Ruling on this if it really happened?

[kennay92]

Alright so a little while back i was on a hole, on the green, standing there with my putter and took the headcover off and threw kind of in the direction of the cart. (still in the vicinity of the green though) a guy i was playing with was about 75-100 yds out hitting his shot. Well he hit and the ball came a rolling and barely missed hitting my headcover by less than a couple of inches. So whats the ruling if it did hit my headcover and made the ball stop instead of keep on rolling? Just play it as it lies, as its just like the pros hitting into the crowd or what it be?

[brgolf]

Play it as it lies is what I would say.

[Fourputt]

If he was a fellow competitor in stroke play (outside agency), then play the ball as it lies. If he was your partner in stroke or match play then it is a one stroke penalty and he plays the ball as it lies. If he was your opponent in match play, then he has the option of immediately canceling and replaying the stroke, but no penalty is incurred by either player unless it is determined that you acted with intent. In that case you would incur a 2 stroke penalty for breach of Rule 1-2. If your intentional act stopped his ball from holing out, then you could even be disqualified from a competition for a serious breach of 1-2.