The putter I admit fell into the hole! What now? Ruler guy

Golf rules are tricky! Thankfully, we have masters. Our Rules guys know this book from beginning to end. Is there any problem? He has all the answers.

Player 1 stuffed the ball into the hole, which was just a missed. Player 2 said: “That’s good”, which player 1 admitted…but when he walked towards the ball to retrieve the ball, the ball fell into the hole. What is a ruling? – Tim McGrath, via email

If nothing else, the ruled inbox proves that golf is full of cliffs. (In addition, spam remains a persistent issue.)

If it falls into the hole in 10 seconds and there is a reasonable time to reach the hole, bring the ball with the previous stroke hole. When a ball sticks out of the hole (not specified here, but this must be the case considering it falls into the hole), the concession of waiting time does not bring the player’s rights to a waiting time below 13.3a.

According to Rule 3.2b, concessions are allowed before the ball is stationary, but this does not matter because the ball is abandoned.

For more competition-related guidance from Masters, please continue reading…

In the recent four-goal game at my club, John and Chris played against Brad and James. John was called while Brad was fully focused and did not pay attention. Brad saw John’s ball rolling and stopped – he thought James threw his own ball. What is the ruling? – Dave Dewalle of Richmond, Virginia.

Call rules guys old-fashioned, but the call on the course should be abbreviation. Anyway, the forgotten Brad lost the fine for the loss of the rule 11.2, which meant that he had left the hole in a four-goal game.

If the behavior is against John, it depends on the time and location of the ball, as the ball is heading towards the hole, may have entered, or it may be an extremely difficult putt, ultimately depending on a good result (see Rule 23.9), so James will also be fined and the fine will also lose the hole. Then, they can text each other to their regrets.

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