Hello Linda,
Help..... The new modified rules are generating some very simple but confusing situations. My ball on the green was hit and moved by a ball off the green. I put my ball back where it was. One of my fellow players (casual round) said, "you don't have to put your ball back, you didn't mark it yet." In an effort to learn the new rule – replacing ball AFTER being marked – we are using a phrase "you mark it you own it." She argued that the rule changed and I do not have to put my ball back because I have not marked it yet. My response was the rule for a ball in motion has not changed and I have to put my ball back.
Your help would be greatly appreciated because she was not satisfied with that answer. She insisted that the rule for the putting green changed and I should not have put my ball back!
Thank you,
Lulu from South Carolina
Dear Lulu,
Your understanding is correct.
When your ball on the putting green has been moved by natural forces (wind, water, gravity), you must replace it if the ball has already been lifted and replaced; you must play it from its new spot if the ball has not been lifted and replaced. This is Rule 13.1d(2), and is the new Rule for 2019.
A ball in motion is not a natural force; it is an outside influence (please read the Definitions of these two new terms). When a ball at rest is moved by an outside influence, the moved ball must be replaced on its original spot. If you do not know the precise spot, you must estimate it [Rule 9.6].
Linda
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