2008 #9 Ball Hits Partner’s Equipment

The Scene:
You are playing in a four-ball competition. (Better ball of the two-some) Your ball is in the bunker on hole #7. The flag is in the right back corner. You can’t see the green but you blast your ball out with enough force to land it on the top level of the green.

As you rake the sand in the bunker and climb out onto the green, you hear the other players arguing about penalty strokes. They explain that your ball landed where you wanted it to, but it kept going, all the way across the green and into the fringe where it hit one of your partner’s clubs.

What would you do?
A. Play your ball as it lies, with no penalty. You couldn’t see her club. It wasn’t on the green. There is no Rules infraction.
B. Play your ball as it lies but take a one stroke penalty for hitting your partner’s equipment.

B is correct
This is new because the penalty has been reduced to one stroke. Last year the penalty was two strokes in stroke play, and loss of hole in match play.

Rule 19-2 is very clear. If your ball, in motion, is stopped or deflected by you, your partner or equipment belonging to either of you, you incur a one stroke penalty. See below:

Rule 19 Ball in Motion Deflected or Stopped
19-2 By Player, Partner, Caddie or EquipmentIf a player’s ball is accidentally deflected or stopped by himself, his partner or either of their caddies or equipment, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke.

REMEMBER: When playing with a partner, don’t risk hitting her clubs. Make sure they are out of the way. But if you do, the penalty is now only one stroke.