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My brother and I both missed a green, on the same line, leaving treacherous downhill chips. He was away, and I said that I’d mark my ball despite it not being on the putting surface, as it might potentially assist him. Before I could, however, he chipped… and croqueted my ball over the other side of the green while his trickled down near the hole. I replaced my ball on the original spot and told him to replay his shot, as I’d wanted to mark. “Too bad,” was his reply. Penalty? Can’t you mark any time you think your opponent could gain an unfair advantage? —Peter Starshak, via email
The relevant term, “helping ball,” only applies to a ball on the putting green. Ergo, since your ball wasn’t on the green you weren’t allowed to mark your ball solely because you thought it might help — your brother was allowed to make the stroke with it still in place.
Had your ball been on the putting green, the ruling’s script would be flipped; Rule 15.3a would penalize your brother the general penalty of loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play for making the stroke without waiting for your ball to be marked.
For more ball-marking guidance from our guru, read on …
Rules Guy: After marking a ball, can you have your caddie replace it?
My fellow competitor marked his ball and picked it up. He then replaced his ball and putted without picking up his marker. I told him his ball was not in play because he left his marker in place, and thus had hit a wrong ball — he needed to replace his ball, with a two-stroke penalty. He said I was full of baloney. Is the ball in play if you don’t pick up your marker? —Robert Tarbox, via email
Truly, Robert, Rules Guy can’t stomach baloney, and alas you are both full of it.
The placing or removal of the ball marker has nothing to do with whether the ball is in or out of play. Bupkis.
In point of fact, it’s the act of lifting or replacing the ball that would change its status. That said, Rule 14.1 does prohibit playing a ball without first removing the ball marker, a breach for which your fellow competitor did deserve one penalty stroke (not two), even though it wasn’t a wrong ball.
He needs to change his ways, and you need to eat a bit of crow.
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