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 way in which of one other participant or not? Yesterday, I used to be taking part in with our golf professional, and he received 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 each one the balls on the inexperienced have to be marked … however my on-line analysis up to now doesn’t appear to help that. —Liz Grebler, through electronic mail
This professional doesn’t sound like a lot of a folks individual — by no means thoughts that he’s within the flawed, or at the very least partly within the flawed.
Beneath Rule 15.3, a ball at relaxation on the placing inexperienced solely have to be marked and lifted whether it is interfering with play or serving to one other participant; in any other case, there is no such thing as a requirement to take action.
That mentioned, a participant can all the time 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) during which case you should accede to that request (making the request in essence a requirement, but it surely sounds extra well mannered the opposite manner).
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 have to be marked!” He may 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 steerage 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 flawed 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 for those who don’t decide up your marker? —Robert Tarbox, through 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.
In reality, 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 flawed ball.
He wants to vary his methods, and that you must eat a little bit of crow.
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