Rules Guy: What happens when teammates hit the wrong ball in a four-ball match?

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Rule 6.3c states that if two players hit each other’s ball, only the first gets a penalty and the second can place their correct ball at the original spot and continue. But it seems like four-ball matches could create strange scenarios. For example, what if two teammates hit each other’s ball — can the second one to hit really re-hit from the correct spot without penalty? What if two opponents do it? The first player is penalized, obviously, but what if the second guy hits the wrong ball a second time or even finishes out the hole without realizing? —Dave Baker, Vancouver, Canada

Let’s be clear: The concept of only the first player getting the penalty does not — repeat, does not — apply to all forms of play.

In singles match play, yes, only the first player loses the hole and then you move on. That’s because it’s just one-on-one, so both players can’t lose the hole.

In stroke play or four-ball match play, however, everyone who plays the wrong ball gets a penalty. If two partners play each other’s ball, they would both get a loss of hole penalty, resulting in their side losing the hole, since neither player can have a score that counts for that hole. If a single player from each side of a four-ball match plays each other’s ball, they would both get the general penalty, meaning neither player could have a score that counts for the side on that hole, and their partners would have to duke it out on their own.

In match play, there is never a correction required since the result is loss of hole (which means not being able to count a score for that hole in four-ball). Should you want to go directly to the source, check out Rules 6.3c and 23.9.

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

Rules

Club championship, second hole, I pulled my Titleist (with a black dot) into trees. We looked for three minutes but didn’t find the ball. As I was about to drop, a competitor said he saw a ball up ahead. Sure enough, Titleist with a black dot. I made birdie…but, upon closer inspection on the third tee, I realized it wasn’t my black dot Titleist. I assessed myself a two-shot penalty and played on but was later DQ’ed for playing wrong ball. What were my options, if any, when I first realized my mistake? —Steve Klapheke, Louisville, KY

Playing on: That was indeed the mistake.

Once you discovered you’d played the wrong ball in stroke play you received two penalty strokes and needed to fix the error by going back and proceeding with respect to your original ball.

This would either mean finding the original ball if you had any search time left (the search clock stopped when you identified the wrong ball) or proceeding under stroke and distance and going back to your previous spot.

Consider adding more dots, so that you’re sure next time.

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