What do the principles say about refusing to mark a ball on the inexperienced?
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Is it required to mark your ball when it’s on the inexperienced, whether or not it’s in the best way of one other participant or not? Yesterday, I used to be taking part in with our golf professional, and he acquired so offended with one other participant as a result of he didn’t mark his ball, despite the fact that it wasn’t within the professional’s line. The professional mentioned that every one the balls on the inexperienced should be marked … however my on-line analysis to this point doesn’t appear to assist that. —Liz Grebler, by way of electronic mail
This professional doesn’t sound like a lot of a folks particular person — by no means thoughts that he’s within the unsuitable, or at the least partly within the unsuitable.
Underneath Rule 15.3, a ball at relaxation on the placing inexperienced solely should be marked and lifted whether it is interfering with play or serving to one other participant; in any other case, there isn’t a requirement to take action.
That mentioned, a participant can at all times request that you simply certainly mark your ball (once more, if it might probably moderately be deemed to be interfering or serving to on the placing inexperienced) by which case you need to accede to that request (making the request in essence a requirement, nevertheless it sounds extra well mannered the opposite approach).
So, sure, the professional could make everybody mark his or her ball, however that’s not the identical factor as declaring, “All balls on the inexperienced should be marked!” He could be higher suited to a much less customer-facing career.
Guidelines Man: Is it a penalty to regulate the alignment of your ball after lifting your mark?
For extra ball-marking steering from our guru, learn on …
My fellow competitor marked his ball and picked it up. He then changed his ball and putted with out choosing up his marker. I informed him his ball was not in play as a result of he left his marker in place, and thus had hit a unsuitable ball — he wanted to switch his ball, with a two-stroke penalty. He mentioned I used to be stuffed with baloney. Is the ball in play when you don’t decide up your marker? —Robert Tarbox, by way of electronic mail
Really, Robert, Guidelines Man can’t abdomen baloney, and alas you might be each stuffed with it.
The inserting or elimination of the ball marker has nothing to do with whether or not the ball is in or out of play. Bupkis.
Truly, it’s the act of lifting or changing the ball that might change its standing. That mentioned, Rule 14.1 does prohibit taking part in a ball with out first eradicating the ball marker, a breach for which your fellow competitor did deserve one penalty stroke (not two), despite the fact that it wasn’t a unsuitable ball.
He wants to vary his methods, and you could eat a little bit of crow.
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