Marking ball on putting green

[3offTheTee]

After marking the ball on the putting green and it moves I have to replace in the same spot correst?

If I have picked up may marker and it moves, windy conditions, I had NOT addressed the ball, should it be replaced to the original spot?

 

[Fyldewhite]

No, wind is not an outside agency. It should be played as it lies.

 

[3offTheTee]

Cheers FW

I gave wind as an example. It was today and there was no wind. It just moved!

 

[ScienceBoy]

I had a players worst nightmare once. Had a 3 foot putt for par and when I replaced my ball it kept rolling back onto the marker. I tried all sorts of places until my playing partner stepped in and reassured me that I could place it far enough to the left or right to be OK and not roll back.

I have no idea how the ball stayed where it did before! Sadly I then missed the putt and the hole was halved.

 

[MashieNiblick]

If it's a case of the ball not coming to rest it would have to be replaced or placed on the nearest point where it can come to rest. Once it has come to rest then it doesn't have to be replaced. Look up Rules 18-1 and 20-3. Best place if you haven't got a rule book is the R and A rules explorer as it also has FAQ's and decisions

http://www.randa.org/en/Rules-and-Amateur-Status/Rules-of-Golf.aspx#/rules/

Read once about an incident at Augusta when a player's (Nicklaus?) ball came to rest on a severe slope (not sure if it was on or just off the green). He walked away to line up the shot but while his back was turned the ball rolled nearer the hole. The player asked the ref what to do and the ref ruled the ball should be replaced. However it turns out that as the ball had come to rest and was not moved by an outside agency he was entitled to leave it and play it as it lied. No penalty though as he had taken the ref's advice. Would have been the same had the ball rolled away from the hole of course.

Just rememered where I read it - Tom Watson's Rules of Golf (brilliant book btw but some of it is out of date due to rule changes). Looked it up. It was Nicklaus and the ball moved after it had to be marked and replaced after finishing up against the leg of a spectator's chair.

 

[Losttheplot]

Just a curious question...

So if you have to play it as it lies.... What happens if your above the hole on a slope, you place your ball down and remove your marker and while your looking at the line it happens to roll down towards the hole (or even drop in)??? Does it count??

It's an unlikely event but curiosity has bitten me...

 

[MashieNiblick]

My understanding is that so long as the ball has come to rest after being replaced (not sure how long it has to stay on it's spot to count), and you haven't addressed it, then yes, if it then rolls down the slope, you play it as it lies. One of those things that seems both right and wrong at the same time.

We've probably all seen a ball roll back into a bunker or a pond after seemingly stopping short so I suppose it's the same thing. The ball is just responding to the law of gravity. It's the fact that the ball has been marked and replaced I guess that makes it seem somehow wrong.

 

[Crow]

And I believe that if it rolls into the hole then it's holed but you have to add a penalty stroke to your score.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

you have to add a penalty stroke to your score.

why if the ruling has already stated play it as it lies and no penalty for it moving

 

[SteveBonners]

This is covered by rules decision 20-3d/1.
If the ball when replaced came to rest on the spot which it was placed and then rolls into the hole the player is deemed to have holed out with his previous stroke with no penalty. If the ball was not at rest the ball must be replaced.
However if the ball had been overhanging the hole when it was lifted rule 16-2 overrides 20-3d and a one shot penalty would then apply.
How wonderful the rules of golf can be!!!

 

[HRC99]

This is covered by rules decision 20-3d/1.
If the ball when replaced came to rest on the spot which it was placed and then rolls into the hole the player is deemed to have holed out with his previous stroke with no penalty. If the ball was not at rest the ball must be replaced.
However if the ball had been overhanging the hole when it was lifted rule 16-2 overrides 20-3d and a one shot penalty would then apply.
How wonderful the rules of golf can be!!!

I think that's fair.

If the ball is over-hanging but hasn't dropped and you then mark, replace and it drops, you cannot have marked it in exactly the same place.

Otherwise, everyone, if their ball was over-hanging, would simply mark, replace and then wait for it to drop.