Monday, September 7, 2015

Ask Linda #1143-Too many penalties in bunker

Good day, Linda.
Hit ball in bunker, hit front and came back at me. Ball struck me (2 strokes) fell behind me and while moving backward to miss being hit (failed) stepped on ball that had fallen behind me. I took 2 more strokes. So after striking ball twice I was laying 6 with buried ball. Someone said there was limit to total penalty strokes on one action. Please comment.
Lou from Tucson, Arizona

Dear Lou,

You are assessing yourself too many penalty strokes, Lou. Let’s review the pertinent Rules.

When a player accidentally stops or deflects his own ball, he incurs a one-stroke penalty and must play the ball as it lies [Rule 19-2]. And when a player moves his ball at rest in a bunker (which you did when you stepped on it), the penalty is one stroke, the lie must be recreated, and the ball replaced. The maximum number of penalty strokes you might have incurred is two.

However, both acts are related, and occurred very close to each other in terms of time and location. As such, a Committee would most likely assess you only one penalty stroke, total.

Decision 1-4/12 explains whether single or multiple penalties are incurred when more than one Rule is breached. It is a very detailed Decision, providing numerous examples. You might want to take a look at it.

Linda
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