What do the rules say about touching the ball after the mark is removed?
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The Rules of Golf Are Complicated! Thankfully, we have the teacher. our Rules Guy knows the book inside out. Have a question? He has all the answers.
Player A hit his ball on the green. When it was his turn to putt, he removed his marker…then noticed the ball wasn’t lined up the way he wanted. He fixed it without remembering to score the ball again. I called a one-shot penalty. Was I right? And does it matter if he picked the ball up off the ground or just rolled it? – Kerry Joyce, Euclid, Ohio
You were right as hell, Kerry.
He was due a penalty kick under rule 14.1 for failing to mark the point before picking up the ball – and this would be true even if he had just spun the ball, because by the internal definition in rule 14.1, deliberate spin of the ball is treated the same as “lifting” it. You can’t get away from it.
For more marking instructions from our teacher, read on…
Rules Guy: Can I leave my marker behind the ball while taking shots?
My tee shot landed on the first rough cut. The next player who hit followed my path, with his shot about 18 inches behind mine. He got to the balls first, marked mine, hit his shot, returned my ball to where it landed, then moved on. Is the protocol correct? -Martin Vette, Yuba City, California.
While Rules Guy applauds your player’s obvious desire to keep things moving in a lively video, his actions are potentially troublesome. (Also, “stepping forward” in front of your playing partner can be both rude and dangerous.)
In stroke play, this Rapid Roy is not penalized, because sub Rule 9.6 there is no penalty for an outside influence that moves a player’s ball at rest. However, in match play, it is a one-stroke penalty under Rule 9.5 for a player who moves and lifts an opponent’s ball without authority, rather than following the restrictions of Rule 15.3b and requiring the player to mark and move a ball that interferes with his play.
It is worth noting that all of the above is also true for the putting green, where there is one anomaly: For Exception 2, Rule 9.5b, in match play the opponent is not penalized if he scores and lifts your ball in the wrong belief . that it is his ball. Dare I say, don’t touch anyone else’s ball without express consent.
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