Playing the wrong ball.

[Toad]

Is anyone else fed up with people playing the wrong ball and not admitting it.

Today for the second time this year I have had my round ruined by someone playing the wrong ball, I was on a good round when this *** played my ball, I shouted to let him know he was playing the wrong ball but he just ignored me and basicaly told me to F*** Off and proceded to then hit my ball OB before I got near him.
As you can imagine I was raging but he insisted it was his ball but lo and behold his ball was in the rough ten yards back.

What makes it worse is that it was the final Medal Trophy round out of six and I had a 2 shot lead over my nearest rival and just needed a buffer zone round to win it.

Both of us have now ended up with the same score after all the rounds and I'm not sure how they work out who has won but you can be sure it's not me.

 

[Dodger]

should not have let it bother you toad,after all it's not like you incurred a penalty or anything so whats the problem?Was it a brand new egg?

 

[DCB]

Toad,

Bad luck with that on such an important round today. Something like that always seems to happen when your up against it in an important round. Been there myself in the past.

However, if you were sure that he had played your ball, should you not have proceeded with the chap who played your ball being deemed as an outside agency ? Rule 18-1. Crucial wording " known or virtualy certain that the outside agency has moved the ball"

Dave

 

[RGuk]

should not have let it bother you toad,after all it's not like you incurred a penalty or anything so whats the problem?Was it a brand new egg?

Um......the guy played Toads ball....how does Toad then play the hole???? Have I misunderstood?

I had this once, and because the bloke wouldn't own up, I couldn't get him to put mine back.

 

[Dodger]

I take it you didnt go and get it then and so due to the fact you didnt you incurred a pen?Would not have been a problem if you had fetched it back.

 

[Toad]

Problem was he refused to accept that it was his ball in the rough and maintained that he had hit his ball and as it was lost OB (we did spend 5 mins frantically searching)I had no way of proving that he had in fact hit mine, so I had to trudge back to the tee and as the unwritten rules of golf dictate I sent my next one OB also.

Ran up a cricket score and could not settle after that.

 

[clubchamp07]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but Toad I think your wrong. If your 4ball (playing partners)agree that he hit your ball and agree that it was your ball then you replace it without pen. I'm going here on the hindsight that you were in sight, in other words you could see your ball from where you last hit it. If all's in agreement then you get to replace a ball without penalty.

Correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[Toad]

Champ, I could see my ball but by the time my partners had tee'd off he had made his way over from the other fairway and smacked it, we were all unsure of the ruling so thought it better to go back rather than gain an advantage.

 

[Dodger]

I think I am right in saying without penalty if you get your ball back to the position but if not I am afraid it under penalty and should be from where you think the ball was........just disqualify yourself as you may have now signed for a wrong score and that will clear up who has won!!
Actually not sure but back to tee may also be an option....
Stupid as no fault of your own!

 

[Toad]

Dodger signed for the right score as I did go back to the tee, took me 2 to get back in play and ran up a 10, not had a double figure for a while.

 

[rgs]

Toad page 77 of the Rules of Golf cover this situation.

" If a competitor makes a strokes or strokes at a wrong ball, he incurs a penalty of two strokes". He must correct his mistake before the next teeing ground oterwise he is disqualified." Strokes made at the wrong ball do not count towards his score.

Here is the important bit---" If the ball belongs to another competitior its owner must place a ball on the spot from which the wrong ball was first played."
There is no mention that you must locate your ball to prove it was your ball.

I presume he is one of these players you refuses to mark his ball and/or can't remember what make of ball he last hit.

 

[Dodger]

yes but then check out page 82 rule 18........

 

[rgs]

I'm with DCB the ball was moved by an outside agency however i note the contention in rule 18 it must be known or virtually certain the ball was moved by an outside agency.

I presume your partners had seen your ball land and could confirm your ball was in that area even though the idiot had hit your ball before you could get there.

Hopefully you will win the competition despite this hiccup.

 

[Dodger]

It says tho if ball is not found which it wasnt its rule 27-1 back to the tee.....

 

[viscount17]

this is where poorly written rules get in the way again.

is a 'competitor' a player in the same match, ie a playing partner, or is it anyone participating in the same competition.
either way it doesn't cater for the casual dork who neither knows nor cares which ball is his.

again I think Toad was stuffed because although he 'thought' it was his ball he could not positively identify it as such nor could he positively identify its lie.

 

[DCB]

dodger,

27-1 only comes into it if it is not certain that an outside agency did take /move the ball. Thats where the "it must be known or virtualy certain that an outside agency has moved the ball" bit comes in. If Toad drove off, saw his ball land, then saw the other chap play it, then to me that is "Known or virtualy certain". If Toad drove into an area and didn't see the ball at rest, thenthought that the other chap had played it, then that is not enough evidence to confirm that an outside agency moved the ball. Then 27-1 would come into play.

 

[DCB]

Viscount,
18-4 is dealing with a different set of circumstances and is not dealing with an outside agency.

In the strokeplay that Toad was playing in they were all competitors, a playing partner is in effect someone in /on the same side/team. The folks you tee off with in a medal are fellow competitors not playing partners.

 

[backwoodsman]

DCB is correct all the way.

Toad & his fellow competitors knew, or were virtually certain, that's Toad's ball had been hit OOB by an outside agency. Hence a ball could be replaced without penalty. Note 1 to rule 18 permits the replacement of the ball if the original is not recoverable. The bit about "rule 27.1" only applies in the absence of the "certainty" of the ball being moved by an outside agency.

There's often criticism about the rules being poorly written. I think not so. They seem wordy because they have to spell out precisely what happens - just like in this case.

 

[Cernunnos]

If I had a tenner for every time someone from a parellel fairway played my ball insted of their own, leaving me with the oldest naffest budget ball when they've just played a virtually Srixon Trispeed ball to a blind old duffer, leaving me to play his much scuffed AD333,which I wouldn't mind was covered in all sorts of faded black pen...urg..!

Times I've played with people who've knowingly played a wrong ball out of the rough, just because they couldn't be bothered to look for theirs properly. Then I've found theirs 20 yards back down the fairway in deep rough just as they play the wrong ball.... "Oh isn't this your ball..?"

Mind you none of us are perfect.

 

[andyb]

Had the same thing happen to me last Saturday. Hit a ball from the tee pushed right, onto adjacent fairway, might of been lost in the trees between so hit a provisional. Identified my ball on adjacent fairway, went back to retreive provisional, some dork comes up and hits my ball. I placed another ball on the spot and finished the hole. I was told i was disqualified, by one of my competitors or at least a 2 shot penalty. I'm still not clear what the ruling is. I believe it 2 be no penalty