Dear Linda –This morning in a friendly stroke play round, my
fellow competitor & myself were both on the fairway, my ball being the
closer one to the green, approximately 10 meters out from the pin. He
wanted to putt on, but my ball was on his line of intended putt. He wanted
me to mark my ball. No placing on the fairway was in place on this
day ["preferred lies" was not in effect]. I did mark and lift my ball & then replaced after he putted onto
the green.
Should I have offered to play my ball first and then mark
and lift once I was on the green?
Regards,
Lulu from Motueka, New Zealand
Dear Lulu,
Your procedure was correct. When another player asks you to
lift your ball because it interferes with his play, you must mark and lift it,
regardless of where you are on the golf course.
In stroke play, you have the option to play first when you
are asked to lift your ball [Rule 22-2] – your choice, not your fellow
competitor’s. In other words, when he asked you to lift your ball, you could have
told him you would play first rather than lift.
Since your ball was not
on the green, please note the following:
• You may not clean the ball.
• You may not lift the ball unless requested to do so. If you lift your ball without a request, you
incur a one-stroke penalty for lifting your ball in play and you must replace
it [Rule 18-2].
Linda
Copyright © 2016 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
