Flo
Newbie
I am a new golfer and today in a Stapleford competition one of my opponents marked and lifted by ball on the green and tossed it a short distance aside and slightly further from the hole than it had lay. This was done to allow her to play to speed things up as I was making my way to the green. I walked behind some tall bushes which meant i had not seen and was totally unaware of this action. By the time I reached the green she had played her ball and I went to play mine from where it was now lying. I thought to myself that it looked a little further from the hole than I had imagined but that is not uncommon so I assumed I had just misread the distance from afar and played on to putt the ball and par the hole. It was then that my opponent said she was sorry and that she forgot to tell me she that she had marked and moved my ball. The marker was still on the green and nearer the hole from where I had played. Not being sure what to do we decided I should play my ball from the original marked position now which I also putted to par and we would ask for a ruling back at the clubhouse. Our lady handicap official ruled that I should incur a penalty because it was my responsibilty to ensure I was playing my ball from the correct position and that my opponent should incur no penalty. This really doesn't seem to be in the spirit of the fairness of the game!
I have looked through the rules and nothing seems to totally apply to this scenario. It does seem unfair to me that I should be penalised for something I was totally unaware of and only became aware of it when my opponent drew my attention to it when I had putted out. Can anyone help with this one?
I have looked through the rules and nothing seems to totally apply to this scenario. It does seem unfair to me that I should be penalised for something I was totally unaware of and only became aware of it when my opponent drew my attention to it when I had putted out. Can anyone help with this one?