Rule 14: Procedures for Ball: Marking, Lifting and Cleaning; Replacing on Spot; Dropping in Relief Area; Playing from Wrong Place
R. 14.1a: Be aware that a loose impediment may not be used to mark your ball. You may remember that the Definition of “Ball-Marker” states it is an artificial object, such as a tee, a coin, or an object designed to be a ball-marker. If you use a ball-marker to mark your ball, you must remove it after you replace your ball, before you make a stroke. You may mark the ball on any side, as long as it is right next to it. You may also mark a ball by holding a club on the ground right next to the ball, but be aware this may be risky. For example, if you mark and lift a ball in the fairway under a rule that requires the ball to be replaced and the contact between the club and the ground is broken before the ball is replaced, you will likely get a penalty stroke under R. 9.7. You must mark a ball when a Rule requires it to be replaced on its original spot; you do not have to mark a ball when you are taking relief under a Rule.
R. 14.1b: Only you and someone you authorize may lift your ball. Such authorization must be given each time the ball is lifted. Your caddie may lift your ball without authorization on the putting green, but not elsewhere.
R. 14.2a: When you are required to replace your ball, you must use the original ball unless: (1) the original ball can’t be recovered easily and quickly or is cut or cracked; (2) play resumes after it was stopped; or (3) another player played your ball.
R. 14.2b: Only you or the person who lifted or moved your ball are allowed to replace your ball. When you replace your ball, you must place it in the “right way,” which means setting it down on the required spot and letting it go so that it stays on that spot. If the ball is replaced on the required spot in any other way, such as by rolling by hand or with a club, the player gets one penalty stroke. If the ball does not stay on the required spot, see R.14.2e below.
R. 14.2c and Int. 14.2c/1: You must replace your ball on its original spot, including its vertical location. If that spot was on, under, or against any immovable obstruction, integral object, boundary object, or growing or attached natural object, replace the ball on that spot on, under or against those objects.You may align your ball in any way (e.g., line up the trademark), but if there is mud attached you may not set the ball so it rests on the mud, unless that was its original position.
R. 14.2d: If your original lie was altered, you must re-create the original lie if your ball was in sand anywhere on the course. If you do not, you have played from a wrong place and you get the general penalty. Anywhere except sand, you must replace your ball by placing it on the nearest spot with a lie most similar to the original lie within one club-length, not nearer the hole, and in the same area of the course as your original spot. If you know your original lie was altered, but you don’t know what the lie was, you must estimate the original lie.
R. 14.2e: If your replaced ball will not stay on its original spot after two tries, you must replace it at the nearest spot where it will remain at rest that is not nearer the hole and is in the same area as the original spot (i.e., general area, bunker, penalty area). On the putting green, the nearest spot must be on the green or in the general area. If the original spot is in a bunker or penalty area, and there is no spot within that area where the ball will remain at rest that is not nearer the hole, you must take penalty relief outside the area. For example, if your ball is trapped by a rake in the back of a bunker on the downslope, your two choices are stroke and distance (for one penalty stroke) or back-on-the-line relief outside the bunker (for two penalty strokes).
Note: The back-on-the-line two-stroke penalty relief outside the bunker is specific to a ball that is on or against a movable obstruction at the back of the bunker on the downslope where there is no spot that a replaced ball will come to rest that is not nearer the hole. When you take back-on-the-line relief outside a bunker from an abnormal course condition, the penalty is only one stroke under R. 16.1c(2).
R. 14.3a, b, c: Whenever you must drop a ball to take relief, you may use the original ball or another ball. You must drop the ball in what the Rules are now calling the “right way,” which means: You must drop your ball; no one else may do so (in individual forms of play). You must drop it straight down from knee height (the height of your knee when you are standing straight). The ball may not touch your body or equipment before it hits the ground. (If it touches your body or equipment before it hits the ground, you must drop again, and this drop does not count as one of the two you are allowed before you must place the ball.) You must drop the ball in the relief area (see Diagram 14.3c).If you breach any of these requirements, you have dropped a ball in a “wrong way.” If you play a ball dropped in a wrong way from within the relief area, the penalty is one stroke; from outside the relief area, you get the general penalty. You will also get the general penalty if you place it when you should have dropped it. If you have dropped a ball in the right way, and it comes to rest in the relief area, you must play the ball as it lies, even if it hit any person (including you), equipment, or outside influence after it hit the ground (no penalty). December 2018 Clarification: The ball is in the relief area when any part of the ball is within the one or two club-length measurement. If the ball comes to rest outside the relief area, you must drop a second time. After that you will have to place the ball on the spot where it hit the ground after the second drop. If it still will not stay on the spot, you must place it on the nearest spot where it will remain at rest that is not nearer the hole and in the same area of the course. This spot may be outside the relief area.
R. 14.5: This is known as the “eraser rule.” If you substitute another ball for the original when not permitted, or your ball was replaced, dropped, or placed in a wrong place (or came to rest in a wrong place), in a wrong way, or by using a procedure that did not apply, you may lift your ball without penalty and correct (or “erase”) the mistake, but only if you do it before you play the ball.
Int. 14.5b(3)/1: If you take back-on-the-line relief and your ball dropped in the right way rolls out of the relief area, you may choose a different reference point that is closer to or further from the hole for your second drop. One reason you may want to do this is if you inadvertently choose a reference point where the ground slopes down towards the hole; you may want to look for a flatter spot on the line to choose as your new reference point for the second drop.
R. 14.6: When you play a ball under stroke and distance, and your previous shot was from:
(1) the teeing area, you may play from anywhere within the teeing area, and you may tee the ball;
(2) the general area, penalty area, or bunker, you must drop in this relief area: the reference point is the spot (or estimated spot) where you hit your previous shot, the size is within one club-length of the reference point, the relief area is in the same area as the reference point and not nearer the hole;
(3) the putting green, you must place a ball on the original spot (estimated, if not known). See Diagram 14.6.
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
