Friday, June 26, 2015

Ask Linda #1092-Play OB ball

Hello Linda,

One of the players in our group hit his Tee shot into the fairway. His second shot from the fairway went out of bounds. We told him his ball is out of bounds but he said it is not. He then hit his third shot from the out of bounds area and the ball went into the green and then he two putted to hole out

We told him that he will be disqualified by the Tournament Committee. So what he did was he corrected his error and went back to where he hit his ball from the fairway to the out of bounds area. His next shot went into the green and he 2 putted to hole out.

My question is can he correct his error after he holed out? If so, what is his score?

Thank you again so much for your help.
Lou from Daly City, California

Dear Lou,

A ball that lies out of bounds is no longer in play. When the player hit his ball that went out of bounds, he hit a wrong ball [Definitions of "Wrong Ball" and "Ball in Play"].   He incurs a two-stroke penalty for hitting a wrong ball, and an additional one-stroke penalty under Rule 27-1 when he hits another ball from the spot where he hit the ball that went out of bounds [Decision 15/6]. He must correct the error before he tees off on the next hole [Rule 15-3b].

Let’s count his score:
1 – Tee shot.
2 – Shot from fairway that goes out of bounds.
3 & 4 – Two-stroke penalty for hitting a wrong ball when he hits the ball that lies out of bounds.
5 – One-stroke penalty, proceeding under stroke and distance for a ball that lies out of bounds.
6 – Shot from fairway onto the green.
7 & 8 – Two putts.

The player scored an 8.

Linda
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