Linda,
I hope you are very well.
Playing stroke play in our course, one player hit his shot
from a side bunker to a green located next to a water hazard. When this player
hit his ball he realized that it would finish in the water, so he asked his
fellow competitor to stop the ball. So he did.
I know that in this case the fellow competitor is an outside
agency (Rules 19.4 and 19.1), but what happens if I consider Rule 1.2? In this
case the fellow competitor stopped the ball intentionally by the request of the
player who made the shot.
Thank you very much for your answer.
Lou from Argentina
Dear Lou,
Players are not permitted to do anything that would affect
the movement of a ball in play [Rule 1-2]. Both the player who asked that his
ball be stopped and the fellow competitor who stopped the ball have possibly
breached Rule 1-2.
This is not a clear-cut issue; it would have to be resolved
by the Committee. If the Committee decides that the breach is serious, both
players may be disqualified. If the Committee decides that the breach is not
serious, both players may incur a two-stroke penalty for a breach of Rule 1-2. A
likely decision would be that the player who hit the ball would be disqualified
for a serious breach of Rule 1-2 [Rule 1-2, Note 1; Decision 1-2/0.5], and the
fellow competitor who caught the ball may be assessed a two-stroke penalty
[Decision 1-2/5.5] or may be assessed no penalty at all.
In the case where the Committee decides that the breach is
not serious and both players are allowed to continue, here is the procedure for
the player who hit the ball:
• If the ball was stopped in the air (the fellow competitor
caught it), the spot where the ball would have come to rest must be estimated and the ball dropped on that spot. If that spot will be in the water, the player must estimate where the ball would have crossed the margin of the hazard and take his relief under Rule 26-1 with reference to that spot [Decision 19-1/4.1].
• If the ball was stopped on the ground, the player will play the ball as it lies.
• If the ball was stopped on the ground, the player will play the ball as it lies.
• In either case, if the ball is in the water hazard, and
the player decides to take relief, he will incur an additional penalty stroke
under Rule 26-1 for taking relief from a water hazard.
If the fellow competitor does not touch the ball (either
ignores the request or is unable to contact the ball), neither player is penalized.
Simply asking that a player stop your ball does not result in a penalty.
This answer has been reviewed with several rules officials.
Linda
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