The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.
My approach shot landed on the lip of the bunker, held in place by the handle of the sand rake. If I move the handle, the ball drops into the sand trap. The rules state the rake is a movable object and can be moved with the ball replaced to its original spot. Here’s the rub: the ball won’t stay put — it rolls down the shoulder of the bunker closer to the hole, and in a more favorable lie in the fairway. Can I play from the new position? —Richard Fetterman, Banning, CA
Nice and reasonable though that may sound, Richard, verily you cannot. Though it was held in place by the rake, your ball came to rest on a specific spot. That rake, as you note, is a movable obstruction, but per Rule 15.2 you need to put the ball back if it then moves.
If the ball doesn’t stay put when you try to replace it, after the second try you then hunt for the nearest spot in the correct area of the course and not nearer the hole where the ball will stay put — see Rule 14.2e.
For more placement guidance from our guru, read on …
I recently witnessed something unfair at a pro tournament. A player’s approach shot landed and stopped on the middle of the green. His playing partner needed a ruling before playing his approach, which took several minutes. During this delay, a huge gust of wind blew across the green, sending the ball off the putting surface. Under these unusual circumstances, can the ball really not be replaced where it was? —Mike Keller, via email
Verily it cannot, Mike, though it may seem unfair. If the ball had not already been lifted and replaced, then the player needed to play the ball as it lies.
It’s no different than had the same thing happened after a 250-yard approach and the ball started to roll away while the players were walking toward the green — the ball was moved by natural forces, so Rule 9.3 says to play it as it lies from where it rolled to.
We will also note that the first player could have walked ahead and marked his ball while his partner was getting the ruling, which would have spared him a situation that does indeed blow.
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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
