Dear Linda,
A player has marked and lifted her ball on the green. After
she replaces the ball, she steps back to look over her putt. Before she returns
to lift the mark, the wind blows the ball. Should she replace the ball in front
of her mark (which hasn’t moved), or should she play it from its new position?
And what does she do under the same circumstances if the wind blows her ball
into the hole?
Lulu from New York
Dear Lulu,
A ball is in play even though the player’s marker may still
be sitting behind the ball. So if she has marked the ball and not yet lifted
it; or marked the ball, lifted it, replaced it, and left her marker behind the
ball, the ball is in play [Definition of “Ball in Play”].
Wind is not an outside agency [Definition of “Outside
Agency”]. If a ball at rest and in play is moved by wind, the player must play
the ball from its new location [Decision 18-1/12]. If that new location is in
the hole, it’s her lucky day – the ball is holed [Decision 20-3d/1]. So if the
player hits her tee shot onto the green of a Par-3, and the wind subsequently
blows her ball into the hole, she has scored a hole-in-one!
Linda
Copyright © 2016 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
