Dear Linda,
The following incident happened during a competition
last week. I would appreciate your comments on the appropriate ruling. Here are
the facts:
a. "preferred lies" on closely mown area was in
effect;
b. a player marked his ball with a short red-coloured
tee, lifted the ball and went to his golf bag to clean it and to retrieve a
club for his next shot;
c. the player then returned to the area to locate the
ball marker but he was not able to find it because the area was scattered
with fallen dried leaves;
d. after searching the ball marker for almost 5 minutes, it
was finally located;
e. the player replaced the ball and played his next shot
from there.
The question was: What would be the ruling if the player
could not find the ball marker after 5 minutes? Some of us think that it was a
lost ball situation, while others think that he could drop a ball in the
estimated area and incur a 2-stroke penalty for playing from the wrong place
but it is not a serious breach. I believe he could drop a ball in the estimated
location as per rule 20-3c(i) and there is no penalty involved. If so, after
dropping the ball, could he follow the "preferred lies" procedure by
marking, lifting, cleaning and replacing the ball again?
Looking forward to your comments.
Thank you,
Lou from Malaysia
Dear Lou,
I verified my answer with a USGA rules official, since your
question is not specifically addressed by the Rules.
When you are playing “preferred lies,” and you are unable to
find the marker you used to mark the position of your ball, your ball is not
“lost.” However, the precise spot where your ball was lying can no longer be
determined. Since you know the approximate location, you must drop your ball as
near as possible to where it lay [Rule 20-3c (i)].
Dropping the ball under this Rule is considered the
equivalent to placing a ball in a preferred lie, so once it is dropped it is
now in play. You have already marked, lifted, cleaned, and “placed” (dropped)
the ball, so you may not do so a second time.
Linda
Copyright © 2013 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
