Dear Linda,
In a stroke play comp Player A hits his drive into the thick
rough and elects to play a provisional ball. All four players search and find
the first ball, which is now in play.
Player B picks up A's provisional ball on his way past
it then drops it on the fairway and returns it to A by hitting it forward
towards him with a 9 iron.
Has B played a practice shot or infringed any rule and if so
what is the penalty?
Thanking you in anticipation,
Lou from N. Ireland
Dear Lou,
There is a Decision that allows a player to hit a ball to
another player on an adjacent fairway who requests the return of an errant
shot. In this Decision [7-2/5.5], the player is too far away for a toss, and
hitting the ball back is deemed a courtesy.
In your scenario, both players are in the same group, and it
would be a simple matter to hand over the ball when the players catch up to one
another. While the player returning the ball may not have meant for the return
shot to be a practice stroke, it might be interpreted as such by a Committee reviewing
the scenario. The penalty would be two strokes under Rule 7-2 if the Committee
ruled against the player.
With no pressing need to return the ball immediately, the
prudent and considerate procedure would be to return the ball by hand. Hitting
the ball runs the risks of a two-stroke penalty and of injuring a player if the
ball is miss-hit.
Linda
Copyright © 2014 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
