2008 #15 Can Partner Replace Ball?

THE SCENE:
You are playing 4-ball (best ball of the twosome) on hole #1 of the Charger. Mary sliced her drive into the bunker on the right. You slice your drive, too, but as you hold your breath it lands short of the bunker. As you drive up to it you see that it is almost buried in deep rough. So, you pull out your Rescue club and swing. The rough grabs your club and the ball bounces into the bunker. But you can see it now and it is not your ball. You murmur an expletive. “I’m sorry,” you say as you pick up the ball. You know that you can’t replace it so you hold it out to the ball’s owner.

But she is taking a practice swing, so her partner takes the ball and says, “I’ll take care of it. I know where it was.” And she places the ball exactly where it was before you hit it. Then the ball’s owner takes her stance and hits it.

You can’t believe what you are seeing. You got penalized for this last week and you know the rule. You pull out your Rules of Golf book and show it to the ball’s owner. “You see, right there under rule 15-3 it says the owner must replace the ball. You are penalized one stroke.”

What should the owner do?
A.  She says, “It was my partner! She can always place or replace my ball.”
B.  The owner reads the rule and agrees to take a penalty of 1 stroke.

A is correct.

Look at the following decicion:

20-3a/0.5  Whether Player Himself Must Place or Replace Ball
Q.  Rule 20-3a states: “A ball to be placed under the Rules must be placed by the player or his partner. If a ball is to be replaced, the player, his partner or the person who lifted or moved it must place it on the spot from which it was lifted or moved.” On the other hand, other Rules, e.g., Rule 12-2, state that the player must place or replace the ball. Does Rule 20-3a override other Rules which imply that the player himself must place or replace the ball?



A. Yes



In other words, even when the rule specifically says that the player, herself, must place or replace the ball, it is still permisable for the player’s partner or the person who lifted the ball to do the replacing.



REMEMBER: If you must place or replace a ball, your partner can do it for you.

2008 #14 Who Should Replace a Wrong Ball?

THE SCENE:
You are playing hole #2 and two drives have landed in the deep rough on the right side of the fairway. You know where your ball landed so you drive to that spot, find a ball and hit it. Then you point to the other ball nearby and see that it is in fact your own ball. Oh, no! You have hit a wrong ball. A two stroke penalty! “I’m sorry,” you cry. "I hit your ball by mistake. But here, I know exactly where it was." You pull another ball out of your pocket and place it where her ball was.

The owner of the ball walks over, takes her stance and hits the ball. But then one of the other players challenges her. “You, the ball’s owner, have to place the ball. You can’t let her do it for you. That’s a 2 stroke penalty.”

What should the owner do?
A.  The owner knows the challenger is right so she takes a 2 stroke penalty.
B.  The owner knows the challenger is right but says the penalty is only 1 stroke.

B is correct.

Look at Rule #15
15-3 Wrong Ball
If the wrong ball belongs to another player, its owner must place a ball on the spot from which the wrong ball was first played.

And look at Rule 20-3

If the ball is placed or replaced by any other person and the error is not corrected as provided in Rule 20-6, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke.

This is new. In 2008 this rule was changed to reduce the penalty from 2 strokes to 1 stroke.

REMEMBER: If someone hits your ball by mistake, be sure that you, the ball’s owner, place a new ball on the spot from where it was hit.

2007 #12 Wrong Ball - Must You Go Back?

THE SCENE:
In a Tuesday, stroke play event, you are playing hole #2. Your drive lands in the rough; the other players’ drives all stop on the fairway. You go forward, find a ball in the rough and hit it onto the green. You don’t realize there is a problem until you start to tee off on hole #3. As you tee your ball up you realize that it is a practice ball, not your ball at all. You ponder the situation and finally realize that when you hit a ball out of the rough back on hole #2, you hit a wrong ball.

What Should You Do?
A. You didn’t hit one of the other players’ balls so it’s not really a Wrong Ball. Hit your tee shot and play hole #3.
B. It is too far to go all the way back to search for your ball. You will slow up play for your group and those behind you, too. Take your 2-stroke penalty and play on.
C. Go back to hole #2. Find your ball and play it into the hole. If you can’t find it, treat it as a lost ball and go back to where you hit before - the tee on hole #2. Take a one stroke penalty for the lost ball and hit again. Whether you find your ball or not, take a 2 stroke penalty for hitting a wrong ball but don’t count any strokes you made with the wrong ball.

C is correct

I know going all the way back seems ridiculous. But if you don’t and you tee off on the next hole, you will be disqualified. See the rule.

15-3 Wrong Ball
b. Stroke Play
If a competitor makes a stroke or Strokes at a wrong ball that is not in a hazard, he incurs a penalty of two strokes.
The competitor must correct his mistake by playing the correct ball or by proceeding under the Rules. If he fails to correct his mistake before making a stroke on the next teeing ground, or in the case of the last hole of the round, fails to declare his intention to correct his mistake before leaving the putting green, he is disqualified. 
Strokes made by a competitor with a wrong ball do not count in his score.

REMEMBER: If you hit a wrong ball, unless you are playing Match Play, you must go back. Otherwise you will be disqualified.