Question: A player tees off and the ball strikes a maintenance vehicle parked in the left rough. What is the ruling?

Answer: When a player’s ball in motion accidentally deflects off an outside influence (the maintenance vehicle in this case), there is no penalty and the ball is played as it lies.

Question: My ball landed next to a tree trunk, do I get a free drop?

Answer: A tree is part of the challenge of golf, so there is no free drop if your ball comes to rest near a tree trunk or a tree stump. Remember, a tree stump is just a short tree! But if you are out there to have fun and not playing in a competition, I say take the free drop!!!

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Todd Stice is our in-house Rules of Golf Expert. You can learn more about Todd here.