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  • 9 minutes ago
In this video Neil Tappin and Jeremy Ellwood explain your options when you are faced with a plugged lie, or an embedded ball.
Transcript
00:04OK, so 16th hole here at West Hill. Incredibly wet recently. Very muddy underfoot. I've pulled
00:10my drive slightly and my ball, Jez, I think, is plugged.
00:15Yes. Well, plugged. The rules call it embedded. We call it plugged. That is definitely embedded.
00:20And there's a helpful diagram on page 100 of the player's edition of the rulebook to
00:25allow you to determine when it's embedded. It actually says when part of your ball is
00:29below the level of the ground, so the soil has to be impacted in some way. It can't
00:33just be sitting down in the grass, but at this time of year that we're shooting this, there
00:38is a lot of soil that the ball would embed in. And we both agree that this is a play
00:42light.
00:42This is definitely embedded. So in that scenario then, what are my options? What
00:46can I do? Well, the relief now is available anywhere in what is called the general area.
00:51So it doesn't just have to be on the fairway. So before, in this scenario, it would just be
00:55bad luck, wouldn't it? It would be in the rough.
00:59In the rough, it was tough luck, I am afraid. But now it is not the case. Which is probably
01:04a good thing in fairness, because you are going to gouge a massive chunk out, or take a penalty
01:09drop.
01:09And I am only a metre and a half off the fairway.
01:13So now you get relief. And the first thing to point out is the reference point for taking
01:20relief is considered to be the spot directly behind where the ball is lying. So about there.
01:25About there. And then you get a one club length arc, not nearer the hole from there, using your
01:32longest club that you are carrying that day, other than the putter. So typically the driver.
01:37So you can, I mean, you get an arc, that shape, so you have just got to remember that when
01:41you are
01:42dropping, have you dropped it within the arc?
01:44Within the arc. So obviously, Jez, the best thing to do is mark it out, isn't it?
01:48Well you can do, but you are going to be dropping in a variety, you might choose to drop in
01:51a variety.
01:51Yes.
01:51So mark it out in the area where you think you are going to drop it.
01:53Exactly. So in this scenario, I think the driest, best spot is probably over here somewhere.
01:59Yeah. So I would probably put a second tee in there. Get rid of a couple of loose impediments
02:04to make sure they are not in the way.
02:05I mean, you don't have to put these tees in, but it is obviously a very good idea to do
02:07so.
02:08It is a good idea to do it. It just makes it, it just covers you, doesn't it?
02:11And you would also want to remove those twigs probably at this point, just to minimise the
02:15risk. And then I would probably drop it around about there.
02:18Yeah, look, maybe slightly below the height, but I am going to let it go on this occasion.
02:23Oh, skinny. That is going to work. You are always going to hit it a bit clean on soft ground,
02:29aren't you?
02:29I wasn't wanting to take a massive divot there.
02:31Hopefully that gives you an idea about what to do if your ball is embedded, especially
02:36if it is embedded off the fairway in an area like this where there are lots of loose impediments,
02:40very wet underfoot, as it is at the moment. That should give you everything you need to know.
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