Knocking a ball back

[Tashyboy]

Played on Thursday in a nine hole comp. after the nine holer we played the back nine. A PP had took about five shots and had a putt for one point from about 30 ft. The ball flew past the hole and towards me. I was stood just off the green and it landed near me feet. My marker was about ten foot from the pin on the green. he said to me " Knock it back". So I swung one handed and knocked it forty foot next to him.
At that point I suddenly thought, Is there a penalty shot against that for testing the green etc. His ball was dead, but I thought in a proper comp that could cost me. Or could it? so what is the ruling coz in future it looks like being picked up and passed back.

 

[hovis]

i had a similar situation when playing with a right arse of a competitor.
during a match play he hit his put from 50ft and left it stone dead. i said "thats good enough mate" and hit it back one handed but behind me as i was also removing the flag. he said i lost the hole because hitting it back was testing the line. when we asked a pro after he said the fact i wasn't even looking in that direction made it ok. had i looked it would have been loss of hole.

 

[rulefan]

[h=2]16-1d/1[/h] [h=4]Player Concedes Opponent's Next Stroke and Rolls or Knocks Ball to Opponent[/h]Q.A player concedes his opponent's next stroke and either picks up the opponent's ball and rolls it to the opponent or knocks it back to him with a club. The player did so only for the purpose of returning the opponent's ball to him, not to test the surface of the putting green. Was the player in breach of Rule 16-1d (Testing Surface)?

A.No. Such casual action is not a breach of Rule 16-1d.

 

[Imurg]

As with many rules, it relies on the integrity of the player.
No intent to test the green = no penalty, but only the player knows if any intent was there.