Ruling please.

[Below Par]

I'm well aware that what follows makes me look like dipstick, and yes apparently it was hilarious.


Yesterday, I hit my third on a par 5 throughthe green (Wanstead 7th I believe) and ball was sitting on some leaves about 12" inside one of those metal security fences with the broad vertical bars.


With a tree to my Right meaning I couldn't drop within two club lengths without going nearer the hole ( I guessed that was option one ). I was too lazy to walk back 50 yards to a crap spot, so I decided to hit backwards.


Even though I knew my chances of reaching the pin were beyond remote, after 4 or 5 practice "Swings " - holding club in right hand with back to target - I was practicing a wrist break (because I was so close to fence), chop!


Get on with it I hear you cry.

Well when it came to the real go, of course I put a little extra into it and..... the club head shot between the bars preventing me make a forward swing of more than 2-3" downwards.


So rules guru's stroke or not?

Clearly the intent was there but I didn't get near the ball.


(When the laughter stopped I picked up)

[SkankyShanky]

I reckon stroke. No different from an air shot - you were trying to hit it.

[Ant]

Same as my thread a couple of weeks ago. Outside agency stopping the forward swing of the club. It was a shot. 

[Tin Pot]

A fence isn't an agency.

Are you saying you threaded the club through the bars of the fence to hit the ball?

You say the ball was inside the fence (inside or on the other side?) this should put it outside the boundary of the course, check local rules of course.

[Below Par]

A fence isn't an agency.

Are you saying you threaded the club through the bars of the fence to hit the ball?

You say the ball was inside the fence (inside or on the other side?) this should put it outside the boundary of the course, check local rules of course.

Ball and I were inside, "Threading" the club through the fence was a delicate and skilled effort that somehow produced howls of laughter from my partners



I had guessed it counted as a stroke, thanks for the reassurance.

[Ant]

A fence isn't an agency.

Why?

[Tin Pot]

Why?

To me, it's what the word agency means but to the R&A (as attached)

[Ant]

That explanation doesn't discount a fence.

[Tin Pot]

That explanation doesn't discount a fence.

Ha ha I knew you'd say that.

How about you look for supporting evidence that a fence or any other inanimate object be described anywhere as an agency?

[Ant]

I already did when I posted a thread on the same ruling a few weeks ago. I couldn't find anything to confirm either way.

[Longshot]

Outside Agency

In match play, an “outside agency” is any agency other than either the
player’s or opponent’s side, any caddie of either side, any ball played by
either side at the hole being played or any equipment of either side.

39 In stroke play, an outside agency is any agency other than the
competitor’s side, any caddie of the side, any ball played by the side at
the hole being played or any equipment of the side.
An outside agency includes a referee, a marker, an observer and a
forecaddie. Neither wind nor water is an outside agency.

[Stu-Pid]

How about you look for supporting evidence that a fence or any other inanimate object be described anywhere as an agency?

Q. If a player starts his downswing and his clubhead is deflected or stopped by an agency other than himself, e.g. the branch of a tree, is he deemed to have made a stroke?

A. Yes

[MisterS3]

Stu I think you'll need to mention a fence to make TP happy

[Tin Pot]

Outside Agency

In match play, an “outside agency” is any agency other than either the
player’s or opponent’s side, any caddie of either side, any ball played by
either side at the hole being played or any equipment of either side.

39 In stroke play, an outside agency is any agency other than the
competitor’s side, any caddie of the side, any ball played by the side at
the hole being played or any equipment of the side.
An outside agency includes a referee, a marker, an observer and a
forecaddie. Neither wind nor water is an outside agency.

?  You have deliberately re-posted what I posted or...?

[Tin Pot]

Q. If a player starts his downswing and his clubhead is deflected or stopped by an agency other than himself, e.g. the branch of a tree, is he deemed to have made a stroke?

A. Yes

Cheers Stu.