Hi Linda,
In a match play game, my opponent's ball came to rest on a
sprinkler head about 8 feet from the green.
He asked for relief from the sprinkler head.
I said, "yes, no problem."
He then simply picked up his ball without marking it.
He dropped the ball and it rolled to about 1.5 feet behind
the sprinkler head and about 1 club away from the drop. The sprinkler head
would not have affected his next swing or stance.
If he was to putt, the sprinkler head would have been an
issue, but there is no local rule about putting and sprinkler heads.
He picked up the ball without marking it and re-dropped the
ball.
The ball then rolled about a club behind where he dropped it
and was going to roll down a hill but he caught it before he did.
He then just placed the ball next to the sprinkler head.
1. Should he have marked the ball as close to where it lay on the sprinkler head before picking it up?
2. Should he have asked for a ruling before he picked up the
dropped ball?
3. Should he have then marked it before he picked up that
ball?
4. Is he allowed to catch the ball after it had only rolled
about a club away from the 2nd drop?
5. Should he have asked for a ruling before he picked up the
2nd dropped ball?
6. Should he then have asked where he should now place the
ball?
Is it a loss of hole for any or all of these breaches?
Sorry. Many questions.
Lou from Australia
Dear Lou,
Many questions, but most of them are moot, as you will soon
understand.
A sprinkler head is an immovable obstruction. The player is
entitled to complete relief plus one club-length. He is not required to mark
the ball before he picks it up, since he will not be replacing it on the same
spot [Rule 20-1]. Nor is he required to mark the area in which he is permitted
to drop the ball, provided that the ball, when dropped, hits the ground on a
spot that is obviously in the correct area.
I’m going to assume that the player dropped the ball in the
prescribed area. It now lies no closer to the hole, and the sprinkler head does
not interfere with his stance or the area of his intended swing. Since there is
no Local Rule providing relief for a sprinkler head on the player’s line of
putt when his ball lies within two club-lengths of the obstruction and the
obstruction lies within two club-lengths of the green, the drop is good, and
the ball is in play.
When the player lifted his ball in play, he incurred a
one-stroke penalty and was required to replace the ball [Rule 18-2a]. None of
the lifting and dropping and re-dropping afterwards would have mattered if
someone had told him he was required to replace the ball; had he replaced the
ball before hitting it, the only penalty would be the one stroke for lifting
his ball in play [Rule 20-6]. However, once
he hit the ball that he placed beside the sprinkler head, he lost the hole for playing
from a wrong place.
Looking at your list of questions, the answers are…
1. Not required.
2. Most certainly. A correct ruling would have saved him
from losing the hole.
3–6. Not applicable, as he was not entitled to lift the ball
after the first drop.
Linda
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