Hi Linda,
A player stepped on a thin branch lying on the ground. Although
not originally apparent, the branch was touching his ball and his action caused
the ball to move. He thought the ball may have returned to its original
position when he stepped off the branch, but was not sure. It was decided that
this was unlikely and he accepted the penalty and played from where the ball
lay.
In accepting the penalty, he agreed that the ball had moved
and a fellow competitor suggested he should have a further penalty for playing
from a wrong place.
Should the player have lifted the ball and dropped as near
as possible to the original position or would it be acceptable that the ball
was lying in or very near to the original position, giving no advantage and
could be played as it lay?
Regards,
Lou from France
Dear Lou,
The decision to enforce a Rule is not dependent on whether
the player has gained an advantage. Rules are rules. They are the same for
everyone, and must be enforced when they are breached.
The player incurs one penalty stroke for moving his ball in
play. If he does not replace the ball before he hits it, he incurs an
additional penalty stroke for a total of two penalty strokes in stroke play,
loss of hole in match play [Rule 18-2; Penalty Statement for Breach of Rule 18
(in red following Rule 18-6)].
Since the player knew the spot where the ball originally
lay, he would place the ball on that
spot.
Linda
Copyright © 2017 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
