On a resent Saturday 4 ball comp at my golf club, a player in my group played his fairway shot to the green but pulled it well left to be just a few inch’s short of a ob marker, which was in the form of a metal stake. His ball was in bounds but asked for a free drop as he was adamant that he could do so because it was a stake as like a distance marker. I said I thought not as you can not get free relief from an ob fence therefore expected it would be the same ruling can anyone enlighten me on my assumption….. thanks

The guy in your group is incorrect.

_{Obstructions
An “obstruction” is anything artificial, including the artificial surfaces and sides of roads and paths and manufactured
ice, except:}

An obstruction is a movable obstruction if it may be moved without unreasonable effort, without unduly delaying play and without causing damage. Otherwise, it is an immovable obstruction.

Thanks it was as i thought, the bloke wasn’t my partner but he and his partner became agitated the more i questioned their logic. Maybe because they were scoring well, but not well enough to win the comp
lol…...

He might have been correct if the stake was defining OOB for an internal OOB on another hole

I suggest you get familiar with Rule 3-3. When in this sort of situation you can tell the player your understanding of the situation and then tell him if he has a different opinion he can play 2 balls under Rule 3-3 and report to the Committee before he signs for his score.
The Rule is Doubt as to Procedure and you will find it on page 47.
Note that even if the same score is obtained with both balls the player must still report what was done or be disqualified.
When you read this Rule completely and carefully you will see the Rules people are trying to be reasonable, even gentle with guys playing 2 balls trying to play by the Rules.
BUT the player must report the use of Rule 3-3 and what happened.
By the way Rule 3-3 does NOT apply to Match Play.

He might have been correct if the stake was defining OOB for an internal OOB on another hole

Providing there was a Local Rule specifying that the post was an immovable obstruction when playing the other hole.