Greeting to All. We have on going / unresolved issue and I would like the members here to weight in. Facts: Tee shot sliced into a flower bed nrea an adjoining hole’s tee box. This Flower bed is landscaped / maintained Rose Garden (10 ft by 10ft) with Rose bushes in the middle with the perimiter surrounded by some edging plants. It is situated in between 2 cart paths. There are no hazard markers. Ball lies inside the flower bed. Local rules do not address the flower bed specifically Possible Rulings: 1) no relief and should be hit where it lies or declared unplayable by the owner of the ball under a stroke penalty 2) Relief without penalty as the flower bed is an obstruction (man made)

option #1 …....

Its possible you could gain relief from the roses under local rule “shrubs or trees under 2 c/l’s in height”

And be careful taking 2 clublenghts relief under unplayable …you might end up on the path , with free relief back into the garden lol

My belief is that unless the garden is deemed under local rules to be subject of a free drop , then it would be an integral part of the course and you must either play out of it or take an unplayable lie.

All Gardens on our course are deemed to be an integral part of the course

It’s a tricky situation what is man-made and what is not. I recently questioned gravel and wood-chips, both processed by man. RulesDoc indicated that like crushed sea-shells they are to be treated as natural, ie. loose impediments, not obstructions, but also suggested it was his little supplement to the rules. :-) But it sounds appropriate.

Is there nothing in the garden bed that would undoubtedly qualify as an obstruction and might gain you some sort of relief? Sleepers, sprinkler system, stakes – I’d even be looking for (tight and immovable!) plastic tags on the plants.

Other than that, a scattering of rose petals in the area will probably see the bed soon recognised.

I agree with the above. Unless it is a local rule, play it as it lies. A few shots out of the garden ruining some nice flowers might speed up a local ruling.

my sentiments exactly. When they made all gardens on our course Integral ( recent ruling) I warned them that they had better stake any trees that they wanted undamaged. I found one recently that wasn’t and my ball was right at the base of it.

You can do some heavy pruning with a 7 iron.

FWIW, I have no idea why course committees allow gardens to be located on golf courses. I do understand that for appearances sake, some around the clubhouse and 1st & 10th tees is okay, but out on the course…Augusta National (and retired members with too much time on their hands)have a lot to answer for!!!

Simply put, your Rules committee needs to clarify what these garden beds are – they could be declared;
1. Integral parts of the course – no free relief
2. GUR – free relief under R25-1,
3. Immovable obstructions, if there are enough cement borders, railroad sleepers, stakes etc involved – the whole thing could be an entire obstruction “tied in” with free relief under R24-2

Regards
Trysil

To be declared as an integral part of the course, the item must be a “construction”.
A flower bed – if it’s simply plants and wood chippings – can hardly fall under that category.

The garden you describe Doc would become an integral part of the course by default would it not
If no mention of it appears in the local rules that is

Last time I played at a northern course all gardens were chip barked and a sign in the middle announcing GUR! Why should anyone have to play out of ground beautification – wastes money and looks bad!

A garden is part of the course. Unless the Committee posts a Local Rule requiring the garden to be treated as “GUR Play Prohibited” for example, it is just like the rough. If your ball is there you play it as it lies or take relief under penalty for unplayable ball.
It is not necassary or appropriate to declare garden as an “integral part of the course”. This is necesary for some Obstructions for example cart paths.
I agree strongly that gardens can be a menace on a golf course.
They must be placed to avoid frequently interfering with play.
Too often they are a bloody nuisance, although good to look at.

The match committee at my home course had the wisdom to define our gardens as GUR ….this was all fine until I pointed out a ball K/VC lost in a garden “GUR” gave you a free drop ….

Which sounds fair , except some of these gardens were near green , and had native trees growning in them that eat golf balls like fat women eat M&M’s lol

similar problem at our club. So then they marked the gardens as Hazard. Then they changed tack again and made them all an Integral part of the course.

There are two particular areas of native plantings ( of the type you described so colourfully) which are near the green and above the height that you hit from, so it is very difficult to see where the ball goes. Its a nightmare

Gentlemen: sorry for delay in thanking all you guys for the feedback. Very good point of views all around. I think it is clear that unless otherwise marked or indicated, rules dicate to hit it as it lies despite sentiments to a possible outcome.

Most Committees declare gardens as GUR Play Prohibited to protect the plants and preserve the appearance of the garden. This is probably what should be done at the place you mention.
Gardens can be a major problem for playing golf if not sited sensibly. Unfortunately many Committees don’t think about the prospects just how nice it will look.

Its possible you could gain relief from the roses under local rule “shrubs or trees under 2 c/l’s in height”

See my post re this in another thread.