Your queries resolved
QIn a recent round, my friend’s drive was heading perilously close to OOB. When we got down there, half of the ball was actually sitting on the line, with the other half the far side of it and no part of it on the course-side edge of the line (it was at least half an inch away). We couldn’t remember if anywhere on the line was still in bounds, or whether it was OOB because no part of the ball was on the course side of the white line. He played on in the end, but we weren’t sure if this was the correct decision.
Trevor Goodson, Andover
ASadly, he was incorrect to play on. Rule 18.2a confirms that when a white line defines OOB, the boundary edge is the courseside edge of the line and the line itself is OOB. A ball is OOB when all of it lies outside the boundary edge of the course, which from your description was the case here. The diagram on page 112 of the Player’s Edition of the Rule book is very helpful. He should have gone back to where he last played from under stroke and distance or proceeded with his provisional ball if he had already played one under stroke and distance.
Chris Wallace,
R&A Rules manager
QCan you please clear something up for me regarding dropping. In a recent medal, one of my fellow players, who I didn’t know, absent-mindedly took a back-on-line penalty-area drop from shoulder-height before realising his mistake. I said that was fine as he was still able to correct the error before playing by re-dropping from knee-height, but he was convinced he must have incurred some sort of penalty. Can you confirm that I was indeed correct?
Charles Wetherby, Lincolnshire
You were indeed correct in that situation. If a player has dropped or placed a ball in a wrong place or in a wrong way, the Rules allow the player to lift the ball without penalty and correct the mistake (Rule 14.5). It should be made clear that this is allowed only before the ball is played.
A