| #2. Response: Disregard the stake and play the ball as it lies
USGA Ruling: Generally, the stake should be replaced, which makes your ball out of bounds. However, in stroke play, if the committee is aware that one or more competitors have played from the same area ignorant of the missing stake, the altered boundary line should be allowed to stand for the rest of the competition (Decision 33-2a/19). In this case, you would play the ball as it lies.
If you do not know how the stake fell, you can reasonbly assume it was fallen for the entire field and can ignore the stake.
My note: Anyone ever hit a ball OB, only to have it be IB since the stake wasn't up, and the next two stakes make it in play? |