Unusual occurrence on the first drive. No one sure of the ruling

[rstyle]

1) Friend tees up the ball on the first hole

2) the wind is blowing and on his backswing, at the top of his swing, the ball falls off the tee

3) he does not stop and hits the ball off the ground and his ball goes maybe 75 yards.

Can he continue playing the ball without penalty?

Once the ball falls off the Tee after he starts his swing.............is that a penalty since he alread adressed the ball?

When he hits the ball after it falls off the tee..................is that a second penalty?

[Shorty]

11-3. Ball Falling Off Tee

If a ball, when not in play, falls off a tee or is knocked off a tee by the player in addressing it, it may be re-teed without penalty. However, if a stroke is made at the ball in these circumstances, whether the ball is moving or not, the stroke counts but there is no penalty.

The shot counts and there is no penalty. It can't be reteed.

[B-Con]

Following from Shorty's reply, in this context it is worth noting the definition of a stroke: [quote]Stroke A "stroke" is the forward movement of the club made with the intention of striking at and moving the ball, [i]but if a player checks his downswing voluntarily before the clubhead reaches the ball he has not made a stroke.[/i][/quote] (Emphasis mine.) So if the ball falls of the tee during your stroke, as long as you can stop your swing before you hit the ball you can re-tee and start over like nothing happened.

[rstyle]

Thanks

He was in mid swing and saw the ball fall off the tee (by the wind) but thought that if he stopped, he would get a penalty.......................so he continued with his swing and hit the ball off the ground..................but as expected hit it poorly.