A while back playing golf, I pulled my drive off to the left of the fairway. There were some small trees planted going up the side of the fairway. These tree, not sure of the kind, were about 12-16 feet tall and maybe about 4" round in diameter.

I was about 215 yards out from the green, and really while the little trees were in front of me, they (IMO) did not present a problem. I recall being maybe 15-18 yards away from the trees.

I lined up and took a full swing with a full follow through and had a bit of recoil, ending up with me holding the 5 wood with a steel shaft, straight up in front of me, watching the flight of the ball.

Well the flight of the ball went right into this little tree and bounced, shot, propelled, or what ever you want to call it directly right back at me toward my face. I can only estimate the ball speed, but it was hauling a**!

This brings me to my rules question. With me in the follow through position, holding the 5 wood straight up in the air with a speeding golf ball heading toward me, there was no time to react in any way. The ball struck the shaft of the club and fell to the ground at my feet.

Lucky again. Still have all my teeth. No black eye. No broken jaw. No broken nose. These are some of the things that could have happened, so it's better to be lucky than good!

Now my rules question, and I don't have a clue, what penalty stoke situation am I in? I guess I could look it up, but figured someone here would know.

Wow,,, you are a lucky guy not to get hit by that ball !!!

But, If I recall right under Rule 14-4 it is a one stroke penalty. The ball hit the club "Twice" !!! You may want to check it out to be sure I am correct on this.

Since the ball was on the rebound I don't think rule 14 will apply.

"14-4/2 Ball Strikes Pipeline and on Rebound Is Deflected by Face of Club
Q. A player’s ball strikes a pipeline and on the rebound hits the face of his club. Is the player considered to have struck the ball more than once in breach of Rule 14-4?
A. No. The player did not strike the ball more than once. He struck it once and it rebounded and hit the face of his club. Rule 19-2 applies."

Rule 19-2 covers it pretty nicely.

"19-2. By Player, Partner, Caddie or EquipmentIf a player's ball is accidentally deflected or stopped by himself, his partner or either of their caddies or equipment, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke. The ball must be played as it lies, except when it comes to rest in or on the player's, his partner's or either of their caddies' clothes or equipment, in which case the ball must through the green or in a hazard be dropped, or on the putting green be placed, as near as possible to the spot directly under the place where the ball came to rest in or on the article, but not nearer the hole."

So, 1 stroke penalty and play it as it lies.

Later,

You're a very lucky guy!! :0) A similar situation happened to me several years ago, and the ball hit me right on the kneecap. It was definitely a painful experience. Be glad the club got in the way!

Even more painful, at that time it was a TWO-STROKE penalty!!

DNRS got it right in your case. The rule was recently changed to a one-stroke penalty, play the ball as it lies.

Yep, one stroke penalty I think. This falls into the Jeff Maggert situation at Augusta a few years back when he was in a bunker, hit his shot, the ball then hit the lip and bounced back and hit him. Like previously mentioned, at that time it was a 2 stroke penalty.

Ah,,, well done my friend !!!! I didn't look it up but knew we had talked on this before in the "Rules Game" we use to play !!!! Your memory is great !!!!

I do sort of miss the friendly banter we used to have in the rules discussion folder.
Problem is with only four or five folks commenting the allure sort of fades.

Later,

Get one wrong, I'll give you PLENTY of banter!!

You know from the past I really enjoy talking about the rules. I do miss that here. In my thread about "When I Play Golf" I believe most everyone said when they play they play by the rules. If so, questions should come up periodically. Hopefully, as traffic increases more will be posted here.

I'd like to see it.
It's kind of fun to help folks out who end up in wierd and unusual situations figure out what the rules say they should have done.
Of course, if you're just in a friendly round, do what common sense tells you is right and you've got about 60% chance of getting it right.

Later,

Thanks to everyone that replied, it appears that we got it wrong that day, as my partners and I agreed on a one stroke penalty. At the time, we were at a loss. I hope to see more posts in this area as well, and when I saw no-one had posted yet, figured I would find out about the tree "bounce shot."