Golf is always throwing up some surprises and, during the third round of the Genesis Scottish Open, Sam Burns produced a shot that seemed to defy gravity when, striking his second blow out of a fairway bunker, it smashed into the face before somehow not dropping back into the sand.
How has @Samburns66 ball stayed there…? 🤯#GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/oVclPek8nGJuly 15, 2023
The American had been making a charge up the leaderboard at The Renaissance Club, albeit under the radar when, at the par 5 10th, he found one of the many fairway bunkers from off the tee.
Striking the iron shot, the ball slammed into the face but somehow stayed up without dropping back, seemingly defying gravity. What followed was a 10 minute plus conversation with multiple Rules Officials on site, before Burns was told that he must play the ball as it lies. Following the debacle which held up some of the field, Burns made a triple-bogey eight to drop out of contention.
In the exchange with DP World Tour Rules Official, Miguel Vidaor, the Official stated: “So, in this particular case, because they’re open (sod), if you had been interfered by the seam itself on the intended swing, we would be giving you relief but, the fact it is just interference with this (sod), we can’t give you it, otherwise we would be taking all of the bunker faces out of play.”
An unusual ruling for Sam Burns as he is given no relief on this shot @ScottishOpen. pic.twitter.com/fLA9wF1GR8July 15, 2023
Essentially, the ball had not embedded itself and, because his upcoming shot would not be interfered with by one of the “seams” of sod that make up the face, with the ball resting on the turf, Burns would have to play it as it lies.
Like many bunkers in the British Isles, this one was revetted. Again, to put it simply, a revetted bunker is one where sods (grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by roots or a piece of thin material) are used on top of each other to create a layered effect, which helps to fortify the bunker.
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