outside interference

yesterday, i'm on the 2nd hole on my home course. now the green of the second hole is directly adjascent to the tee box for the 8th hole, and there were a couple of guys teeing off on the 8th as i was getting ready to hit on the 2nd. i let them hit their tee shots, and then i hit my shot, which landed on the green. i'm watching it, making sure it doesn't roll off (because the green is built into a hillside, so it's real easy for your ball to just trickle right off it), and the ball had JUST come to a stop on the green when here comes one of the guys from the 8th box, and he's running straight for my ball. and then he picks it up! i was like, wha...? whoa, whoa WHOA! DUDE! THAT'S MY BALL!

"WHAT?"

"MY BALL!" *point at him*

"oh. sorry."

and he makes no effort to even replace it remotely close to where it was. he just tosses it back over his shoulder as he jogs off the green towards their cart. and of course the ball rolls right off the edge of the green and down the hill. after i get up to it, i realized i didn't have my rule book on me and couldn't recall the ruling on outside interference, so i just placed the ball in an approximation of where i thought it had stopped and putted out for a par from there.

how f'n annoying, eh.

You were correct. Just place the ball as near the original landing spot as possible.

Pretty amazing. I have not once ever picked up another ball on a golf course (outside of shagging crap from a hazard trying to ID my own ball).

I'm of the belief that a lot of people picked up the game in their 20's or later when they didn't have their father's smacking them upside the head for doing stupid stuff (walking across someone's line, watcing your shadow, not raking bunkers/repairing pitch marks, picking up someone else's ball!, etc...) and now they're running rampant.

More than a playability test, I think everyone should be required to pass an etiquette test before they can play on grown-up courses!

Why would someone take a ball of a green,crazy.

I hate stupid people. I mean... That's just pathetic.

Guaranteed that guy was...
a. drunk
b. playing his "first round of the year"
c. unaware that The Rules of Golf exist.
d. all of the above

I hate when people do that. Caught a guy that picked up 2 great shots I made because his partner let it slip when I caught him the second time. I cut a corner on a par 4 with a 3 iron and thought I lost the ball. When I ran into that guy hitting and picking up my ball the second time, his partner said, didnt' you pick one up just like that on the green at #2? I was so pissed.

Anyways, on #8 of my home course, the fairway is sloped so drastically downhill that you need a moderate to hard fade to make it stick in the fairway or it will run down the hill completely and get lost. I get around that because I've got enough height in my ball flight to go over the trees and put it right, about where the green is on 5, a little further right of the fairway. I usually either hit the green or get on the apron, which is where I take the ball anyways if it's sitting on the green. To much of my surprise, no one has taken that ball yet and I've been lucky.

That is a good point. When you just learn how to play with your buddies of the same age and skill, some of the golf etiquette is never learned (not always, but sometimes). My Dad always hounded me with the etiquette. Don't walk in lines, watch you shadow, put the pin back in carefully so you don't damage the cup, and his biggest one, ALWAYS repair the golf course (replacing divots, fixing pitch marks, raking, etc.)

You were correct to replace the ball close to the original point and play on.