I'd be most grateful if you could answer this question, which has caused a minor rift in our Saturday golfing group.
We often play a friendly competitive match on Saturdays, drawing cards for opponents. Last week an unusual situation arose which had us looking in the rulebook but with no answer to be found!
Both Player A and Player B's balls are on the green, Player B arrives on the green first and discovering Player A's ball on his putting line, marks Player A's ball and tosses it to the side of the green.
Player A arrives at the green, not knowing his ball has been moved, marks and then plays his ball from the incorrect location. Player B then claims Player A has played from a wrong position and claimed the hole.
Regards,
Lou
Dear Lou,
There is no penalty to Player A, whose ball was moved by Player B. The bad news for Player B is that he will either lose the hole or be disqualified from the match.
Here is how it all plays out under the Rules:
When Player B lifts Player A’s ball on the green, without Player A’s knowledge and permission, Player B incurs a one-stroke penalty for moving Player A’s ball. This is a match play rule [Rule 18-3b].
Player B is required to inform his opponent when he incurs a penalty, and he must do so before his opponent plays his next stroke. Since Player B did not inform Player A that he incurred a penalty for lifting Player A’s ball, Player B loses the hole for giving wrong information [Rule 9-2b(i)].
However, there is a much more serious matter to consider here – the question of why Player B did not tell Player A that his ball was not in the correct place, allowed him to putt that ball, and then claimed the hole for himself. This matter needs to be brought before the Committee. The Committee must determine why Player B acted as he did. If it is determined that the motive was malicious (i.e., that Player B was trying to trick Player A into losing the hole), then Player B should be disqualified under Rule 33-7 for a serious breach of etiquette. On the other hand, if it is determined that Player B’s indiscretion was accidental (perhaps he wasn’t paying attention, or he simply forgot), then the ruling would be that he lost the hole.
I sincerely hope that this was a “senior moment” rather than a planned misdeed on the part of Player B. Good sportsmanship is an essential ingredient in a game that is usually played without the supervision of officials.
Linda
Copyright © 2011 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
Linda
Copyright © 2011 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
