Dear Linda,
Two players are playing a par 3 with water in front of the
green. Thirty yards from the green there's a small peninsula that juts out into
the water from the left. This peninsula is also the drop area for the hole.
Both players hit their shots into the water. As they approach the green, they
see one ball on the peninsula. Player A goes onto the peninsula and hits
the ball that is lying there onto the green. Player B drops a ball in the drop
area and hits his shot onto the green. Player A makes a 4, Player B makes a 5.
On the next tee, Player B sees that A is about to tee off with his (Player B’s)
ball. Player A had played Player B's ball onto the preceding green. I know that
Player A receives a two shot penalty and has to go back, take a drop and finish
the hole with the correct ball. What recourse does Player B have?
Lou from New Jersey
Dear Lou,
Player B was certain
his ball had landed in the water hazard. Because of that certainty, he was entitled
to drop a ball in the drop area under penalty of one stroke and continue play
[Rule 26-1]. Once he dropped a ball in the drop area, it officially became his
ball in play [Rule 20-4]. Even though a fellow competitor played Player B’s
ball, Player B has no recourse. His score of 5 on the hole will stand.
Player A has hit a
wrong ball, and incurs a two-stroke penalty for doing so, as you correctly
explained. He must return to the drop area, drop a ball, and complete play of
the hole. He must do that before teeing off on the next hole, or he will be
disqualified [Rule 15-3b]. None of the strokes made playing the wrong ball will
count in his score.
Player A should have
taken care to identify the ball he found on the peninsula before hitting it.
His carelessness cost him at least two strokes and cost his fellow competitor
one stroke. Player B is not entirely innocent of blame. He could have (and
should have) asked Player A to identify the ball on the peninsula. And if he suspected
that the ball Player A hit might have been his (B’s), he could have asked A to
identify the ball on the green before dropping a ball on the peninsula.
I hope that both men
(and all my readers!) have learned to be diligent about identifying a ball
before hitting it, and that everyone remembers the importance of marking their
golf balls with a personal design so that identification is easy.
Linda
Copyright © 2013 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
