I didn't question it when it came up this afternoon but it doesn't seem right so I want to seek confirmation.

It was clear the guy was going to be out of the hole anyway due to the way he started off (we were in a match play event) so I didn't say anything, but he said that his ball was near a tree stump that affected his ball striking ability. The stump was from a tree that was once part of a forest for the lack of a better term. He wasn't near a fairway and he was either in the rough bordering the tree line or just inside the tree line. He took a club's length free relief and I didn't quite catch the grounds upon which he said he could do so.

To my knowledge, it wasn't marked ground under repair, there were no local rules stating one would be entitled to free relief and had the whole tree been there in the first place, he would have been SOL anyway.

I believe he violated a rule by moving his ball or not playing from place where the ball last sat. That would result in automatic loss of hole in match play or at least one stroke in stroke play.

What's the real answer? Thanks!