Hit ball out of tree, penalized for being on the line

[LICC]

https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2022/04/18/dylan-frittelli-penalty-shot-out-of-tree-greatest-par-of-life-rbc-heritage

 

What to people here think about this one? Couldn't you argue that because the ball was suspended in the tree above his head, that anywhere his feet were on the ground could not be the line because the line was above his head? 

[CarlH]

From the USGA Rules of Golf definitions:  

Line of Play

The line where the player intends his or her ball to go after a stroke, including the area on that line that is a reasonable distance up above the ground and on either side of that line.

The line of play is not necessarily a straight line between two points (for example, it may be a curved line based on where the player intends the ball to go).

[LICC]

2 hours ago, CarlH said:

From the USGA Rules of Golf definitions:  

Line of Play

The line where the player intends his or her ball to go after a stroke, including the area on that line that is a reasonable distance up above the ground and on either side of that line.

The line of play is not necessarily a straight line between two points (for example, it may be a curved line based on where the player intends the ball to go).

 

11 minutes ago, Riverboat said:

Yep. Clear violation. No legitimate argument possible.

Assuming the ball is on the ground to begin with?

[LICC]

14 hours ago, Riverboat said:

No. Why make that assumption? You can't straddle the intended line. All he had to do was stand to one side. I get that he didn't think of it at the time because it's not a typical situation, but that doesn't excuse him from following the rule. Nobody is "being mean" or vindictive here. Correctly applying the rules protects the field. I don't get why people feel a need to try to protect those who inadvertantly break the rules. You broke the rule... Accept the penalty and move on.

Like most areas, our biggest tournament of the year is the county amateur. I once made a mistake with assuming a freshly sodded area was ground under repair. It probably should have been, but it wasn't marked that way. I was the only one who noticed, but by the time it occurred to me to check, it was too late and I had to DQ myself. Unfortunate, but oh well, the rules are the rules. One of my playing partners suggested I argue the decision to not mark fresh sod as ground under repair, but it was clearly my fault for assuming instead of checking for markings. Totally inadvertent on my part, but DQ was the proper ruling, so why try to weasel out of it?

What you are saying makes sense. But it also is a valid position that a ball in the air above your head is not capable of this rule being applied unless you climbed up the tree. The intended line has to have a starting or anchor point, and that is the spot of the ball. I don't think this is as apparent as you make it out to be. There was a rules official watching everything and he didn't think there was a rules violation. It wasn't until after the round and after the scorecard was submitted that officials applied the penalty.

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, LICC said:

What you are saying makes sense. But it also is a valid position that a ball in the air above your head is not capable of this rule being applied unless you climbed up the tree. The intended line has to have a starting or anchor point, and that is the spot of the ball. I don't think this is as apparent as you make it out to be. There was a rules official watching everything and he didn't think there was a rules violation. It wasn't until after the round and after the scorecard was submitted that officials applied the penalty.

It was only a few years ago that the PGA Tour decided not to take calls about potential Rules issues, instead they've had Tour staffers reviewing the available video for infractions.  This is apparently one of the infractions those in-house video reviews have caught.  This is such an unusual situation that its understandable that the nearby Official didn't think about the "standing astride" violation.  From Frattelli's discussion with Breed, the Official did clarify that the ball at rest in the Spanish Moss was not considered to be "moving" as defined in the Rules.

One interesting thing, in my reading of the available information, Frattelli didn't make the same objection you have.  Instead he claimed that he was aiming well to the side of where the ball actually went.  That seems a bit revisionist on his part, both videos I've seen show him moving the club pretty much back directly towards his face, and directly away.  In addition, I guess it was this morning, he told Michael Breed that he just "put my hands over my right shoulder" and hit it, when the video shows his hands got nowhere near his shoulder.  It was clearly a "fore and aft" stroke.  Its just such a weird circumstance.  I won't be surprised if this comes up in the discussions leading to the next revision of the rules, but its so rare that I'd be amazed if the Rules got changed to address it.