Ask Linda #1519a-Follow-up question to #1519

Linda,

Just to clarify –

If my ball is off the green and I do not ask my opponent, whose ball is close to mine on the fairway to lift her ball and I strike her ball, do I incur a penalty shot?

Lulu from Belfast

Dear Lulu,

If the two balls are so close together that it is reasonable to expect that your stroke will move your opponent’s ball, you will incur a one-stroke penalty if your stroke moves her ball. Your opponent must replace her ball [Decision 18-3b/1].

Linda

Copyright © 2017 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1519-Lift a ball in match play

Linda,

I was playing a match and the balls of my opponent and myself were very close together. I marked my ball to enable my opponent to play. It got us thinking – in what sort of situation do we mark in match play if the golf balls are close together, as we believe on the green there is no penalty if one ball strikes another, unlike stroke play? We are mildly confused.

Thanks,

Lulu from Belfast

Dear Lulu,

You are correct in your understanding that there is no penalty in match play if both balls lie on the putting green and one player’s putted ball strikes another player’s ball at rest [Rule 19-5a]. However, this doesn’t mean that a player should not lift her ball on the putting green. You always have the option to mark and lift your ball on the putting green; you are required to lift it if your opponent (or fellow competitor in stroke play) asks you to do so because it interferes with her play.

When your ball is off the putting green, you may ask another player to lift a ball if it interferes with your play [Rule 22-2]. Be aware that the other player may not lift her ball unless she is asked to do so (assuming her ball does not lie on the putting green). If she lifts it without being asked, she will incur a one-stroke penalty for lifting her ball in play [Rule 18-2]. The ball that is lifted may not be cleaned.

Sometimes a ball lies in a position that might help another golfer. If that ball is yours, you may lift it; if it belongs to someone else, you may ask her to lift it [Rule 22-1]. The player who is asked to lift her ball because it might assist another player is required to lift the ball. An example of this would be if a player’s ball lies behind the hole in a position where it might serve as a backstop for another player’s shot.

Linda

Copyright © 2017 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1518-Player does not wait his turn

Hi Linda,

In a recent round, we had this guy in our group who always went ahead and hit his ball without waiting for us. Most of the time he was already on the green and we were still to make our 2nd or 3rd shot.

The instruction was “ready golf,” but he did that the whole 18 holes without waiting for us. After he hit he just continued to hit until he was on the green.

Is there a penalty for that?

Thank you Linda,

Lou from Daly City, California

Dear Lou,

Was this a tournament? Is this fellow a friend of yours? Did anyone ask him to wait his turn to play?

Hi Linda,

Yes, this was a tournament. He is one of our members. Nobody stopped him from hitting first. Thank you again.

Dear Lou,

The Etiquette section of the rulebook tells us that players should be ready to play as soon as it is their turn. It does not tell us to hit the ball continuously, tee to green, ignoring the presence of our fellow competitors.

Clearly, this fellow misunderstood the instruction to play ready golf. I would like to think that if one of the competitors in your group took a moment to explain to this fellow that, while he needs to be ready to hit when it is his turn, he must nevertheless wait his turn to play. I don’t understand why no one said anything to him – someone should have done so.

If you had tried talking to the fellow, and he ignored your request, the next step would be to try to contact a Committee member. Sometimes players are more inclined to obey an instruction from a person in authority.

If the fellow refused to wait his turn after all these requests, he would be guilty of an etiquette violation. It would be up to the Committee to decide what to do. In this situation, I would think a first violation would incur a warning, and that a further violation would result in disqualification. The Committee has the right to disqualify a player for a serious breach of etiquette [Rule 33-7].

Linda

Copyright © 2017 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1517-Ball enters hazard marked by red stakes

Linda:

We have a green that has water around two sides. There are red lateral hazard stakes marked by the water. If your ball goes across the green and into the water do you play it as a lateral hazard or a water hazard. I thought it was played as a water hazard but someone in our group disagreed. Thanks for your help.

Love how you answer these questions so promptly.

Lulu from Frisco, TX

Dear Lulu,

When the ball last crosses the margin of a hazard at a point where the hazard is marked by red stakes, your ball lies in a lateral water hazard. You are entitled to all of the relief options provided in Rule 26-1.

Linda

Copyright © 2017 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1516-Who may clean the ball?

Hello Linda,

Hope all is well.

We had a foursomes match play competition on the weekend, three teams playing at one time, so all three balls were on the green.

A marked his ball and gave it to a spectator to clean it.

B and C claimed the hole, saying that the spectator was not his caddie and that he had used two caddies.

What's the ruling?

Your help will be appreciated.

Regards,

Lou from Nairobi, Kenya

Dear Lou,

The Rules do not specify who may clean a player’s ball. Rule 21 permits a ball that has been lifted from a putting green to be cleaned, but it does not assign that job to the caddie or, indeed, to any particular person. Anyone may clean the ball. The player in your narrative did not use two caddies when he handed his ball to a spectator for cleaning.  

Linda

Copyright © 2017 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.