Linda,
Regarding your response below to the issue of a practice
swing [Ask
Linda #1346-Bluebells and practice swings] - would this be the same
if the ball were on a tee peg on the tee? I was playing a match the other
day and my opponent was swinging his club on the tee, as a practice swing, and
he inadvertently hit the ball off the tee with the toe of his driver - and the
ball flew about 10 yards at 90 degrees. We discussed this and we mutually
agreed that it wasn't a stroke as the ball wasn't in play (?), and he continued
to place the ball back on the tee peg with no penalty and we carried on. Should
he have lost the hole?
Kind regards,
Lou
from Cardiff, UK
Dear Lou,
Congratulations, Lou. You and your opponent made the correct
decision. The ball is not in play until a player has made a stroke from the
teeing ground [Definitions of “Ball in Play” and “Stroke”]; the player does not
incur a penalty for accidentally moving a ball that is not in play.
There is no difference between accidentally knocking the
ball off the tee peg at address and accidentally hitting it 10 yards (or any
distance) with a practice swing. The ball is not in play in either case. The
player may be embarrassed, but he will not be penalized.
Linda
Copyright © 2016 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
