Hi Linda,
During a round this weekend with friends, one of the players
hit an approach shot into the woods. He came and retrieved his ball
and placed it back down from his original hitting location and proceeded
to hit it in the woods again, but this time at least it was playable. At the
time of his first strike of the ball it was his 4th shot on the hole. His
second attempt in my eyes would have been his 6th shot (his 5th was his placement
from the woods). He than chunked his next shot, than chipped on and 2
putted for what I would have counted as a 10. He scored himself a 7. After
questioning him on his score, he proceeded to tell me that there was no penalty
on his first ball in the woods because he was taking a practice swing and
accidently hit the ball forward with NO intention to hit the ball. He said this
was in the Rules. I have never seen this before in all my playing
days, and was under the assumption that as long as the ball is
advanced with the club it is considered a stroke. Could you be so kind to
clear this up for me? There were no harsh words between us or arguments, just
questioning his call, if you were wondering. And no one in our group seemed to
know the rule exactly to give anyone advice.
Regards,
Faithful fan
Lou from Cleveland, Ohio
Dear Lou,
In order for a swing to be considered a stroke, the player
must intend to hit the ball [Definition of “Stroke”]. If he accidentally moves
the ball with a practice swing, this is not a stroke. Since this happened after
the ball was in play (as opposed to on the teeing ground), the player is penalized one stroke for moving his
ball in play [Rule 18-2]. He must
replace the ball.
The player scored a nine on the hole. His accidental
movement of the ball did not count as a stroke, but he did incur a penalty
stroke, so his ball lay four when he replaced it. Add the second shot into the woods, the chunk, the chip, and
the two putts for a total of nine.
The answer changes if the player tees up his ball on the
teeing ground and then accidentally moves it with a practice swing. In this
case, the player does not incur a penalty. There is no penalty for accidentally
moving a ball that is not in play. The
ball is not in play until a stroke has been made from the teeing ground [Definition
of “Ball in Play”].
Linda
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
