I had a curly situation arise recently that had many
different “expert” answers.
We were playing the 8th par 5 and one of our
group declared his ball unplayable. He measured out two club lengths and left
his club lying on the ground. He then dropped his ball and before it hit the
ground it landed on his club. After all the laughter we then argued:
1. Was there a penalty?
2. If there was a penalty what was it?
3. Should the ball have been re-dropped?
4. Would it have made a difference if the ball hit the
ground before hitting the club?
5. Would there be a different ruling if this drop was for an
OB or lost ball?
6. What rule/interpretation applies?
The player suffered plenty of ridicule, so we did not
penalise him, but what is the correct answer?
I love your site and I find the actual real life
situations a great way to further enhance my rule knowledge.
Cheers,
Lou from Australia
Dear Lou,
If any of the “experts” had opened a Rulebook to support his
answer, he might have found Rule 20-2a, which states that if a player drops a
ball that touches anyone’s equipment (including his own) before or after it
hits the ground, the ball must be re-dropped, without penalty.
Since a golf club meets the Definition of “Equipment,” this
player would have to re-drop. There is no limit to the number of times he
re-drops – every drop that contacts his equipment must be re-dropped. One would
hope that the player would have enough sense to move his club out of the way
after the first drop.
Note that when a player uses small objects to mark the area
where he will have to drop (such as coins or tees), those objects are not
considered “equipment” when used for this purpose. A ball hitting such an
object would not be re-dropped for that reason alone [Definition of
“Equipment”].
Linda
Copyright © 2014 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
