Hi Linda,
I will try my best to explain a situation and need another set of eyes to review it. (I am a referee.)
While playing in a team stroke play event where both players tee off and choose the best of the tee shots (Ambrose) where both balls will be hit from, this happened:
Player 1 hit to a position where both 1 and 2 decided they would hit from. Player 1 went forward and lifted players 2’s ball from its position between the trees and came out on to the fairway and threw it to player 2.
Player 1 played first as was required by the Ambrose rules of the day. Player 2 then dropped his ball as close to the same position and then took his stance. On looking down he noticed that it was not his ball.
His ball was about 40 meters forward on the fairway. Player 1 had in fact lifted an opponent’s ball by mistake and thrown it to player 2. (This ball was not in a position selected by the other team and would have been lifted anyway.)
Player 2 then retrieved his ball from 40 meters away and dropped it at the original position selected and play continued. Do you see any rules breach?
Both opponents suggested that player 2 should just hit his ball from the mark 40 meters ahead, but both 1 and 2 decided it was their mistake for choosing the poorer of the two positions.
Regards,
Lou from New Zealand
P.S I was player 2 :-)
Dear Lou,
The Ambrose format, which is similar to a Scramble, is not governed by the Rules of Golf. Any game where you are picking up your ball and moving it to a better place (or a less unfavorable place) is so contrary to the Rules that the governing bodies provide no official rules for such formats.
However, I will unofficially answer your question, trying to use golf logic and a sense of what is fair.
Once your partner hit his ball, you were obligated to hit from the same place. Your opponents’ suggestion that you move forward 40 meters to where your ball lay is contrary to the “rules” for scrambles.
I see no breach in picking up your opponent’s ball and giving it to him once you realized it wasn’t yours. Your opponents were not planning to hit that ball, so in a sense you were doing them a favor. In all honesty, I doubt there would be a penalty even if your opponents were going to choose that location for their next shot. Since you are lifting and placing your ball on every shot, you could simply replace the ball for them. No harm, no foul.
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
