Hey all,

in another thread about provisionals a poster said that you can not hit a provisional if your ball lodges in a bush, you would just take an unplayable lie.

But my question goes more to the fact that your ball lodges in a bush. Like one time I flew the green (dang me and my manly hits) and ended up with a fairly large bush in between me and the green. My ball was kinda close, but I still thought I could flop over it. Well, one skull later and I was deep in the bush.

Now, normally I would just treat this like hitting OB, my ball is lost in the bush is it not? The only differnce is I would check to see if I came out the other side before I hit again.

So should I proceed with the Lost/OB rule or take an unplayable lie?

To determine your ball to be unplayable, you have to ID your ball. Just like if it gets lodged up in a tree, you cannot deem it unplayable until you positively ID it (retrieve it, or be able to see it has your markings on it). If you cannot do that, you would play it as a lost ball.

Except when the ball may be in a water hazard, you can declare it unplayable at anytime. If you can identify the ball as yours, then you have three options.
1. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played.
2. Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped.
3. Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.

If you can not identify that the ball is yours, then you have only one option:
1. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played.

If you are taking an unplayable lie in a bunker, you must drop in the bunker or use the stroke and distance option and hit again from the previous spot.

So in the situation posed by the OP, you would declare the ball unplayable and, depending on the terrain and size of the bush, either drop behind the bush or drop within two clublengths of the ball with the idea of getting the bush outside of the line of play.

What is deemed an unplayable lie? If I were to hit into the woods and the ball is sitting in the leaves behind a tree, can I take the ball out to the nearest rough and take a drop, or do I have to take a drop in the leaves? Same thing if I hit into long narly grass off the rough, do I have to drop it in the same area or canI go to the nearest rough?

You can take an unplayable anywhere you want I think, but you have the 3 options listed above. Take 2 club lenths relief no nearer the hole,,,,, go back as far as you want keeping the point of where the ball layed between you and the hole or hit from the original spot of the previous shot,,,, all options incurring a 1 stroke penalty.

A ball in the hand is worth two in the bush :-)

Thanks for the replies guys...

I actually got confused about "Unplayable lie" when the guy said something about it in the other thread. I totally forgot that you do still take a stroke penalty with that.

But some of you were saying I have to ID the ball first, how does that work in the bush? I mean, these are not your everyday bushes...these are those big leafed florida "bush-like-things" that can practically stab you in the chest if you go in the wrong way. Normally I just brush a couple of leaves and if I can't see anything (or can't find my ball on the other side) I just drop again where I last hit and take a stroke penalty.

So not sure which rule is being used when I can't ID my ball, I guess at that point it's LOST/OB. But if I can ID it, it would be UNPLAYABLE.

Right?

777twist,

The short answer is yes. If you can identify the ball as yours, you may proceed under rule 28.

http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/books/rules.html

Kevin

Hmmm . for my one in the bush I usually gain more than two in my hand.

When I go looking for my errant tee shot I nearly always come out with more balls in my hand than when I went in. Over half of them are prov's too.


To the OP's question.
Isn't this the same as loosing a ball in the rough?
Bush or rough or tree is the same. no?
I loose em in black berry bushes all the time, I might be able to see it but not identify it.
Best option is go back and hit a new ball from original spot, but most everyone waiting for me doesn't see it that way- they say drop.
-

Well, I don't know about you, but when I come out of the bushes my hands are no where near my balls...and although I don't regularly check, I'm pretty darn sure I have the same amount as when I went in. ok, too easy.

So glad i kept my post out of the gutter...






Isn't it kind of dangerous to zipup after visiting the bushes without checking the location of ones balls?



PSA.
For your safety, please remember to complete a pre-zip-check prior to exiting the bush relief station.