A player's 2nd shot goes into a penalty area. The player takes lateral relief and properly drops a ball. Prior making a stroke the player accidentally moves their ball. At the same time, the other players in the group find the player's ball in a different location in the water. The player picks up their dropped ball, goes to the new location, takes lateral relief again, and holes out in 4 more strokes. What is the player's score for the hole?

A.       6

B.       7

C.       8

D.      The player has played from a wrong spot and in doing so they have committed a serious breech. If the player doesn’t correct this error before teeing off of the next hole they are disqualified from the event.

1.3b. Applying the Rules

(1) Player Responsibility for Applying the Rules. Players are responsible for applying the Rules to themselves:

• Players are expected to recognize when they have breached a Rule and to be honest in applying their own penalties.
• If a player knows that they have breached a Rule that involves a penalty and deliberately fails to apply the penalty, the player is disqualified.
• If two or more players agree to ignore any Rule or penalty they know applies and any of those players have started the round, they are disqualified (even if they have not yet acted on the agreement).
• When it is necessary to decide questions of fact, a player is responsible for considering not only their own knowledge of the facts but also all other information that is reasonably available.
• A player may ask for help with the Rules from a referee or the Committee, but if help is not available in a reasonable time the player must play on and raise the issue with a referee or the Committee when they become available (see Rule 20.1).

(2) Accepting Player’s “Reasonable Judgment” in Determining a Location When Applying the Rules.

• Many Rules require a player to determine a spot, point, line, edge, area or other location under the Rules, such as:
• Estimating where a ball last crossed the edge of a penalty area,
• Estimating or measuring when dropping or placing a ball in taking relief, or
• Replacing a ball on its original spot (whether the spot is known or estimated).
• Determining the area of the course where the ball lies, including whether the ball lies on the course, or
• Determining whether the ball touches or is in or on an abnormal course condition.
• Such determinations about location need to be made promptly and with care but often cannot be precise.
• So long as the player does what can be reasonably expected under the circumstances to make an accurate determination, the player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if, after the stroke is made, the determination is shown to be wrong by video evidence or other information.
• If a player becomes aware of a wrong determination before the stroke is made, it must be corrected (see Rule 14.5). 

In this week’s question the player correctly estimated the point that the ball had entered the penalty area based upon their knowledge under rule, 1.3B(1) bullet point 3, and dropped a ball within the relief area using this reference spot. After this process was completed, and before the player made the next stroke, the other players in the group located the players original ball in a different location of the penalty area which then requires the player to lift the previously dropped ball and proceed in accordance with the new reference spot where the ball is estimated to have crossed the line, Rule 1.3b(2) 4th bullet point.

Our player correctly lifts the dropped ball and in accordance with the rules drops in the new location using the correct reference point.

Most of us are aware that when we accidentally cause our ball to move in the general area a 1 stroke penalty is applied. But what happens in this case? Does the penalty still apply?? Based upon rule 9.4b Exception 1 it does not.

9.4b Penalty for Lifting or Deliberately Touching Ball or Causing It to Move

If the player lifts or deliberately touches their ball at rest or causes it to move, the player gets one penalty stroke. But there are five exceptions:

Exception 1 - Player Allowed to Lift or Move Ball: There is no penalty when the player lifts the ball or causes it to move under a Rule that:

• Allows the ball to be lifted and then replaced on its original spot,
• Requires a moved ball to be replaced on its original spot, or
• Requires or allows the player to drop or place a ball again or to play a ball from a different place.

Based upon this information we can now determined the correct score for the playing of this hole. The player took 6 talent strokes and gets one penalty stroke added to their score for penalty area relief under Rule 17. The penalty stoke for accidentally causing their ball to move is disregarded when the player is required to play from the new location under Rule 9.4b Exception 1. Therefore, we now know that the players score is 7, making this week’s answer B.

Do you have a rules question that you have often wondered about? If so, please send it to dmiller@mvgolf.org for an answer and who knows it could very well be our next “Rules Question of the Week”.