Wrong Ball - Learn From My Errors

[DeadMan]

This has not happened to me ... yet. I mark my ball with a pink line, and I've never seen anybody else do that. It makes it easy to identify which ball is fine. That said, I think if you play enough golf, it will happen at some point, so I'm betting it will happen to me. Hopefully, it doesn't cost me too much when it does.

[bkuehn1952]

21 hours ago, klineka said:

Did he take a 9 as well?

Yes.  His ball's location was not known.  If we had gone back, I would have had to drop where he had hit from and he would have had to find his ball (which may have been in the water).  He would have possibly had to deal with a lost ball and hitting the wrong ball.

19 hours ago, billchao said:

So the reason you took a 9 on the hole is because you didn’t want to hold up play by going back to the original spot? Because from what I’m reading it seems like you had a pretty good idea of where that was because you knew who played your ball.

If you played it, you could have holed that one for par 😉

I sort of did a rough calculation in my head.  Go back, find the spot, probably hit the green and lie 4 with 2 putts for a six.  Maybe a 5 or 7.  Top prize is a $100 gift certificate.  Plus, if I went back, #4 would probably go back, too.  That would have created a real log jam.  Better to take the medicine, play on, have a good story of what NOT to do.

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, bkuehn1952 said:

If we had gone back, I would have had to drop where he had hit from

You would have had to place your ball (or another ball) in its original location, or its estimated location (Rule 9.6, your ball was moved by an Outside Influence).    

[iacas]

57 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

You would have had to place your ball (or another ball) in its original location, or its estimated location (Rule 9.6, your ball was moved by an Outside Influence).    

THAT one will trip up a lot of people. I say this because I'm pretty good with the Rules but had forgotten about placing in this situation (in my mind because the exact spot isn't known - the old Rules you replaced if you knew, and dropped if you could estimate only, IIRC).

Thanks for the reminder.

[DaveP043]

7 minutes ago, iacas said:

THAT one will trip up a lot of people. I say this because I'm pretty good with the Rules but had forgotten about placing in this situation (in my mind because the exact spot isn't known - the old Rules you replaced if you knew, and dropped if you could estimate only, IIRC).

Thanks for the reminder.

Its probably easier for me, I really didn't get too far into the real details until after the 2019 Rules had been released.  To me the current rules are more consistent, any time you are supposed to "replace" the ball you place it, even if the exact location isn't known.  And you do remember correctly, 20-3c from 2016 is exactly as you have described.

[NM Golf]

I've mark my ball with my initials and I never identify my ball any other way. If I don't see those initials I don't hit that ball. I guess that's why I've never hit the wrong ball in 27 years playing.

[bkuehn1952]

4 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

You would have had to place your ball (or another ball) in its original location, or its estimated location (Rule 9.6, your ball was moved by an Outside Influence).    

Ha ha!  So I also add the penalty for improperly dropping instead of placing.  9 is starting to look better ... okay, not really.

[Wade Patton]

On 8/10/2022 at 2:05 PM, StuM said:

So, begs the question.  If you are in competition and know they are about to play the wrong ball, are you required to tell them?  Or just let them hit then impose the penalty on them while replacing your ball to hit legally?

I'm not asking if you "Should" or "Should Not" tell them, just what you are "Required" to do.  Personally, I would probably say something instinctively before even thinking about any strategy.

I see that as Rule 1.2. Acting with integrity situation. To allow another player to incur a penalty when there was clear and ample opportunity to let them know of the situation before making their shot, would indeed be violation of the integrity and honesty rule if I were on the committee.

But of course the player him/herself is ultimately responsible for ball ID, but that's not what you asked.