Ball falling into hole

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 would happen if the ball deflects off the pin as it's being removed in the above situation???

1a) If the ball was overhanging, the player is allowed enough reasonable time to reach the hole plus an additional 10 second to see if it falls in. If it does, he has holed it. If it falls in after the 10 seconds, it is deemed to have been holed on the last stroke but the player gets a penalty stroke.
1b) If it is not overhanging and it falls in and it is clear that the player did not cause it to move. The ball is considered holed without penalty.
1c) If the player caused it to move, it must be replaced with a 1 stoke penalty

2a) If the movement of the ball was directly caused by the removal of the flagstick the ball must be replaced without penalty
2b) If not it it must also be replaced but with a 1 stroke penalty.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AAA

1a) If the ball was overhanging, the player is allowed enough reasonable time to reach the hole plus an additional 10 second to see if it falls in. If it does, he has holed it. If it falls in after the 10 seconds, it is deemed to have been holed on the last stroke but the player gets a penalty stroke.
1b) If it is not overhanging and it falls in and it is clear that the player did not cause it to move. The ball is considered holed without penalty.
1c) If the player caused it to move, it must be replaced with a 1 stoke penalty

2a) If the movement of the ball was directly caused by the removal of the flagstick the ball must be replaced without penalty
2b) If not it it must also be replaced but with a 1 stroke penalty.

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AAA, in your 1a situation, under what basis does the player recieve the penalty stroke? If it falls in after the 10 seconds has elapsed, but the player did nothing to cause this, why are they penalized? Is it for undue delay? Doesn't quite seem fair to me.

Geoff
I have never really found a justification for it. Someone did explain it once but seemingly it didn't add up so I have forgotten the explanation. :confused

Thanks AAA, just thought I'd ask.

My guess would be... The 10 seconds are up, so it can't be 0, yet there was no "stroke at the ball" so it can't be called a "stroke". You have to count "it" but have no other word for "it", so they call it a penalty.

IIRC they added the 10-second rule before they started putting groups on the clock for being out of position. I can't remember if there was a specific incident that triggered it though.

1b) If it is not overhanging and it falls in and it is clear that the player did not cause it to move. The ball is considered holed without penalty.

Why not ?