Linda,
I understand that a player can call his partner over to mark and lift his/her ball to identify it. Is it permissible to rotate the ball to identify without the need to mark and lift it? I was always under the impression that you could not rotate it as this would be moving a ball in play. However, I watched a video on YouTube that stated you could oscillate it to identify it.
Regards,
Lou from the U.K.
Dear Lou,
I’m willing to bet that the video you watched was not authored by the USGA or the R&A.
There is a very specific procedure for identifying your ball. The player must first inform his opponent (in match play), or his marker or fellow competitor (in stroke play) of his intention to lift the ball. One of these people must be given the opportunity to observe his actions (an opportunity that may be declined). The player may then mark and lift the ball. He must not clean it beyond what is necessary to identify it [Rule 12-2].
Lifting does not preclude rotating or oscillating. However, if the ball is not marked before the player purposely touches or moves it, the player will incur a one-stroke penalty.
Linda
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