, for the purpose of applying this Rule, the ball is deemed to lie at this spot and the player must proceed as follows:

(i) Through the Green: If the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the abnormal ground condition at a spot through the green, the player may substitute another ball, without penalty, and take relief as prescribed in Rule 25-1b(i)."

25-1b(i) basically allows a free drop within 1 club length of the "nearest point of relief" of the "abnormal ground condition" with some provisos.

So if you were virtually certain that the ball was lost down a rabbit hole (and it seems that you were) you were entitled to a free drop as indicated above.

If there is more than 1 rabbit hole and you don't know which one it went in I'd say it was fair enough to take the one nearest to where the ball landed and drop within club length of that one. I thought there might be a decision on this but can't find one on the R&A web site. However Rule 1-4 - Points Not Covered by Rules, provides that

"If any point in dispute is not covered by the Rules, the decision should be made in accordance with equity".

I reckon then, all in all, what you did was pretty much right and in any case seems fair, in equity, to me anyway.

If there had been any doubt that the ball had gone down one of the holes (e.g. if there was long grass nearby that the ball could have bounced into) you should have incurred the usual stroke and distance penalty for a lost ball (under rule 27-1) but from what you say this wasn't the case.

That's my view anyway. I hope it helps. Be interested to know if anyone thinks differently. I'm not a Rules expert by any means but I do find them fascinating.