Dear Linda,
During a recent stroke play tournament, which had roving
Rules officials on the course, two players approached one of the officials on
the 6th tee about an incident that had happened on the 4th green.
One player had lifted his ball a few inches off the putting
surface when his fellow competitor noticed he had not marked it. Without moving
position, the player replaced his ball at a spot agreed between them as the
original place where the ball had come to rest and they completed the hole
correctly.
I know that Rule 20-1 states that a ball lifted without
being marked under a Rule that requires this to happen is subject to a one-stroke
penalty, but how would you have ruled in this particular instance when no
advantage was gained by the player in question?
If the players concerned had not reported it, the incident
would have passed unnoticed by the officials. The Rules official in question
did in fact penalise the player one shot after having had the situation
explained.
Lou from the UK
Dear Lou,
The player lifted his ball without marking it. The penalty
is one stroke and the ball must be replaced. Every official would rule the same
way. The issue is not whether an advantage was gained, but whether a Rule was
violated.
Golf relies on the integrity of each player. While I’m sure
that Rules violations go unpunished from time to time, due to the ignorance of
the players involved, players should always report occurrences where they are
uncertain of the proper procedure and be prepared to abide by the ruling of an
official.
Linda
Copyright © 2013 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
