Ball lodged against pin.

[thesheriff]

This situation arose in a recent comp. A PP took a putt from the fringe with the pin in and it went in. However the ball lodged against the pin rather than dropping to the bottom of the cup. The top of the ball was above the surface of the hole but there was no potential for the ball to pop out again.

Another PP didn't know the rules and wheeched the ball out of the hole when removing the pin. What is the ruling here? Is the ball back in play from where it lies in all circumstances? Does the PP who removed the pin get penalised for interfering with another's ball? Is there dispensation in the rules for this unfortunate event, which would allow the putt to still be considered good?

Many thanks

 

[Foxholer]

This situation arose in a recent comp. A PP took a putt from the fringe with the pin in and it went in. However the ball lodged against the pin rather than dropping to the bottom of the cup. The top of the ball was above the surface of the hole but there was no potential for the ball to pop out again.

Another PP didn't know the rules and wheeched the ball out of the hole when removing the pin. What is the ruling here? Is the ball back in play from where it lies in all circumstances? Does the PP who removed the pin get penalised for interfering with another's ball? Is there dispensation in the rules for this unfortunate event, which would allow the putt to still be considered good?

Many thanks

I believe it depends whether the Fellow Competitor (assuming that's what you really meant by 'PP') was authorised to remove the flagstick. If he simply went and did it (no authority) then ball should have been replaced wedged against the flagstick and player (or authorised person) could 'try again' - no penalty to anyone. If he WAS authorised, then ball should be placed on lip of hole - if that was NOT done (played from new position) then the Player incurs a penalty of 2 shots and the ball is deemed holed. Decisions 17-4/3 and 17-4/4 refer.

 

[jim8flog]

This is one of the little publicised rule changes wef 1 January 2019.

The ball will be considered to holed out if any part of it is below the hole rim and it is resting against the flagstick.