Ball mark moved accidentally

[Paddy963]

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 replaced it and after my friend putted I moved it back to it's original location (where my approach shot stopped).

I assumed there was no penalty since it was accidental and was replaced, was I correct?

[LobWedge]

You are correct, there is no penalty. This is covered by Rule 20-1, and supported by Decision 20-1/6.

20-1. Lifting and Marking

A ball to be lifted under the Rules may be lifted by the player, his partner or another person authorized by the player. In any such case, the player is responsible for any breach of the Rules.


The position of the ball must be marked before it is lifted under a Rule that requires it to be replaced. If it is not marked, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke and the ball must be replaced. If it is not replaced, the player incurs the general penalty for breach of this Rule, but there is no additional penalty under Rule 20-1.


If a ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved in the process of lifting the ball under a Rule or marking its position, the ball or ball-marker must be replaced. There is no penalty, provided the movement of the ball or ball-marker is directly attributable to the specific act of marking the position of or lifting the ball. Otherwise, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke under this Rule or Rule 18-2a.





20-1/6 Ball-Marker Moved Accidentally by Player in Process of Marking Position of Ball
Q. A player marked the position of his ball with a coin, lifted the ball and pressed down the coin with the sole of his putter. He walked to the edge of the green and then noticed that the coin had stuck to the sole of the putter. What is the ruling?
A. In this case, the movement of the ball-marker was directly attributable to the specific act of marking the position of the ball.
Accordingly, no penalty is incurred and the ball or the ball-marker must be replaced. If the spot where the ball or ball-marker lay is not known, it must be placed as near as possible to where it lay but not nearer the hole (Rule 20-3c).

[Kilroy]

20-1/6 Ball-Marker Moved Accidentally by Player in Process of Marking Position of Ball
Q. A player marked the position of his ball with a coin, lifted the ball and pressed down the coin with the sole of his putter. He walked to the edge of the green and then noticed that the coin had stuck to the sole of the putter. What is the ruling?
A. In this case, the movement of the ball-marker was directly attributable to the specific act of marking the position of the ball.
Accordingly, no penalty is incurred and the ball or the ball-marker must be replaced. If the spot where the ball or ball-marker lay is not known, it must be placed as near as possible to where it lay but not nearer the hole (Rule 20-3c).

[Kilroy]

Dang. Lobbie beat me to it.

[LobWedge]

Dang. Lobbie beat me to it.

As long as we're on the same page Dan.

[Kilroy]

BC, I think 20-1/6 covers this and rules no penalty.

[BC MIST]

BC, I think 20-1/6 covers this and rules no penalty.

Correct. I read 5.5, posted, read 6 and deleted my post. Another ooops.

[gbower]

20-1/6 is when the marker is moved accidentally in the process of marking the ball and 20-1/5.5 the marker is moved accidentally but not in the process of marking the ball and therefore the one stroke penalty.

Yesterday at the open one player had his ball fall and moved his marker and he incurred a one stroke penalty as it wasn't in the process of marking the ball or replacing it.

[Kilroy]

IMHO Paddy was in the process of marking it.

[gbower]

In your case Dan there definititely is no penalty. I was just adding the other examples.

[NoBack]

Yesterday at the open one player had his ball fall and moved his marker and he incurred a one stroke penalty as it wasn't in the process of marking the ball or replacing it.

Diddnt he drop the marker on the ball and made the ball move?

[Kiwi battler]

"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"

How long AFTER ????? we need more info before we can assume the marker was moved DURING the act of moving it ...

[jvincent]

Diddnt he drop the marker on the ball and made the ball move?

The USGA guy they had in the booth commented that there was a decision which specifically covered the incident at the US Open and that in that case it was a penalty.

[BC MIST]

The USGA guy they had in the booth commented that there was a decision which specifically covered the incident at the US Open and that in that case it was a penalty.

20-1/14 involves a ball moved by dropping a putter on the ball.