Your Queries Resolved
I am a member of Chelmsford GC. Playing into our 1st green, I was absolutely certain my ball had come to rest between the left side of the green and the OOB fence a little further left. The initial search was unsuccessful, but upon looking over the fence I could see my ball.
Upon retrieving the ball, I noticed significant cuts and damage. The greenkeepers were cutting the green surrounds as we approached, and my assumption is that the mower must have churned the ball up and over the fence and caused the damage. How should I have proceeded?
Mark Stellig, via email
Under Rule 9.6, as it is known or virtually certain that an outside influence has lifted or moved the player’s ball, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced on its original spot (which if not known must be estimated).
As the ball had become cut (presumably by the mower), and this damage had clearly happened during the hole being played, the player is entitled to substitute another ball under Rule 4.2c(2) when replacing it back to its estimated original position. Chris Wallace, R&A Rules manager
ast month, we looked at what to do if you find your ball resting against a movable obstruction and what to do if your ball moves when removing it. This month, we turn our attention to the scenario of finding your ball resting in or on, rather than against, a movable obstruction as the process for taking free relief is different.
Movable obstructions are any artificial objects that can be moved with reasonable effort and without damaging the obstruction or the course, and the most common movable obstructions players tend to come across on the course are things like bunker rakes, rubbish bins and other players’ equipment – for example, a towel that another player has dropped, as in the diagram here.
In these circumstances, Rule 15.2a again applies, but this time the way you take relief is slightly different. When the ball lies in or on any movable obstruction anywhere other than on
Lthe putting green, you may lift the ball, remove the movable obstruction and then find the spot directly beneath where your ball was lying. This spot is then your reference point for taking relief. Your relief area is one club-length from this reference point not nearer the hole, and you must drop the ball within this area following the procedures outlined in Rule 14.3.
It is worth noting that you must drop in the same area of the course as your reference point, so if the reference point is in a bunker, you would not be allowed to drop in the general area, even if it were within one club-length.
On the putting green, things are slightly different. You can again take free relief by lifting your ball and removing the obstruction, but this time you will be placing it on the spot right under where the ball was at rest in or on the movable obstruction, using the procedures for replacing a ball (under Rule 14.2b(2) and 14.2e).
In the rare event that you are unable to find your ball in a movable obstruction, but it is known or virtually certain that it came to rest in one on the course, you may follow the relief
“The most common movable obstructions are bunker rakes, bins and other players’ equipment”
procedures outlined above in Rule 15.2a. One possible scenario where this might apply is when you see your ball land in a greenkeeper’s vehicle full of grass clippings but are unable to find it when you rummage through the grass. However, if it was not known or virtually certain that it was in there, the ball would be lost and you would have to proceed under stroke and distance.