Identification Mark on ball Rule 6.5

[3offTheTee]

Always mark my ball with 2 black dots and a capital H underneath along with a black line.

Played today and my opponents knew what ball I was playing and the ball ended up in the rough. My opponent found the ball with the distinctive marking and knew I was playing a Titleist. He could only see the 2 black dots, line and H

He called the ball and when I arrived I had unintentionally changed balls and it was a Bridgestone, same markings.

There may have been say a 1 in 10,000 chance of it not being my ball.

What is the ruling please?

 

[palindromicbob]

Always mark my ball with 2 black dots and a capital H underneath along with a black line.

Played today and my opponents knew what ball I was playing and the ball ended up in the rough. My opponent found the ball with the distinctive marking and knew I was playing a Titleist. He could only see the 2 black dots, line and H

He called the ball and when I arrived I had unintentionally changed balls and it was a Bridgestone, same markings.

There may have been say a 1 in 10,000 chance of it not being my ball.

What is the ruling please?

If you can't be 100% sure the ball is the one you have put in play then it is effectively a lost ball so Stroke and Distance penalty. Replay from as near as possible to where you made your previous stroke. If you where 100% sure it was the ball you played from the tee then happy days play on.

This is a reason I tend to use a variety of colours when marking my ball. Usually 3 colours so I end up with 12 unique balls from a box and can happily put a sleeve of the same number in play without mixing them up.

I tend to keep only a limited range in my bag. Teeing up I take note of ball type, number and colour of the markings I make and will play a different colour for provisionals if required. I figure that taking note and adding as many variables as possible to help identify the ball ensures I'll identify the ball I put in play from the tee.

Once played a round I was using a Nike PD Soft with a custom printed logo. The logo was my own design so 100% unique to me. I used different colours when marking. I was playing a red marked ball. Took my third onto the green from the rough and a player on the adjacent fairway came up to me and enquired what ball I'd hit as his was in the same area.

Told him it was a Nike PD Soft with my unique marking with red dots over the numbers. He was playing the exact same ball as he'd found one that I'd lost a few weeks prior. Only difference was his had blue markings.

 

[duncan mackie]

Always mark my ball with 2 black dots and a capital H underneath along with a black line.

Played today and my opponents knew what ball I was playing and the ball ended up in the rough. My opponent found the ball with the distinctive marking and knew I was playing a Titleist. He could only see the 2 black dots, line and H

He called the ball and when I arrived I had unintentionally changed balls and it was a Bridgestone, same markings.

There may have been say a 1 in 10,000 chance of it not being my ball.

What is the ruling please?

I don't understand what the question is?

It's irrelevant what he knew or not; if you can identify the ball as the one you are playing at that time then what's the issue?

 

[Fyldewhite]

I had a similar situation in a match once. I had hit a ball into a pond on the 8th and carried on with a substituted ball of a different brand (marked). I then hit my drive on the 9th into rough on the left and forgetting about the substitution, told my opponent my ball was a Titliest but then found my ball which was actually a Srixon and immediately remembered the substitution. I explained my mistake and he was (lets say) a little dubious but I assured him it was definitely my ball so we carried on. He wasn't happy but the point is that it was up to me to identify my ball and I was sure the ball I found was in fact mine. If he thought I was "at it" then so be it, that was his problem. No ruling required, if you are happy it's yours then everyone else should be.

 

[Spuddy]

I had one last year where I hit a ball into the rough in the Saturday Medal. We all had a good line on it and saw that it had gone about 5 yards in. It was quickly found and I identified it by the marking, make and number. I remember saying that I was fortunate as I had hit one in there a week before and never found it. Just as we were walking back onto the fairway one of my opponents stood on a ball and picked it up... It was the same make and number as my ball and had the same markings! Straight away I thought of the ball I had lost the week before and sure enough this ball was in a poorer state than the ball I had been using (which was spotless). It was also found just a yard into the rough so thankfully my fellow competitors accepted that the first ball was the correct one however it would have been easy for them to object.

 

[drew83]

surely if it has your identifying markings on it, there can be no issue? the fact that you forgot/didn't notice it was a bridgestone & not a titleist shouldn't matter should it?

If you hit an unmarked ball I can understand there being cause for doubt.....

 

[bladeplayer]

Can i throw a bit of a curve ball in here out of curiosity .

You need to be able to identify your own ball, yea ?

if you dont even know what make it is, then surely that makes identifying your ball very difficult ?

Or if you tell someone your playing a Titleist then claim a Srixon , its bound to cause problems

Ok you may have some distinct or really obvious marking as per the OP but generally ?


Thoughts ?

 

[duncan mackie]

Can i throw a bit of a curve ball in here out of curiosity .

You need to be able to identify your own ball, yea ?

if you dont even know what make it is, then surely that makes identifying your ball very difficult ?

Or if you tell someone your playing a Titleist then claim a Srixon , its bound to cause problems

Ok you may have some distinct or really obvious marking as per the OP but generally ?


Thoughts ?

Not sure what the curved ball is, but then again I still don't really know what the original one was either!

You should advise your playing partners what you are looking for to avoid issues - but ultimately it just comes down to whether you are able to identify your ball or not. If you are briefly confused then you may have to face the consequences eg you pick it up before you remember you are going to have a penalty shot when replacing it.

 

[bladeplayer]

Not sure what the curved ball is, but then again I still don't really know what the original one was either!

You should advise your playing partners what you are looking for to avoid issues - but ultimately it just comes down to whether you are able to identify your ball or not. If you are briefly confused then you may have to face the consequences eg you pick it up before you remember you are going to have a penalty shot when replacing it.

Surely the first part of identifying your ball is actually knowing what ball your playing tho is it not ?

 

[rosecott]

Surely the first part of identifying your ball is actually knowing what ball your playing tho is it not ?

Have you never been in the situation where you have changed your ball - lost one, played a provisional, just fancied a change or took the wrong ball from your pocket - and, in your mind, you're still playing your original ball?

If you haven't, your time will come.

 

[bladeplayer]

Have you never been in the situation where you have changed your ball - lost one, played a provisional, just fancied a change or took the wrong ball from your pocket - and, in your mind, you're still playing your original ball?

If you haven't, your time will come.

I have but if im changing ball or playing prov il tell my PP /Opp etc what im putting in play

OK say For instance if you had an extra ball in your pocket (same exact markings one is titleist /1 is srixon ) you smack the first one into the rough , you play the second one after declaring it a prov


You walk over to the rough find both balls close together , If you dont know which make you are actually playing , how can you identify which is which ?

Im probably complicating a situation , i just cant see how you can identify your ball properly if you dont know what make you have in play at any time

 

[Colin L]

I have but if im changing ball or playing prov il tell my PP /Opp etc what im putting in play

OK say For instance if you had an extra ball in your pocket (same exact markings one is titleist /1 is srixon ) you smack the first one into the rough , you play the second one after declaring it a prov


You walk over to the rough find both balls close together , If you dont know which make you are actually playing , how can you identify which is which ?

Im probably complicating a situation , i just cant see how you can identify your ball properly if you dont know what make you have in play at any time

If you can't distinguish between them, see Decision 27/11 Situation 4 which tells you to choose one of them as your provisional and play it.

http://www.usga.org/rules/rules-and-decisions.html#!decision-27,d27-11

 

[bladeplayer]

If you can't distinguish between them, see Decision 27/11 Situation 4 which tells you to choose one of them as your provisional and play it.

http://www.usga.org/rules/rules-and-decisions.html#!decision-27,d27-11

Thanks for that Colin , i would have been wrongly saying back to the tee ..

 

[duncan mackie]

I have but if im changing ball or playing prov il tell my PP /Opp etc what im putting in play

OK say For instance if you had an extra ball in your pocket (same exact markings one is titleist /1 is srixon ) you smack the first one into the rough , you play the second one after declaring it a prov


You walk over to the rough find both balls close together , If you dont know which make you are actually playing , how can you identify which is which ?

Im probably complicating a situation , i just cant see how you can identify your ball properly if you dont know what make you have in play at any time

in the situation you now outline it is impossible to identify either ball so you proceed as Colin has posted.

if you only hit one, and tell your playing companions when heading into the rough that you are playing the titleist and they find the srixon you can simply follow the click in your brain, check pocket, and clarify that you had a moment there but it's a srixon you are playing and the titleist is here in your pocket.

 

[bladeplayer]

in the situation you now outline it is impossible to identify either ball so you proceed as Colin has posted.

if you only hit one, and tell your playing companions when heading into the rough that you are playing the titleist and they find the srixon you can simply follow the click in your brain, check pocket, and clarify that you had a moment there but it's a srixon you are playing and the titleist is here in your pocket.

Thats good enough for me Duncan , Ta

 

[Crazyface]

I was told a story by a pro, who was a rules expert. In a match between two pros, one had stuck his drive into deep thick grass on a bank type of thing. The ball was found and the markings on the ball were definately what the pro was using. It was impossible to get out and in a horrible position. The player that had hit the ball there said that it was not his ball. The rules pro was called. "Is this your ball?" he asked the player. "No" was his reply. The only way forward was for the player to go back to the tee to play a provisional, which he duly did and swiped it clean down the middle 50 meters past where his "first ball" was.

I believe that there is no ruling that says you have to declare what type of ball or markings, you are playing.

 

[Whereditgo]

I don't think you can hit a provisional once you have gone forward to search

Plus he could just have declared it unplayable and gone back to the tee anyway surely?

 

[Crazyface]

I don't think you can hit a provisional once you have gone forward to search

Plus he could just have declared it unplayable and gone back to the tee anyway surely?

Oh yeah.....I never thought of that.

 

[rulefan]

I don't think you can hit a provisional once you have gone forward to search

You are correct.

 

[palindromicbob]

I was told a story by a pro, who was a rules expert. In a match between two pros, one had stuck his drive into deep thick grass on a bank type of thing. The ball was found and the markings on the ball were definately what the pro was using. It was impossible to get out and in a horrible position. The player that had hit the ball there said that it was not his ball. The rules pro was called. "Is this your ball?" he asked the player. "No" was his reply. The only way forward was for the player to go back to the tee to play a provisional, which he duly did and swiped it clean down the middle 50 meters past where his "first ball" was.

I believe that there is no ruling that says you have to declare what type of ball or markings, you are playing.

Why would anyone actually do that? It's ridiculous because identifying the ball as his would still allow for exactly the same options of how to proceed as well as others without risking the accusation that you've refused to identify a ball.

There is no ruling that you have to delcare the ball or anything but there is a ruling that you must identify it. Refusal or dishonesty when identifing a ball is grounds for DQ.