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Our group was teeing off on a par 3. I hit a nice shot about 10 feet left of the pin, then a playing partner hit one that, from our point of view, appeared to roll just inside of my ball. At the green, thinking his was closer, I marked the other ball…turns out that was his ball. We immediately noticed the mistake, and I replaced the ball to its original spot. Did I violate any rule, or is it “no harm, no foul”? – Scott Baxendale, Arlington Heights, IL
Happily and indubitably, it is the latter — no harm, no foul.
In stroke play, you’re an outside influence and as such wouldn’t be subject to penalty for lifting the other player’s ball anyway (see Rule 9.6). In match play (see Rule 9.5), while there is a one-stroke penalty attached to deliberately lifting an opponent’s ball, there is an exception for exactly the situation you describe — mistakenly lifting the ball thinking it’s your own.
As long as the ball was put back on the right spot, there is no penalty to anybody and play on … and make the putt, please!
For more mark-related guidance from our guru, read on …
My brother and I both missed a green, on the same line, leaving treacherous downhill chips. He was away, and I said that I’d mark my ball despite it not being on the putting surface, as it might potentially assist him. Before I could, however, he chipped… and croqueted my ball over the other side of the green while his trickled down near the hole. I replaced my ball on the original spot and told him to replay his shot, as I’d wanted to mark. “Too bad,” was his reply. Penalty? Can’t you mark any time you think your opponent could gain an unfair advantage? – Peter Starshak, via email
The relevant term, “helping ball,” only applies to a ball on the putting green. Ergo, since your ball wasn’t on the green you weren’t allowed to mark your ball solely because you thought it might help — your brother was allowed to make the stroke with it still in place.
Had your ball been on the putting green, the ruling’s script would be flipped; Rule 15.3a would penalize your brother the general penalty of loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play for making the stroke without waiting for your ball to be marked.
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