Good day, Linda.
Hit ball in bunker, hit front and came back at me. Ball
struck me (2 strokes) fell behind me and while moving backward to miss being
hit (failed) stepped on ball that had fallen behind me. I took 2 more strokes. So
after striking ball twice I was laying 6 with buried ball. Someone said there
was limit to total penalty strokes on one action. Please comment.
Lou from Tucson, Arizona
Dear Lou,
You are assessing yourself too many penalty strokes, Lou.
Let’s review the pertinent Rules.
When a player accidentally stops or deflects his own ball,
he incurs a one-stroke penalty and
must play the ball as it lies [Rule 19-2]. And when a player moves his ball at
rest in a bunker (which you did when you stepped on it), the penalty is one stroke, the lie must be recreated,
and the ball replaced. The maximum number of penalty strokes you might have
incurred is two.
However, both acts are related, and occurred very close to
each other in terms of time and location. As such, a Committee would most
likely assess you only one penalty stroke, total.
Decision 1-4/12 explains whether single or multiple
penalties are incurred when more than one Rule is breached. It is a very
detailed Decision, providing numerous examples. You might want to take a look
at it.
Linda
Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
