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.
With “preferred lies” in effect under wet weather rules, a player marked his ball, moved it a club-length and played his shot without removing the marker. Penalty? —Mustapha Hassan, Abuja, Nigeria
Thought-provoking question, Mustapha, and Rules Guy is humbled by his column’s global reach.
After some deep thought, we have landed at no penalty. Under Model Local Rule E-3, preferred lies does not require marking, as this ball is not being replaced, so the penalty for failing to remove the ball marker doesn’t apply to one that was not used to mark the spot of a ball to be lifted and replaced.
For more preferred lies guidance from our guru, read on …
We were playing with the “lift, clean and place” local rule in effect. A player in my foursome was in the fairway and started to roll the ball with his clubhead before realizing that it’s lift, not roll. He proceeded to mark his ball and go through the procedure correctly. But had the player committed a violation by first touching the ball with his club? —Dudley Campbell, Scottsdale, Ariz.
There may be no erasers on golf pencils, but there’s a very handy one in the Rules of Golf. Dudley, say hello to Rule 14.5, aka the “Eraser” rule. (No, Rules Guy didn’t make up that nickname; it’s a real thing.)
This rule allows for correcting without penalty a mistake in dropping, placing, replacing or substituting a ball, as long as it’s done prior to the player making the next stroke. So, while it is in fact required to use your hand when placing a ball, in this instance, since the mistake was corrected, it falls under “no harm, no foul.”
Had it not been corrected, the sanction would have been one penalty stroke for replacing in a wrong way.
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