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Originally Posted by golfing eagles
The other way to look at it is that the environmental area is out of bounds, EXCEPT you don't have to take the full distance penalty, just to the point it last crossed the margin of the hazard, but you still have to take the stroke penalty. (The other difference being that you can stand out of bounds to hit a ball that is in bounds, but you can't stand in the environmental area, hence the free drop)
Now here is a question back. Local rules state you cannot hit a ball out of a FLOWER bed (not sawgrass), and get a free drop. It is clear you hit your ball into the flower bed, but some people say you can't go in and look for it. The rules state it is a lost ball if you can't identify it, but you can't identify it if you cannot look for it. Someone even said that if all 4 golfers agree it is in the flower bed, you get a free drop even if you don't find it. Last time I looked, there was no rules provision for rulings by the players by vote. So what is the correct procedure? There is no local rule on the card that prohibits looking for the ball in a flower bed, but common sense would dictate extra care be taken, which we all know will not happen, especially facing a 2 stroke penalty.
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The flower bed issue is obviously a 'local rule' and I have seen at some courses where they explain it on the card.
Paraphrasing, it says basically... "If a ball is resting,
or thought to be resting, in a flower bed.....
I think the whole purpose is to keep people out of flower beds, regardless if it is to just identify the ball. I have always applied the basic premise of the lost/stolen rule as to 'verification'...in that if it is obvious that it's in the flower bed, a free drop is allowed.
Quote:
Stolen or lost ball - A ball may be declared to have been stolen or lost in a hole made by a burrowing animal or in a drain if verified by others in your playing group. Drop a ball as close as possible to the area of disappearance, no closer to the hole. No Penalty.
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You make a good point though and 'the Committee' should make it clear on how to proceed when your ball is in a flower bed.