Ball in hazard - on top of another ball

[btasse]

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 his ball when flying low. He said he hit the bottom ball first which caused his ball to go nowhere.............


What is the ruling here? Does he re-hit? Any penalty for hitting wrong ball?

[jvincent]

I'd be curious as to the ruling on this one.

Since he was making a stroke at his ball I don't think he would be penalized for playing a wrong ball.

[gbower]

Decision 15/2 covers this one:

Question: A player plays a stroke with his own ball in the rough and also hits an old abandoned ball which was hidden beneath his ball. Since he struck the hidden ball, did he play a wrong ball.
Answer: No. The player played a stroke with his own ball, not with the hidden ball. Since he did not play a stoke with the hidden ball. Rule 15-3 (wrong ball) is not applicable. The player must play his ball as it lies.


This in my opinion would also apply in a hazard. Since the stroke was at his ball it doesn't matter that he went under it and popped it up, he caused it to move with the stroke.

I hope this helps.

[btasse]

The guy i was playing with was a CPGA player and he did not know either. So we are still interested in finding out what we should have done.

[jvincent]

I figured there would be a decision on this one.

[btasse]

Decision 15/2 covers this one:

Question: A player plays a stroke with his own ball in the rough and also hits an old abandoned ball which was hidden beneath his ball. Since he struck the hidden ball, did he play a wrong ball.
Answer: No. The player played a stroke with his own ball, not with the hidden ball. Since he did not play a stoke with the hidden ball. Rule 15-3 (wrong ball) is not applicable. The player must play his ball as it lies.


This in my opinion would also apply in a hazard. Since the stroke was at his ball it doesn't matter that he went under it and popped it up, he caused it to move with the stroke.

I hope this helps.

You are probably right. His intent was to hit his ball but he ended up hitting the lower one first.

We assumed that it was like hitting any other natural object and he would play the ball as it lied after the shot.

Thanks for the ruling.