Rules Crew -
QUESTION: My friend, Steve, lies one in a deep bunker and plays his next stroke onto the putting green. Because of the depth of the bunker, Steve is unable to see the putting green. While Steve analyzes his next stroke, another friend, Daniel, marks Steve’s ball (which was interfering with Daniel's line of play) and sets it aside three to four feet on the putting green.
Steve walks up and two-putts from that spot, recording a score of 4. Two holes later, Steve holes out to complete his round in the stroke play competition.
Daniel, while looking for his favorite ball marker later on, remembers the incident, informs Steve of the circumstances, and believes a penalty should be applied for playing from the wrong spot. What happens now?
- Joe C. (Chula Vista, CA)
Ruling: If a player is entirely unaware that their ball was moved by an outside influence (in this case, another player in stroke play), the ball is considered played as it lies, and the player has not played from a wrong place. The reason for this is that the knowledge or virtual certainty of the movement did not exist when Steve made his stroke.
Therefore, no penalty applies to Steve, and his score of 4 stands for the hole.