Rules Guy: I hit a ball that was sliced in half by a mower. What now?

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

When I hit my ball out of deep rough, it flew out like a Wiffle ball. Oops — it was half of another ball that had been run over by a mower. My playing partner insisted on a penalty for hitting the wrong ball. I maintained that what I hit was no longer an actual ball, so no penalty. Your thoughts? —Dan Allsup, Goodyear, Ariz.

To wit, what makes a golf ball a golf ball? Is there such a thing as a Pro V 1.5?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Dan, but under Clarification Wrong Ball/1, part of a wrong ball is still a wrong ball, and you get the (full) general penalty under Rule 6.3c for playing a wrong ball, even though it was only part of one.

For more wrong ball guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules

In a four-ball match, my partner stiffs it to two feet, and my ball rolls off the back of the green. Due to an obstructed view, however, we walk to the wrong balls. Our opponents concede the two-footer for birdie, so I pocket what is, in fact, my partner’s ball. For practice, my partner decides to chip onto the green, only to realize that he played the wrong ball when picking it up. Meanwhile, our opponents make par. Did we win the hole or lose it for playing a wrong ball? —Randy Feldner, McLean, Va.

Interesting question, Randy. While the knee-jerk reaction is that your partner played a wrong ball, he really just made a practice stroke.

While your side may have been confused about who was who, you had completed the hole, since your/ his birdie was conceded and the other player chose not to complete the hole (see Rule 23.3).

Therefore, such practice was allowed under Rule 5.5b. You won the hole … well, he did …  actually, you both did.

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