Weird Rule Case

[p1n9183]

This last weekend, at my home course, we had a 54 hole tournament. A player ahead of my group hit his first shot in a par 4 really close to OB (marked by stakes).
He played a provisional ball and walked to the 1st ball. Once over the ball he told his playing partners that the ball was in and ask them to pick up the provisional ball that was on the other side of the fairway stucked to a tree. He procceded to play his 2nd shot, this time completely OB. In that moment he told his playing partners that he was mistaken before and that he thinks the first ball was in fact OB and that he should continue playing with his provisional ball (the one that had been already lifted up by his playing partners). He procceded to place the ball close to the tree but not as stuck like it was before (it was clearly unplayable before), play from there his 4rd shot to the front of the green and 2 putted to finish the hole with a more than acceptable 6.
He finished his round and drive home, his playing partners were really confused about the hole thing (even a little suspicious about his morals) so they presented the case to the tournament authorities. 

What do you think it happened?

 

[iacas]

I'm on my phone so I can't say too much, but the player should have likely been DQed under about three different rules. If his ball was OB, but he hit it… whatever, long story short, he took a six when there's no way he made a legitimate six or less.

[mcanadiens]

  On 10/12/2021 at 6:18 PM, p1n9183 said:

What do you think it happened?

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DQ.

[Rulesman]

  On 10/12/2021 at 6:18 PM, p1n9183 said:

What do you think it happened?

 

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The Committee decided he did everything correctly.

[KMP]

Should have been DQ'd. However, since he is a good friend of 3 committee members he was summoned in for discussion of the issue. After a few hours of drinking and a good meal the matter was forgotten.

[Vinsk]

DQ all of you for allowing this debacle to happen and not protecting the field nor upholding the spirit of the game.🤭

[pganapathy]

The only problem here is nobody saw where the first ball actually was.  In that case, it would have been simple enough to determine whether he hit 4 from the location of the first or second ball.  In any case he still hit his fourth from the tree or near the OB marker.  But picking up the ball meant he couldn't the fourth from near the tree without a penalty drop.  In principle he should be DQ'd

[iacas]

  On 10/13/2021 at 9:32 AM, pganapathy said:

The only problem here is nobody saw where the first ball actually was.  In that case, it would have been simple enough to determine whether he hit 4 from the location of the first or second ball.  In any case he still hit his fourth from the tree or near the OB marker.  But picking up the ball meant he couldn't the fourth from near the tree without a penalty drop.  In principle he should be DQ'd

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Saying that’s his fourth ignores that he made a stroke at another ball.

Whether the ball was in bounds or out, it wasn’t a stroke you can ignore.

[pganapathy]

  On 10/13/2021 at 11:01 AM, iacas said:

Saying that’s his fourth ignores that he made a stroke at another ball.

Whether the ball was in bounds or out, it wasn’t a stroke you can ignore.

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Assuming the ball was actually OB, does the stroke count.  I guess you know the rule and are saying it does count.  Thanks for that info.

[Vinsk]

  On 10/13/2021 at 11:37 AM, pganapathy said:

Assuming the ball was actually OB, does the stroke count.  I guess you know the rule and are saying it does count.  Thanks for that info.

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I’m not sure there’s any case where you intentionally hit what you state is your golf ball and it doesn’t count as a stroke.

[DaveP043]

  On 10/13/2021 at 11:37 AM, pganapathy said:

Assuming the ball was actually OB, does the stroke count.  I guess you know the rule and are saying it does count.  Thanks for that info.

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This is from the Definition of Wrong Ball:

  Quote

Examples of a wrong ball are:

.....

The player’s own ball that is out of bounds, has become lost or has been lifted and not yet put back in play.

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So he made a stroke at a Wrong Ball, incurring the General Penalty.  And that's just a part of his problems on this hole.

[iacas]

  On 10/13/2021 at 11:37 AM, pganapathy said:

Assuming the ball was actually OB, does the stroke count.  I guess you know the rule and are saying it does count.  Thanks for that info.

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Yeah.

You can’t just make a swing at a ball and not count it. Even if it was not your ball, it’s either a wrong ball or a practice swing (you can only “hit” a ball and not count it if you’re doing something like hitting a range ball back onto the range, and the times when you play a provisional up to the area where you expect your first ball to be).

  On 10/13/2021 at 12:25 PM, DaveP043 said:

This is from the Definition of Wrong Ball:

So he made a stroke at a Wrong Ball, incurring the General Penalty.  And that's just a part of his problems on this hole.

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Yeah. The stroke he made is going to count one way or another… he either hit his ball, then abandoned it after hitting it OB and played from a wrong place (probably a serious breach), or he played an OB ball and thus a wrong ball.

[p1n9183]

The initial take from the comitte was to add 3 strokes to him on that hole (6 to 9).
The stroke from OB + penalty stroke for doing that + lifting the provisional ball and putting it back in play.

I wasn't OK with that decision because of 2 things.
- He played the provisional ball from a wrong place, he gained a big advantage doing that so he should be DQ.
- He signed 6 in that hole but he should sign a 9. So according to the new rules, signing a lower score in a hole is penilized by 2 strokes after fixing it to the rigth number. So for me he should be having an 11 in that hole.

This tournament served as a qualifier for the club match play championship, and with that 9 he qualified 7th out of 8 spots available. 

The guy in 9th place complained about the decision so the commite called the player that made this huge mess and procceded to DQ him after he recognized that the first ball was OB even before he hit the 2nd shot... shady move.
I will be playing now the guy that ended 9th after he got the 8th spot in the qualifiers.   
 

[Ruler]

What a mess...