Thursday, July 29, 2010

Ask Linda #225-Marking a ball that interferes

Good morning Linda,

Here I am again with a question.

One golf ball is on the green and another is close to the fringe, so the golfer asks the other golfer to mark the ball on the green because it is in her line and she may chip the ball in the cup.

The golfer refused saying that she has the right not to mark her ball and it is an old rule...

When I heard that I said it was a rule in the 20's but not modern golf! Am I dreaming????

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Lulu

Dear Lulu,

You are not dreaming. I’m not familiar with golf rules from the 1920’s, but here in 2010 a player has the right to have another ball lifted if she feels it may interfere with her play [Rule 22-2]. The player asked to lift her ball may not refuse to do so.

In stroke play, the player asked to lift the ball may play first rather than lift the ball.

Incidentally, such lifting is not restricted to the putting green. A player may ask to have any ball anywhere lifted for possible interference.

Linda

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