The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’’e got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.
If I hit a ball onto the green and it stops at the top of a slope, can my caddie run up and mark it before a gust of wind might make it roll back down the slope? – Rick Gacho, via email
Presumably you are tipping this looper well, yes? Indeed, your caddie — or even, dare we say, you — can run like the wind to prevent any breeze from blowing your ball away.
Rule 14.1 gives a caddie the right to mark and lift a player’s ball on the putting green … assuming the ball hasn’t already started rolling. Just give him or her a little something, you know, for the effort.
For more marking guidance from out guru, read on …
In stroke play, player A didn’t mark his ball on the green. Player B putted, with his ball headed toward A’s ball. Player C picked up A’s ball before the collision and replaced it after B’s ball passed. Who is the penalty on, if anyone? – Joe Wisinski, Clearwater, Fla.
Player D, just because he wasn’t paying attention. Kidding!
Anyone possessed of vintage Rules knowledge would be convinced that someone is in trouble. In the here and now, however, so long as C isn’t A’s partner (which is obviously not the case here) there is no penalty to anyone. Generally, before lifting a ball that has to be replaced, you need to mark it first, and if A had requested C to lift, A would’ve been on the hook for C’s failure — but since that’s not the case, Rule 9.6 applies here.
There’s no penalty to A for C’s lifting of the ball and then no penalty to C under Rule 11.3 because a ball at rest on the putting green may be lifted while another ball is in motion. Now … who’s on first?
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: golf.com
