In Golf in the Kingdom, a classic sports book about adventures on a mystical Scottish links course – and the spiritual growth that can take place there – the narrator’s ball ends up buried in a gorse bush.
His appeal to the local pro/guru he is with to drop the ball clear of the thorns is met with a brusque: “Play it like it lies. It’ll come out.” The ball stays put, but the ordeal leads to life lessons being learned.
