You make the ruling

[Gary Hill]

Lost in the shuffle to the new board was this question:

On June 11, at the C.P.G.A. Ottawa zone tournament at Brockville Golf Club, I had this ruling:

A player hit his ball over the 18th green into some long rough. Some of the spectators assisted in searching for the ball. One of the spectators accidentally stepped on the ball and the ball embedded in the rough. What is the ruling and procedure?

[LongHitta]

I beleive that you lift it out, clean, and drop it no nearer the hole, and as close as possible to spot , and becuase it was embedded by outside party, no penalty stroke. Can someone confirm this though?

[Kilroy]

Garry Hill (who asked the question) is our resident RCGA cerified rules expert and he will be telling you the answer later. (note Gary's OttawaGolf Logo)

When Gary poses a question, he is trying to stump us.

If you don't know what you should do in a situation, ask Gary here and we can all learn from it.

BTW, Many thanks again to Gary for doing a great job. We are very glad to have you here.

[Gary Hill]

Almost perfect.

If a ball at rest is moved by an outside agency, the player shall incur no penalty and the ball shall be replaced before the player plays another stroke - Rule 18-1.

Therefore, the player is allowed to replace the ball.

Because the original lie of the ball to be replaced has been altered:

The ball shall be placed in the nearest lie most similar to the original lie which is not more than one club-length from the original lie, not nearer the hole and not in a hazard - Rule 20-3b

Therefore, the player is allowed to place the ball.

If the spectator had accidentally kicked the ball while walking through the rough, making it impossible to determine the spot where the ball was to be replaced:

The ball shall be dropped as near as possible to the place where it lay but not in a hazard or on a putting green - Rule 20-3c

Because the the ball was stepped on instead of kicked, the precise spot was known and the player was allowed to place the ball.

The distinction between placing a ball in the rough and dropping a ball in the rough may seem trivial until you are required to drop a ball in thick bermuda.

[LongHitta]

but you said a spectator stepped on it looking for it, so therefore, it is impossible to determine what kind of lie it had, and therefore , its dropped, right?

[Gary Hill]

No.

Because the original specific SPOT where the ball lay is known, Rule 18-1 tells us that the ball must be replaced.

Next, we have to determine where to place the ball.

Because the original lie (through the green) has been altered, Rule 20-3b tells us that we must place the ball in the nearest lie most similar to the original lie.

It does not say that the original lie has to be re-created.

(If this situation had occurred in a bunker, then the original lie WOULD have to be recreated and the ball would be placed in that lie.)