Forum: Rules Of Golf

My opponent's OR fellow competitor's ball is on the putting green. I mark and lift my ball and in so doing I ACCIDENTLY drop it and it hits my O's or FC's ball. In match play, I am penalized 1 stroke and his ball is replaced, but in stroke play, there is no penalty and his ball is again...

Gary, If the ball comes to rest against the rake, either in or out of a bunker, and when the rake is moved the ball also moves what is the ruling. I'm not sure but I think I remember seeing someone on tour mark the ball where it was and when the rake was moved and the ball moved they replaced...

This came up in our qualifier... On Manderley Central 7 there is a 2 tiered water hazard. The upper level is not visible from the fairway. The fountain is in the upper pond. The player hits his third shot over the lower pond and sees a splash in the upper one. He drops a ball where the first...

While I was studying for the seminar online i came across this. Under decision 18/7.5 a player is penalized if he accidentally drops a ball, that was lifted under a rule or is not in play, and it hits and moves another player's ball. Would the same apply if a player dropped a ball-marker? ...

In a recent game, my fellow competitor's ball came to rest on a bridge over a water hazard. He wanted to take free relief. We indicated to him that his ball was actually in the hazard, and he could not take free relief. He felt that the yellow stakes on both sides of the bridge indicated that...

I was watching the Golf Channel last night and they showed a brief snippet of the LPGA that had a weird one. The player's ball was on the green and she had marked and lifted it. She then replaced the ball and before she had a chance to address it a strong gust of wind blew the ball off the green...

My fellow competitor hit his second on a par 4 on the left side of the green on the edge of a wooded area. He finds his ball and it's playable. He hits it and .... surprise... there was another golf ball buried in the mud underneath his. His ball makes it half-way to the green from where he was...

This happened to me this week. Hit a shot where i saw my ball go into the yellow stakes area (water) but there is a O.B. next to it where my ball ended up. Is this considered a lost ball or is it ball a ball in the hazard? Thanks

Hi All, What are my options? Where do i drop? I don't have a diagram so picture this if you will. I pull my tee shot on a par three. In front of the green is a yellow staked WH. To the right of the green is a red staked LWH - same body of water but i think that's irrelevant. The tee shot...

A player chips up to the pin and the ball looks close so he goes to his bag to get his putter and walks up to the hole, pulls the pin and as he's pulling the pin the ball falls into the hole without being touched by anything. What would the ruling be on this situation???? Adding to this, what...

Yesterday i was playing and before my shot my ball fell off the tee. when i set up to address the ball fell and it did not go past the tee box. Is this a penalty ?

My playing competitor is teeing it up on the ninth hole when this happens ....... He takes his club back and starts his downswing, just as his club is about to touch the ball, the ball starts to move off tee to the right and he kinda tops the ball so it rolls about 18 inches in front of the tee...

This happened a few weeks ago at Hautes Plaines: A fellow competitor hits his ball into a bunker where there's lots (and I mean lots) of very fluffy sand (greeen side bunker on 5th hole). This ball is buried under the sand (0% visible) and, therefore, cannot be identified. What are his...

This happened today but want to see what people think the player is lying and where he's to hit his shot from. Tee shot goes right into lateral water hazard (LWH) but is playable from within the hazard. Player hits ball out of hazard with the ball travelling over the water towards the fairway...

This is pretty basic and you would think that I would know the ruling but help me out.I,m in the middle of a fairway and yank a ball out in the woods.No O.B. or red stakes.Do I reload and play a provisional from that point or walk to the woods and see if i can find my ball.If i cant find it,do i...

A player hits a shot into the trees and starts his 5 minute search. A couple of minutes into the search a ball falls out of a tree and hits the player. The player had not caused the ball to fall. This ball happens to be his. What's the ruling????

Playing today and this occurred. Player A and Player B we both approx 15 Yds off the green. Player A chips and puts it 6 ft left of pin and approx pin high. He walks up and begins to mark his ball. Player B not paying much attention is not aware Player A is going to mark his ball. Player B chips...

When a ball hits and moves another ball that is not on the green, would I replace my ball where I thought it should be or play it where it now lies?

My apologies if this is basic to most, but what is the rule when one ball hits another on the green. Last year, I lobbed a shot onto a green (couldn't see the green) and hit another ball. The person whose ball I hit told me I am penalized one stoke for hitting his ball. This year someone did the...

Garry, in the past you have mentioned that if a drainage ditch, with or without water in it is too deep for a mower to pass through, then staked or not, it's a hazzard. At Le Sorcier on the first hole there is a large ditch running on the outside of the cartpath, 3+ feet deep and nothing but...

Here is what happened. Likely an easy response. My son's ball landed in an animal hole, it was definitley in the gophers entrance to his house, but we could see it and identify it. This anilmal's house was off the fairway in the rough if that will have an impact. Obviously it was...

Similar to the previous thread, with a little twist. This actually happened to a friend last week. The player addresses his ball in the hazard, takes his backswing and as he starts down his club contacts a tree branch. The tree is in the hazard. He checks his swing. He does not make contact...

Just wondering how you would proceed. The other day as I got to the green, I saw that some idiot had driven a cart onto the fringe. It was a very wet area and there was a huge rut (maybe 5cm deep) in the fringe. If a ball had landed in it what would the rule be because there would have been no way...

My ball comes to rest somewhere in long fescue grass. I see a ball but am not able to identify it. I gently spread the grass apart and see that the ball is mine. Must I now put the grass back into it's orignial position so as not to improve my lie?

What is the remedy under the rules if you hit a ball over a hazard, in this case water (red stakes) and the ball bounces back into the hazard? To complicate matters, what is the remedy if you (1) find the ball (clearly visible under the water); and (2) you cannot find the ball but can attest that...

I normally hit short of the green or pin, but in my first round this year I flew the green twice and landed in the water hazard. I have misplaced my rule book so cannot look this up in time for my next round (yes I know that I should keep it in my bag...). As I recall if the water was between me...

Got an interesting situation today. The guy i was playing with hit a ball inside a hazard area. The ball was in a thick grassy area; without realizing it, his ball was sitting on top of another ball that had been lost. When he hit the shot his ball popped up and went nowhere while the ball under...

Player a hits his ball off the teeing ground into a hazard " Wooden area marked with red stick".. He decides to look for his ball and he finds it in the hazard. He makes a swing at it . The ball moves a couple of yards, but the ball stays in the hazard in an unplayable lie . He decides to ...

I had a situation where my tee shot came to rest in a red staked area but was sitting up nicely with a 90 yard shot to the green so I elected to play it from there. There was another ball in the hazard about 8 inches from my ball that did not belong to any players in my group. I played my ball...

I played a quick nine at Raceview last night and an interesting rules situation came up (BTW, the course is in great shape and fairly dry considering the weather and time of year). The 2nd hole has a lateral water hazard on both sides of the fairway, but with all the rain we've had the hazard has...

Club Match Play Championship Semi Final Matches - A vs B, C vs D Both matches are being played in one group of four. A and C are putting for birdies in their respective matches. C is farther from the hole than A. C and A putt simultaneously and A's ball strikes C's ball. A's ball is holed...

As many golfers do NOT play farthest from the hole goes first when around the greens, this is a common situation. John is on the putting green 50' from the hole and Gerry is on the fringe 30' from the hole. John putts and at the same time Gerry chips, his ball striking John's and knocking...

This one is another real situation but for beginners please. The ball is near the green and landed in a muddy bare patch. I'm standing in the mud to swing at my mud covered ball. 1. Can i clean the mud off my ball? 2. As I'm standing in the mud do I get relief? 3. Since my ball is...

If your ball falls off the tee when you are half way through your back swing is the ball considered to be in play? If it is in play do you play it as it lies and incur a one stroke penalty.

I put my tee shot in the bush and then I hit a provisional on the fairway. I walk into the bush to look for the original ball and find it but it's unplayable. Can I get a drop say from point of entry and take a penalty stroke?

My ball lands in a water hazard and I decide that I want to play it out. I do not ground the club, however, the club touches some long grass that is growing in the hazard, as I take my backswing. As I start down I decide that I want to stop my swing and do so before contacting the ball,...

i know that if u hit someone elses ball on the green then you play yours where it lies and the person whos ball you hit gets to put theres where is originally was now today a guys ball was on the front on the green on the fairway, i hit my chip hoping it would take a hop on the green and roll near...

What's the call / procedure / penalty when your ball lands on a green other than yours where it is not marked out of bounds and you have a shot at your green? This happened to a friend of mine today...he lifted, took no penalty but we both were unsure as to what really to do...

I have another question about a ruling. Myself and 3 other guys are playing a match after the golf course has been aerated (little holes in the ground). On the second hole I drive my ball about 5 feet in the right rough, my playing partner was waaayyyy out to the left, one opponent was wayy to...

On Friday I found my ball just in the edge of the trees at Greensmere (Black #4) in half of a broken beer bottle.:thumbsdow Wasn't sure how to proceed, so I went with an unplayable because I didn't like the idea of a face full of flying glass. I dropped within 2 club lengths as allowed by the...

Last week's question, or the one before that, was something like this; Your ball is lost in a tree growing in ground under repair. Can you get relief without penalty? I answered NO, because I thought that you would have to identify your ball before taking relief, which apprently was not possible...

Has this ever happened to anyone? Ground was a bit soggy at our early game yesterday, I hit a nice drive down the fairway, when we drove up to the general location, we just couldn't find it. I know it landed between the two white stake markers. It must have plugged deep into the ground. What...

I thought this was addressed a while ago, but a search did not come up with that post... Situation: ball hit, lands in fairway/first cut, but cannot be found. Ground may be very wet, therefore plugged; casual water, therefore submerged; or heavily covered by leaves. Ball DID land/stay in area...

During my round yesterday there was a hole where my friend asked me to move my marker out of his line. After I moved it one putter head length away I noticed it was sitting up a bit so I tapped it down with my putter but it somehow stuck to the bottom of my putter and moved. Having seen it move I...

quick question for you..... during weekend game with the guys..... someone does not remove his ball marker and proceeds to putt with it under the back of his ball ........what happens? any penalties???

Just curious what the ruling is on -one players ball marker being directly in putting line of another players. What options does the putter have ? thanks in advance And sorry if this was already a thread, i did look but couldn't find anything.

It happened today... The fellow I golf with and I were playing the nineth at Cloverdale this morning and the funniest thing happened. Both our second shots (from the fairway) landed just off the green and in the thick rough about an inch apart. 2 questions 1. If it was seen that the...

In another Citizen incident, not in my group, a player marked and then picked up a ball that was in some casual water. After picking it up he realized that the ball belonged to his fellow competitor, so he replaced it. Should the player not be penalized a stroke, because 18-3 says, "b. If, other...