QUESTION: I hit my second shot from the fairway just outside of a greenside bunker. I was then taking a practice swing and hit my ball! I was not sure what to do next, please help me in case it happens again!

-Mark (Long Beach, CA)

Ruling: You are not the first nor the last person to ever do this! Bad news though, since you caused your ball at rest to move in the general area, you incur a penalty stroke under Rule 9.4 and need to replace the ball from the spot where it was when you accidentally moved it. If you did not replace the ball and played from the new spot, you now incur a total penalty of two strokes from playing from the wrong place but do not need to correct it since it is not considered to be a serious breach.

If this all happened on the putting green and you caused your ball to move accidentally, then there is no penalty but you need to still replace the ball.