Ask Linda #50-Unintended ball cleaning

Hi Linda,

I was playing a better ball match play match and the following happened:
Both of my opponents’ balls were off the green. I noticed one ball on the fringe and the other further away.
My partner and I went up to the green to mark our balls and after doing so we noticed that our opponent’s ball closest to the green but still in the fringe had disappeared.
So I asked her “Where is your ball?” She answered “Well, it is here in my pocket because I marked my ball on request of my partner.”

I called her on the fact that she cleaned her ball by putting it in her pocket. There was no question about the fact that she cleaned her ball. Spectators noticed that.
The ruling was that she had a one stroke penalty.

She was mad at me calling her on this but I told her that she has to announce that she is going to pick up the ball and is not allowed to clean it. If she had told me I would have answered that yes, she could lift her ball, but she should be aware that you do not clean your ball.

What is your opinion on this?
Can she pick up the ball without notifying me?
The pro agreed with me, ruling that she put the ball in her pocket and by doing so cleaned it.

Happy Easter,
Lulu


Dear Lulu,
The rule that allows a player to have another ball lifted that is interfering with her play (Rule 22-2) is a little different from the rules regarding lifting a ball to determine if it is unfit for play (Rule 5-3) or lifting a ball to identify it (Rule 12-2). Under those two rules, you have to announce your intention to lift the ball, and your opponent (match play) or your fellow competitor (stroke play) must be allowed to observe the entire process. This is to allow the other player to agree (or disagree) that your ball is unfit or that the ball you need to identify is yours.

Rule 22-2, which allows another player to ask you to lift your ball if it is interfering with her play, does not have the same requirement regarding observation. This is primarily because the ball clearly belongs to that player, and she is not asking for corroboration that the ball is unfit for play. She is simply being asked to lift her ball that is in someone else’s way.

That being said, it never hurts to notify your opponent that you have been asked to lift a ball. In the situation you describe, the player would have saved herself a penalty stroke had she informed you, since you would have reminded her that a ball that is lifted because it is interfering with play may not be cleaned, and that she should therefore be very careful how she handles that ball. You may have noticed while watching golf on television that when a player lifts a ball that is not permitted to be cleaned, she lifts and holds it carefully between two fingers, so that there will be no question as to whether the ball was cleaned.

The player in your story learned her lesson the hard way, but it was poor manners for her to become angry with you for correctly penalizing her infraction. She should have been annoyed at herself, as her ignorance of the rule cost her a stroke. Indeed, she should thank you for pointing out her infraction; if this had been a stroke play event, and she didn’t count that penalty stroke in her score for the hole, she would be signing a score card whose total would be one stroke too low, which would result in her disqualification!

There is no question that your opponent would be assessed one penalty stroke for cleaning the ball when she put it in her pocket. Had she tossed the ball to her caddie, or if her partner had lifted the ball and tossed it to her, she would likewise be assessed one penalty stroke for cleaning the ball. In both cases, even though there may not have been any intent to clean the ball, clearly some dirt would be removed by placing it in one’s pocket or tossing and catching it. These are instances in which any doubt about whether the ball was cleaned would be resolved against the player.

Linda

Copyright © 2008 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.