Thursday, January 19, 2017

Ask Linda #1463-Opponent drops his club in your bag

Hi Linda,
I carry 14 clubs in my bag.
My opponent accidentally after playing his shot, puts his Ping G15 8-iron into my bag unnoticed by myself, I then (by luck) take my Ping G15 8-iron out of my bag and play a super shot 5 feet from the pin.
A...do I incur a penalty?
B...if I had used his 8-iron what would be the ruling??
Thanks
Lou from Somerset, UK

Dear Lou,

You are not penalized for carrying 15 clubs if the extra club was put there accidentally by another player. Simply return the club and carry on.

If you use that club that is not yours, the state of the match is adjusted by deducting one hole (two-stroke penalty in stroke play), for using a club that was selected for play by another player [Rule 4-4a]. Since you did not intentionally add that club to your bag, there is no additional penalty if you carried it for several holes before you discovered it [Decision 4-4a/5].

Linda
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