Rules Guy: What happens if your ball is deflected off an abandoned push cart?
TheĀ Rules of GolfĀ are tricky! Thankfully, weāve got the guru. OurĀ Rules GuyĀ knows the book front to back. Got a question? Heās got all the answers.
During a match I was playing with a friend in Portugal, I teed off on a dogleg-left hole. As my draw disappearedĀ around the bend, we suddenly heard a loud clank! As we approached the spot, we saw two abandoned pull carts at the fairwayās edge. My ball had apparently struck one and deflected backward into heavy rough instead of continuing on its path to the fairway. I argued that the carts should be considered an outside agency, and at worst I should get a drop from there, if not from where my ball likely would have gone. My friend said, āNo way ā play it as it lies,ā which I reluctantly did.
āBRUCE B. CLEEREMANS, MD, IRVINE, CALIF.
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Never mind the Rules, Doc ā aren’t you curious about these ghost golfers? Where in the world did they disappear to? Off for a mid-round siesta? Some canoodling in the woods? Abducted by aliens? Inquiring minds want to know! Anyway, the new-for-2019 Rules call those pesky carts an āoutside influenceā (as would be the adorable, furry ball thief, above) rather than an āoutside agency,ā but the answer is the same.
Itās an accidental deflection, and you indeed should have played the ball as it lay ā and later circled back to solve āThe Case of the Abandoned Carts.ā
Got a rules question? Of course you do! Whatever it may be, send yours to rulesguy@golf.comĀ and the question may be answered in an upcoming issue of GOLF. Until then, play by the Rules!
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