Linda,
If, in searching for a ball in long grass, a player steps on
a hidden one and then marks the location and discovers it is his, is that ball
deemed to have moved (perhaps vertically?) if it is not certain that it has
moved?
Lou from England
Dear Lou,
If there were any doubt, it would be resolved against the
player. Generally, you would have to assume that the ball moved if the player
stepped on it.
Response from Lou:
Regarding this answer, I tend to agree with you and would
tend to call a penalty on myself. But I feel it is solely down to the player to
decide if the ball is likely to have moved in this circumstance, since nobody
would have seen it and the grass might have sprung the ball back into its
original position and it might not be certain that it has moved.
Again, I am fairly sure that most players would assume it
had not moved (or overlook the possibility) and play on without
penalty. Also, they could easily forget to mark the position before picking it
up to inspect it, since it was hidden. The guy I was playing with was very
surprised when I penalised myself.
And my answer:
Dear Lou,
I'm going to stick with my original answer [which has since been confirmed by a Rules
official from the R&A]. Generally, when you have all these
"maybes" and "might haves" and "assumptions," the
player is penalized. A ball that is stepped on changes position just about
every time. This is not a case where the player is entitled to the benefit of
the doubt; it's possible even the player cannot accurately determine whether
the ball was moved.
The player incurs a one-stroke penalty for moving his ball
in play [Rule 18-2a], and must replace the ball. Since it is likely he will not
know the exact spot, he must drop the ball [Rule 20-3c].
Linda
Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
