Ask Linda #1094-Ball lifted from green ends up in water hazard

Linda, a couple of years ago I was a walking scorekeeper on the web.com tour. A player had marked his ball on the green and then threw the ball to his caddie to be cleaned. The caddie did not like the distance the ball was thrown to him, but cleaned the ball and then threw it back to the player. The player missed the thrown ball and it almost went into a water hazard. Had this ball been lost would the player have been penalized for not completing the hole with the original ball?

Thanks,

Lou from Tennessee

Dear Lou,

Yes. No substitution is permitted when a ball is marked and lifted on the green. The penalty is two strokes in stroke play, loss of hole in match play [Decision 15-2/1].

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1093-Clean ball lifted from casual water

Dear Linda,

When playing the other day, my opponent’s ball landed in casual water in a bunker. She was able to take relief from the water in accordance with the rules. She lifted the ball and cleaned it before taking the prescribed drop. Was she permitted to clean the ball under these circumstances?

Regards,

Lulu from Essex, England

Dear Lulu,

Yes. The ball may be cleaned when you are taking relief from casual water, which is an “abnormal ground condition” [Rule 25-1b].

When the Rules allow you to lift a ball, there are only three instances when you may not clean it:

1. To determine if it is unfit for play (visibly cut, cracked, or out of shape).

2. To identify the ball. In this case you may clean off only what is necessary to see if the ball is yours.

3. When someone asks you to lift a ball that interferes with her play, or when you lift your ball because it will assist someone’s play.

Please read Rule 21, Cleaning Ball. You may be pleasantly surprised at how clear and how short it is!

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1092, revised

Please revisit Ask Linda # 1092 (http://lindamillergolf.blogspot.com/2015/06/ask-linda-1092-play-ob-ball.html). It has been revised. A ball that lies out of bounds is no longer "in play." If a player hits such a ball, he has played a wrong ball [Decision 15/6].

Ask Linda #1092-Play OB ball

Hello Linda,

One of the players in our group hit his Tee shot into the fairway. His second shot from the fairway went out of bounds. We told him his ball is out of bounds but he said it is not. He then hit his third shot from the out of bounds area and the ball went into the green and then he two putted to hole out

We told him that he will be disqualified by the Tournament Committee. So what he did was he corrected his error and went back to where he hit his ball from the fairway to the out of bounds area. His next shot went into the green and he 2 putted to hole out.

My question is can he correct his error after he holed out? If so, what is his score?

Thank you again so much for your help.

Lou from Daly City, California

Dear Lou,

A ball that lies out of bounds is no longer in play. When the player hit his ball that went out of bounds, he hit a wrong ball [Definitions of "Wrong Ball" and "Ball in Play"].   He incurs a two-stroke penalty for hitting a wrong ball, and an additional one-stroke penalty under Rule 27-1 when he hits another ball from the spot where he hit the ball that went out of bounds [Decision 15/6]. He must correct the error before he tees off on the next hole [Rule 15-3b].

Let’s count his score:

1 – Tee shot.

2 – Shot from fairway that goes out of bounds.

3 & 4 – Two-stroke penalty for hitting a wrong ball when he hits the ball that lies out of bounds.

5 – One-stroke penalty, proceeding under stroke and distance for a ball that lies out of bounds.

6 – Shot from fairway onto the green.

7 & 8 – Two putts.

The player scored an 8.

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1091-Putt from wrong place

Dear Linda,

I was playing stroke play in a tournament. Both of us were "on the green". My ball was in the direct line of my partner's 20-foot putting path. After marking my ball, she asked me to place the marker to the side. So I measured a distance of two putter heads to the left and moved my marker to the new spot. She putted within two feet of the hole and asked to finish. After putting my ball, I realized I had placed my ball immediately in front of my marker -- without first compensating for the two putter heads I had moved it to the side. She insisted it was her fault, and I should not be assessed any penalty.

Should I have incurred a penalty? One stroke or two?

By the time we got back to the clubhouse, we forgot to ask for a clarification of the rule. Your response will help in any similar situation in the future.

Thanks,

Lulu from Stillwater, Oklahoma

Dear Lulu,

It is your responsibility to remember that you have moved your marker and must replace it before you putt. The penalty for putting from a wrong place is two strokes.

Here’s a tip: When you are asked to move your marker on the putting green, place the marker upside down. The upside-down marker will remind you that you moved it and must move it back before you put your ball down.

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1090-Putt away from hole to assist partner

Hi Linda,

In a four-ball match a player deliberately putts (not in the direction of the hole) onto his partner's line and then putts again to show his partner the line to the hole.

Has the player broken a rule of golf, and, if so, which one?

Regards,

Lou from Edinburgh, UK

Dear Lou,

I answered this question in July of 2012 [Ask Linda #483]. I will reprint it here for you, updating the information to conform with a change in the cited Decision that occurred in the interim:

Dear Lulu,

Golf relies on the integrity of each player. Putting away from the hole to show your partner the line is akin to cheating, and it violates the spirit of the game.

In match play, the player is disqualified from the hole. In addition, since this action assisted her partner, the partner is also disqualified from the hole [Rule 30-3f].

In stroke penalty, the player incurs a two-stroke penalty. Her partner also incurs a two-stroke penalty because the player’s breach assisted her in her play [Rule 31-8].

This question is addressed in Decision 30-3f/6.

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.