Hitting the wrong ball.. Ethical dillema?

[vkurup]

Played 9 holes before the sleet started coming down... I was having a decent round (Mostly Bogies & 1 par). On the 7th P4, (a blind tee shot) both me and my playing mate hit towards the right into the trees, with me being longer than him. Both went foraging. He was playing Titelist & me a Srixion.

Soon he announced he found a ball and played it. I did not, so had to drop a ball.

He topped his shot another 20 yards and then topped again to about 50y. And finally pitched it to the green.

I thinned my shot to the edge of the green, pitched and then finally 2 putted out.

As my partner was reading to take his putt.. he said 'I think I hit your ball in the trees and it means I have lost mine' :sbox: (I waved him to putt out, and he 3 putted)

We laughed about it, but I kind of lost my rhythm after dropping the ball, and I was not sure whether finding my old ball was relieving or left me gutted. In someways I feel I would have been better off thinking that it was lost!! Maybe I could have par/bogied rather than triple bogie.

Any one with such experience. Has anyone hit the wrong ball and then owned up later?

 

[Holty]

I get super irritated when that happens to me, so I always ensure I can identify the ball as mine before playing, so in answer to your question - no!

Did have some numpty who was coming down the opposite hole stride confidently into the middle of my fairway, bend over my clearly marked ball (cracking drive as well), before taking out his hybrid and smacking it away as I shouted at him. Couldn't believe it, and the bloke didn't even apologise!

 

[SaintHacker]

Was playing a friendly round with a mate before christmas. Hit a lovely drive on one of the par 5's, but it ended up in a big pile of leaves under a tree, not a problem though as it ended up on top of the pile and I could see it from the tee. Walked up hit it, chipped on, lipped the birdie putt to much mickey taking from friend, then won the hole when he missed a 2 foot par putt leaving me a 4 footer which I sank, and gave him back all the verbal he had just given me! Only when I picked the ball out of the hole did I realise it wasn't my ball. Did I own up? Obviously, but only in the bar after he had bought me a beer for beating him...

 

[CliveW]

Soon he announced he found a ball and played it. I did not, so had to drop a ball.

You cannot take a drop if you lose a ball.

 

[rosecott]

I have to own up as I have just posted on another thread about the necessity to put an identifying mark on your ball. Winter rules and I am in a decent position 10 yards from the green in two on a tough par 4. I mark the ball, lift and clean, replace and play a pretty good chip - but not my ball, even though I had it in my hand to clean it. My ball was 8 yards nearer the green - lesson is, if you mark your ball with identifying marks, look at it.

 

[Foxholer]

Happened a couple of times, though one time someone else contributed.

Determined it won't happen a third time!

 

[Blue in Munich]

I have to own up as I have just posted on another thread about the necessity to put an identifying mark on your ball. Winter rules and I am in a decent position 10 yards from the green in two on a tough par 4. I mark the ball, lift and clean, replace and play a pretty good chip - but not my ball, even though I had it in my hand to clean it. My ball was 8 yards nearer the green - lesson is, if you mark your ball with identifying marks, look at it.

Even if you do mark it, be careful. Playing on a tour based on the same course all week, blocked one right. My mate found it, said it must be mine, had my mark on it, couldn't see clearly but hacked it out, knocked it onto the green for 3, birdie putt, marked it picked it up & realised the mark was the wrong colour; it was the one I'd lost in the same place the day before. My fault for not checking properly, picked the marker up & declared it as the wrong ball to the mate's amazement.

 

[Mungoscorner]

I was playing the 1st round of the club championship several years ago,i was -1 gross walking on to the 14th tee (par 5).I hit a really good shot up the left side of the fairway,then hit a 5 iron onto the apron leaving me a 20 foot put for eagle.One of my playing partners had to hit his 3rd shot from the tree's,he then hit his 4th onto the apron alongside mine.He raced ahead in his buggy and putted to about 4 feet,i wandered up to the apron and stood over my ball,it was then that i noticed it wasn't my ball so i asked my playing partner to check the ball he had marked and lifted,it was my ball he'd played.He then started berating me for letting him hit the wrong ball !!! I explained that i was still over a hundred yards from the green when he putted from the apron,and that maybe if he'd played as part of the 3 ball instead of racing around in his buggy,that i may have had a chance to notice who's ball was who.
After the heated exchange i promptly 3 putted from 20 feet !!!! then managed to bogey two of the last three holes,and ruin what was my best round of the year.

 

[vkurup]

Fair enuf it is winter, and the balls were dirty.

I must add.. both of us had marked our balls. He more than me. The 2 different makes of the ball; Titlist & Srixion may have helped. My marking in red had faded slightly, but his had a massive 'X' on it with a permanent marker. Even then...

The only reason he only realised it when he reached the green was cuz he could not find his 'X' to align the ball!!! It was a social hackathon, so nothing lost, but I would be kicking him if points were at stake

You cannot take a drop if you lose a ball.

Light starting to fade, so no point me walking back about 150y to hit another as we had already spent 5 mins looking for the 2 balls.

 

[wolf1x1]

me and friends regularly use stroke and distance, rather than walking back to the tee to hit another ball, if you agree before hand i dont see anything wrong with this approach

 

[vkurup]

me and friends regularly use stroke and distance, rather than walking back to the tee to hit another ball, if you agree before hand i dont see anything wrong with this approach

Same here.. i took a 2 stroke penalty for dropping the ball..

 

[CliveW]

Fair enuf it is winter, and the balls were dirty.

I must add.. both of us had marked our balls. He more than me. The 2 different makes of the ball; Titlist & Srixion may have helped. My marking in red had faded slightly, but his had a massive 'X' on it with a permanent marker. Even then...

The only reason he only realised it when he reached the green was cuz he could not find his 'X' to align the ball!!! It was a social hackathon, so nothing lost, but I would be kicking him if points were at stake



Light starting to fade, so no point me walking back about 150y to hit another as we had already spent 5 mins looking for the 2 balls.

So you choose to ignore/alter one of the Rules of Golf (Rule 27-1c), but you get concerned about another (Rule 15-3). Why not just ignore that rule too, or make up your own?
If you and your opponent were playing matchplay, then he would have lost the hole and if it were strokeplay he would be penalised two strokes. However you would also loose the hole in matchplay or have a two stroke penalty in strokeplay for playing from the wrong place. :lol:

 

[vkurup]

If you and your opponent were playing matchplay, then he would have lost the hole and if it were strokeplay he would be penalised two strokes. However you would also loose the hole in matchplay or have a two stroke penalty in strokeplay for playing from the wrong place. :lol:

As we walked off the hole, I told my partner that he wud be penalised 2 strokes, but he just shrugged his shoulders, he was already at 8 so a couple more wud not hurt him.. marked it as 8.

I marked myself as 5 + 2 = 7

 

[chrisd]

Playing in the club open I was 1 under par gross and on the 12th hole, easily the best score I've had off 12hc. I hit my drive on si1 into the rough, walked down, found and played a cracker, only to spot another ball 5 feet away! Same make and number but with my marking on, both playing partners were miles away - what did I do?

I owned up straight away! Played my ball which cost a treble bogie and the round went down hill after that, but I can sleep at night!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

First, If you're playing a blind tee shot and you hit it right into the trees, why not play a provisional?

Second, I've never understood how it is possible to play the wrong ball if you've marked it properly and know what make it is. Even in the clag, you are allowed to lift it to identify it as long as you follow the correct procedure. There is really no excuse.

 

[Colin L]

If you and your opponent were playing matchplay, then he would have lost the hole and if it were strokeplay he would be penalised two strokes. However you would also loose the hole in matchplay or have a two stroke penalty in strokeplay for playing from the wrong place. :lol:

Just to clarify this one, if the game was matchplay, the OP's opponent lost the hole the moment he played the wrong ball and it was irrelevant what the OP did after that. He couldn't also lose the hole by his subsequent action.

Had it been stroke play, the OP's fellow-competitor would have to go back to where he had played the wrong ball from and play out the hole from there with a 2 stroke penalty. If he didn't, he would be disqualified.

There are 2 possibilities for the OP:

a) If his fellow-competitor discovers he has played the wrong ball within 5 minutes of the OP starting his search for his ball, the OP can (even though he has played another ball) continue play of the hole from where his ball had been, without penalty

b)If the discovery was more than 5 minutes after starting the search, the OP's ball is lost and he continues play with the ball he substituted. As has been said, it was substituted in the wrong place, incurring a 2 stroke penalty. Additionally, it would have been a serious breach leading to disqualification unless he went back to tee and rectified the error.

Phew! By the time that was sorted out, you and all the games queuing up behind you would have lost the will to do anything other than to head for the bar.

 

[patricks148]

Playing partners not having a clue can also be a pain.

Play playing is a 36 hole event at Tain a couple of years ago hooked my tee shot towards some whin bushes ( but i was sure it was short) walking up one of my playing partners say's "heres my ball"
I wander around the bushes looking, no sign.
So walk back to the tee and hit another. Middle of the fairway this time, 7 iron to the green. putt out for a 6, the guy that walked over and looked for my ball with me who had said thats my ball then pipes up upon removing the ball from the cup, "this isn't my ball, its a srixon with a line around it" thats my my original ball, i say, how the hell did he mark and putt without spotting the ball wasn't his in the first place????? and he was using a Callaway anyway!!!!!

Mark your ball and remember what make your using is always good advice

 

[duncan mackie]

I have to own up as I have just posted on another thread about the necessity to put an identifying mark on your ball. Winter rules and I am in a decent position 10 yards from the green in two on a tough par 4. I mark the ball, lift and clean, replace and play a pretty good chip - but not my ball, even though I had it in my hand to clean it. My ball was 8 yards nearer the green - lesson is, if you mark your ball with identifying marks, look at it.

just to throw in a curve here, you have not played a 'wrong ball' here, you have played a wrongly substituted ball from a wrong place, and as your wrong place didn't constitute a serious breach (you didn't gain anything), so in this case the ball you played becomes your ball in play with a total of a 2 shot penalty under 15-2/20-7c.

if you had abandoned that ball when you realised it wasn't yours, and played your ball as it lay you would have an additional 2 shots, and have to proceed as for a wrong ball (which will be complex) or, if you took a preferred lie, you are back in the situation of another wrongly substituted ball from the wrong place, in which case you now complete the hole with it = but have racked up 4 penalty shots

wrong balls and preferred lies don't co-exist

 

[vkurup]

First, If you're playing a blind tee shot and you hit it right into the trees, why not play a provisional?

Because, I was pretty sure we would find it. In the trees, but can generally find them...

Second, I've never understood how it is possible to play the wrong ball if you've marked it properly and know what make it is. Even in the clag, you are allowed to lift it to identify it as long as you follow the correct procedure. There is really no excuse.

Because he was being a muppet <infraction alert>

 

[duncan mackie]

Because, I was pretty sure we would find it. In the trees, but can generally find them...

and you were proved correct - he did find it....... :rofl: