What do the rules say about scoring your ball when it’s not on the green?
Getty Images
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.
I hit about five feet short of the green on my approach shot, and the grass was short enough that I decided to putt. Problem: My friend was also short, three feet in front of my ball, directly in my shot line. I asked him to mark his ball. He refused, saying you are not allowed to hit the ball anywhere but on the green. I asked him to play first. He refused again, pretending rule dictated that the farthest ball be played first, while also admitting that he didn’t want to give me a reading. I ended up bumping into his ball. But was he correct on the note? – Name hidden, via e-mail
Please allow me to introduce you and your rather unwilling friend (the lawyer, perhaps?) to Rule 15.3b, which states that if a ball interferes with someone’s play, you have the right to pick it up anywhere on the court .
After you have made this request, the other player is obliged to raise the ball; in stroke play, he or she has the choice to play first instead of raising. However, he or she cannot claim the fifth.
For more scoring tips from our tutor, read on…
Rules Guy
My opponent scored the ball and took it. He then replaced his ball and bowled without taking his marker. I told him that his ball was out of play because he left his marker in place, and so had hit a wrong ball – he had to replace his ball, with a penalty of two strokes. He said I was full of balloons. Is the ball in play if you don’t catch your marker? – Robert Tarbox, via email
Really, Robert, Rules Guy can’t stomach it and sadly you’re both full of it.
Placing or removing the ball marker has no bearing on whether the ball is in or out of play. Bupkis.
In fact, it is the act of picking up or replacing the ball that would change its status. That said, Rule 14.1 prohibits playing a ball without first removing the ball marker, a violation for which your competitor deserves a penalty stroke (not two), even though it wasn’t a foul ball.
He needs to change his ways and you need to eat some crow.
Need help taming the greens on your home course? Get an order The Green Book by Golf Logix.
