Hi Linda,
During stroke play the other day my partner hit her ball out
of a bunker. It looked like a great shot so I started driving over to pick her
up. But unbeknownst to me her ball hit a tree and ricocheted backwards hitting
our cart as I was driving. I believe that if you hit your own cart you incur a
one-stroke penalty. But what would be
the ruling in this case?
Thanks,
Lulu from New Jersey
Dear Lulu,
Your partner incurs a one-stroke penalty and must play the
ball as it lies [Rule 19-2]. At the time the ball struck the cart, the cart and
everything in it were deemed to be your equipment, since you were moving the
cart at the time [Definition of “Equipment”]. However, you were the partner of
the player who hit the ball, and there is a one-stroke penalty when a player’s
ball is accidentally deflected by her partner’s
equipment. The fact that the ball ricocheted off a tree before it hit the cart
is irrelevant.
If the two players had
not been partners, there would
be no penalty in stroke play and the ball would be played as it lies [Rule
19-4]. In match play, the player would have the choice of playing the ball as
it lies or replaying the shot, no penalty either way [Rule 19-3]. When a ball
strikes a moving cart, the cart and
its contents are deemed to be the equipment of the driver, who in this case is not your partner. On the other hand, if
your ball strikes the cart while it is parked,
the cart is now considered your
equipment and you incur a one-stroke
penalty for hitting your own equipment.
Linda
Copyright © 2016 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
