You are playing in the first stroke play Championship round, on hole #8. All four balls are on the putting green. One is beyond the cup. You are away, putting steeply downhill. None of the players has marked her ball.
What would you do?
A. Ask the players to mark their balls to prevent a 2-stroke penalty if your ball strikes one of them?
B. Say nothing and hope the player whose ball is beyond the cup leaves it there? If your ball misses the cup, her ball could act as a backstop. And she would get the 2-stroke penalty, not you.
A is correct. You would be penalized 2-strokes if your ball, after a stroke on the putting green, hit one of the other balls.
Open your Rules of Golf book to Rule 19-5. You will see the following:
Rule 19 Ball in motion deflected or stopped
19-5. By Another Ball
a. At Rest
If a player’s ball in motion after a stroke is deflected or stopped by a ball in play and at rest, the player must play his ball as it lies. In match play, there is no penalty. In stroke play, there is no penalty unless both balls lay on the putting green prior to the stroke, in which case the player incurs a penalty of two strokes.
REMEMBER: The only time there is a penalty when your ball hits another ball at rest is in stroke play, when both balls are on the green prior to the stroke.
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