Hi Linda,
Three of us were playing the other day and were on the green
on a par 4 hole. The single player behind us on the tee box hit his tee shot. The
ball hit the cart path just right, took a big bounce and nice roll that ended
with the ball being on the green. One of the folks I was playing with hit this
person’s ball off of the green with her putter without marking it. The player
that hit the tee shot had not hit into us before and apologized profusely when
he drove up.
Is there a rule for this situation? Should the ball have
been marked where it landed?
For what it’s worth, I was embarrassed when the person in
our group hit his ball off of the green.
Thank you.
Lulu from Oklahoma City
Dear Lulu,
Will everybody please lighten up? While you are not supposed
to hit when the group ahead is in range, what player could predict that his
ball would take a big hop off a cart path and roll up onto a green? This is an
unusual happenstance that posed no danger to anyone. It is not poor etiquette
on the part of the player who hit his drive (the one who “apologized
profusely”); it is, however, a big problem for the player on the green who
decided to putt the harmless ball off the green. She has not played a wrong
ball or made a practice stroke, but she will, “in equity,” incur a significant
penalty: two strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play [Decision
1-4/4].
If the ball interfered with play, it should have been marked
and replaced.
Linda
Copyright © 2016 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
