It was pretty ugly to see. He should have realized before he ever made the first swing he could not get it to the green, he had trouble even seeing it. He finally found a place on his second unplayable lift back in the bottom where it wasn't so thick. Dropping on the cart path would not have given him anything better than what he had unless it stayed on the path, and then that would have been difficult to keep on the green.
He didn't need a rules offficial, he or his caddy needed to think about what the next move was.