Some Rules of Golf are easy to remember and you feel confident when making a ruling. Others are tricky. Here’s one that has changed throughout history and it’s a good one to brush up on.
Golf ball moves on the putting green
Tim and Jim are on the 16th green. They have a match going and it’s close. Tim has marked, lifted and replaced his ball on the putting green. Just as he’s about to address it, the wind picks up and the ball rolls an inch off its spot.
Jim, who is looking for any edge he can get at this point, informs Tim that he has to take a one-stroke penalty because his ball moved.
What’s the ruling?
Your turn to be the Rules official. What’s the ruling here?
A) Tim must replace the ball on the spot it was moved from without incurring a penalty.
B) Tim must play the ball from the new spot and take one penalty stroke.
C) Tim must play the ball from the new position without incurring a penalty.
The correct ruling
Sorry, Jim. You will have to find another way to grab a stroke on Tim coming down the stretch.
Once Tim has marked, lifted and replaced the ball on the putting green, if natural forces (wind, water or when something happens for no apparent reason such as the effects of gravity) cause the ball to move, Tim must replace the ball on its original spot. No penalty.
Choice A is the correct ruling.
Rule 13.1d states there is no penalty if the player, opponent or another player in stroke play accidentally moves the player’s ball or ball marker on the putting green. The player must replace the ball on its original spot (which, if not known, must be estimated) or place a ball marker to mark the original spot.
If natural forces cause the ball to move, it must be played from the new location unless, as in Jim’s situation, the ball is marked, lifted and replaced.
If the natural forces then cause the ball to move, it must be replaced.
However, if you’ve read the Rules of Golf, you know that they are never simple and there are plenty of “what ifs”.
That’s why there’s a separate and exhaustive accompanying volume titled “Official Guide to the Rules of Golf.”
What if the ball moves during Tim’s back stroke?
As long as Tim did not cause the ball to move during his back stroke, there is no penalty. If the ball moves during your back stroke and you complete the stroke, the ball must be played from its new position
regardless of the cause of movement. If you stop the swing before impact, you may replace the ball without penalty, provided you did not cause the movement.
What if Tim didn’t replace the ball?
Now, let’s say Tim’s ball rolls those two inches and he figures he will just play it from the new location. That’s a violation. Tim had marked, lifted and replaced his ball before natural forces caused the ball to move so he must replace the ball on the original spot.
If Tim instead makes a stroke from the new location, he has played from a wrong place. The penalty for playing from a wrong place in breach of Rule 13.1d is a general penalty under Rule 14.7b.
What if the ball hadn’t been marked yet?
If the ball hasn’t been marked, lifted and replaced on the green and it moves due to natural forces (like wind, water or something else like gravity), the ruling is a little different.
In this case, you must play the ball from its new spot. You may see this happen if you are playing a putting green with a slope in front and, as you are walking up to the green, the ball starts to roll back down the hill.
This is a situation where you must play the ball from the new spot as it lies.
Where this Rule came from
Before the release of the 2019 Rules of Golf, players could get penalized for a ball moving on the putting green because determining whether a ball moved was based on the “more likely than not” test.
Under the current Rules, the player will be found to have caused the ball to move only when it is known or virtually certain (meaning at least 95 percent) to be the case.
You may recall that Dustin Johnson was involved in a famous controversy at the 2016 U.S. Open. His ball moved on the putting green. He wasn’t sure if he’d caused it to move.
However, after discussion and review, he received a one-stroke penalty for causing his ball to move, a penalty that sparked debate among players and fans. (He still won the Open.)
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