Advantage runling help

[Jay-Marie]

Ok this is a bit of a confusing one so I'll try and supply all the relevant information as best I can. This situation occurred in a friendly game but my friend queried what would happen if it was in competition

So playing 18th hole my tee shot was heading towards rough but didn't think there would be an issue finding it. When we got to the area there was no sign of my ball. Wasnt going to go back to the tee to play out so dropped a ball just to play out the hole for fun purposes. After hitting that "fun" shot we then headed to my friends ball only to see that it was actually my ball, so I then played out the hole finishing it with a par.

Now I know had it of been a medal/stableford I would of needed to return to the tee to play out the hole so that "fun ball" situation wouldn't of occured. What my friend queried was the fact an advantage was gained in me hitting that "fun shot" so I now knew club/yardage although my original ball was 10 yards away from where the "fun shot" was played from

 

[Crow]

As a non-rules-person my answer is, you've played a wrong ball, 2 stroke penalty, carry on with your own ball.
The proper answer will be given soon.

 

[JSims]

Ok this is a bit of a confusing one so I'll try and supply all the relevant information as best I can. This situation occurred in a friendly game but my friend queried what would happen if it was in competition

So playing 18th hole my tee shot was heading towards rough but didn't think there would be an issue finding it. When we got to the area there was no sign of my ball. Wasnt going to go back to the tee to play out so dropped a ball just to play out the hole for fun purposes. After hitting that "fun" shot we then headed to my friends ball only to see that it was actually my ball, so I then played out the hole finishing it with a par.

Now I know had it of been a medal/stableford I would of needed to return to the tee to play out the hole so that "fun ball" situation wouldn't of occured. What my friend queried was the fact an advantage was gained in me hitting that "fun shot" so I now knew club/yardage although my original ball was 10 yards away from where the "fun shot" was played from

As the situation wouldn't arise in 'proper' golf, there's actually very little point discussing the what-ifs about this particular situation.
But there ARE situations where such an 'advantage' could occur - albeit likely under a penalty. An example could be if you play a ball that you thought was yours, but subsequently determine it wasn't, so go back and find your actual one. The 'advantage gained' of knowing the attributes from the first shot is far outweighed by the penalty incurred imo.

 

[Steven Rules]

As the situation wouldn't arise in 'proper' golf, there's actually very little point discussing the what-ifs about this particular situation.

True enough. But let's treat the 'fun' shot to 'advantage' as a practice stroke. You can't make practice strokes. General penalty. Rule 5.5a.

Then go and hit your actual ball in play or, if you can't find it, go back to the tee under stroke and distance.

 

[rulie]

In “proper” golf, the ruling would be that you substituted a ball for your original ball when proceeding under stroke and distance, and at a wrong place, with a likely serious breach. You would need to correct this serious breach by returning to the tee, playing your fifth stroke (original tee shot, 1 ps for stroke and distance, and 2 ps for playing from a wrong place). Playing your original ball after you played the substituted ball would be playing a wrong ball and result in a two stroke penalty.

 

[Colin L]

Ok this is a bit of a confusing one so I'll try and supply all the relevant information as best I can. This situation occurred in a friendly game but my friend queried what would happen if it was in competition

You've really answered your own question - it wouldn't have happened in a competition.

Nonetheless, here's an alternative view to practising. If you dropped another ball when you couldn't find the original , you substituted it for your original ball and the dropped ball was then your ball in play. You don't say how long you searched but no matter - the original was either already lost because you had searched for 3 minutes or was rendered out of play by the substitution. The only rules under which you could substitute for the original ball were 18.1b if you had searched for over 3 minutes or 18.1a if for less than 3 minutes, taking stroke and distance either way. You thus played from a wrong place and most likely got a significant advantage from doing so - a serious breach in rules speak. A serious breach would require you to correct the error by taking stroke and distance with a 2 stroke penalty and if you didn't correct you would be disqualified in medal play or get zero points for the hole in stableford.