Rules question

[Fourputt]

didnt tiger do that once? he couldnt stop the club completely so he pulled up on it and it passed over/to the side of the ball?

That's Tiger... I said I've never known anyone

personally . John Daly stopped his swing once like Tiger does... and he tore a muscle in his ribs and had to withdraw from the tournament.

[mcfc_nick]

im sure i heard of somebody hitting the ball but got to re-tee without penalty because they said that they was trying to stop

[sacm3bill]

Yeah, that rings a bell. It was an LPGA player, one of the more well known ones...

[Ignorant]

im sure i heard of somebody hitting the ball but got to re-tee without penalty because they said that they was trying to stop

One hears a lot of things on the course but half of it is sheer BS. The rest is mostly lies and misunderstandings....

Trying to stop one's swing and yet moving the ball is no excuse, it is still a stroke that counts. See Dec 14/1: 14/1.5 Intent to Strike Ball Ceases During Downswing; Club Not Stopped But Path of Clubhead Altered to Avoid Striking Ball Q. A player begins his downswing with the intention of striking the ball but decides during the downswing not to strike the ball. The player is unable to stop the club before it reaches the ball, but he is able to swing intentionally over the top of the ball. Is the player deemed to have made a stroke? A. No. The player is considered to have checked his downswing voluntarily by altering the path of his downswing and missing the ball even though the swing carried the clubhead beyond the ball. If the player had not successfully checked his downswing (i.e., he had struck the ball), he is considered to have made a stroke. Any doubt regarding the player's intent must be resolved against the player.

[iacas]

Yeah, that rings a bell. It was an LPGA player, one of the more well known ones...

Paula Creamer I think. I don't know that she actually hit the ball though. Was a few years ago.

[jamo]

Paula Creamer I think. I don't know that she actually hit the ball though. Was a few years ago.

Yeah it was. There was a Golf Digest article about it too. I believe the story was that she swung the club and basically as she was starting her downswing the ball fell off the tee and she tried to stop mid-downswing but still made contact with the ball. I believe she was allowed to re-tee.

In fact, I found a thread about it: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...tee+shot+rules (Ignore my post in that thread, it's dead wrong. )

[sacm3bill]

I just reread that thread - to recap, Paula did hit the ball, but the official allowed her to retee since her intent was to miss the ball. So either the stroke does *not* count and you can retee without penalty, or the official ruled incorrectly for Paula. Which of those is the case, I wonder?

[Ignorant]

This question came up in a competition (did not happen as described here).

This question was submitted to R&A; for an opinion and the answer was 2-fold:

- 2 strokes to get the ball close to hole - 1 penalty for causing the ball to move (18-2b) - 1 stroke (missing the ball) - 2 penalties for playing a moving ball (14-5) - ball is to be replaced OR is holed out with an additional penalty (R18) Personally I am slightly surprised by this opinion but there is a certain locig in it. If the original scenario was different and the ball had not fallen into the hole then the player would always have an option to continue his play without replacing the ball (provided a serious breach has not occurred) with one additional penalty. According to R&A; the fact that the ball actually fell into the hole is irrelevant when applying Rule 18.