Playing a 2nd Ball - Rules Issue

[bkuehn1952]

When was the last time you played a 2nd ball because of some doubt or dispute over a Rule?  What were the circumstances and how did it work out?

Mine goes back a couple years.  I was playing a course for the first time as part of our "club without real estate" tournament series.  The 9th hole has the main entry road running along the left side of a dogleg right hole.  I pulled my first tee shot and it hit the cart path.  When I located the ball it was on the wrong side of the road lying on some grass with a clear shot to the green.  The road was not marked with white lines or stakes.  There was no indication on the score card that a ball over the road was OB but a couple guys in our group felt it might be OB so I said I would play the original ball in and also go back to the tee and play a second ball under stroke & distance.  My original ball was my preferred ball.  I scored "6" on the 2nd ball and "5" with the original.  After the round the club pro confirmed that the road and opposite side were not OB so bogey "5" was the correct score.

[Fourputt]

Men's Club tournament.  The par 5 6th hole has an irrigation ditch which often comes into play on the second shot.  I hit a high, strong fade (okay, it was a slice) that drifted right just enough to drop into the lateral water hazard.  Myself and 2 of my fellow competitors had a good line and marked the spot where the ball crossed the margin at about 160 yards from the green.  My 3rd FC insisted that the ball followed the hazard almost it's entire flight, even though he was well off the line, standing in the left rough and had the poorest view.  His contention was that I should drop about 220 yards out.  Since he was adamant, I played from both spots, selecting the 160 yard ball as my preferred, and actually made the putt for par with the selected ball, while I made double with the other ball.

After reporting to the committee, they made all of us go back out to the hole and lay out the shot for them.  When 3 of us all said the same thing, and what they could see from the spot where the ball was hit, the committee ruled for me.  They ruled that the 4th guy's angle was too far off the line for him to have seen anything accurately, which meant that by the rules I was correct in my procedure.

[Rulesman]

I hit a high, strong fade (okay, it was a slice) that drifted right .

No. It's actually quite a difficult technical shot called a Reverse Draw.

[David in FL]

Only one in recent memory, and pretty simple, but it's amazing how poorly informed a lot of golfers are over the simplest or rules.

I was on the fringe chipping.  Brushing the grass with my wedge just trying to get a feel for the distance.....I looked at the pin and promptly hit my ball with the toe of my club, causing it to scoot off the fringe and into a deep bunker.  A real bonehead move if ever there was one.  My 2 fellow competitors insisted that the ball had to be played from where it lay in the bunker.  I claimed that because I moved the ball, but without intent, had not made a stroke , that the ball had to be replaced in the same position on the fringe and played under penalty of one stroke.

I played both and made 5 with my ball from the fringe and 6 from the bunker.  Of course the committee ruled that replacing the ball was correct.

[rogolf]

If a player knows the Rules, he can often save time by just proceeding correctly, regardless of what a FC may suggest, and leave it up to the FC to bring the situation up to the Committee. This would work in the last two of the three situations above. The one regarding the road and OOB is, imo, a proper use of Rule 3-3.

[Fourputt]

If a player knows the Rules, he can often save time by just proceeding correctly, regardless of what a FC may suggest, and leave it up to the FC to bring the situation up to the Committee. This would work in the last two of the three situations above. The one regarding the road and OOB is, imo, a proper use of Rule 3-3.

I played the second ball as much to keep peace within the group for the remainder of the round as for any real uncertainty.  We still had 12 more holes to play and if I had just blown him off, the rest of the day could have been uncomfortable for both of us.  As it was, he was satisfied that the committee would rule against me, and I was quite certain that they wouldn't, so the rest of the round was relatively friendly.   When the round was over and the ruling went my way, he still didn't agree with it (he is one of those bulldog types who has trouble letting go of an idea once it's in his head), but was willing to accept their decision as final, so that he and I are still on friendly terms to this day.  He is now much better versed on the rules than he was then (it was just his first year in the club), and would probably not dispute the point if it came up again.

[David in FL]

I played the second ball as much to keep peace within the group for the remainder of the round as for any real uncertainty.  We still had 12 more holes to play and if I had just blown him off, the rest of the day could have been uncomfortable for both of us.  As it was, he was satisfied that the committee would rule against me, and I was quite certain that they wouldn't, so the rest of the round was relatively friendly.   When the round was over and the ruling went my way, he still didn't agree with it (he is one of those bulldog types who has trouble letting go of an idea once it's in his head), but was willing to accept their decision as final, so that he and I are still on friendly terms to this day.  He is now much better versed on the rules than he was then (it was just his first year in the club), and would probably not dispute the point if it came up again.

Yep, me too.

[rogolf]

Understand your reason(s), but I wouldn't have bothered playing under 3-3 in those circumstances, just to "keep the peace". It's not necessary, inconvenient and slows play. I'd just politely tell him that I know what I'm doing and suggest he can bring it up with the Committee at the end of the round if he disagrees. FC, including markers, are not referees and not expected to be.

[rogolf]

Back on topic - the last time that I used 3-3 was when my original ball was lying on a road (not artificially surfaced) leading to the maintenance compound. I thought I would be entitled to relief, so chose the second ball to count. Scored five (par) with the original ball played from the road and six with the ball dropped for relief. The Committee ruled against me and said the original ball must count. :-D

[14ledo81]

No. It's actually quite a difficult technical shot called a Reverse Draw.

I like that. I always called it a leftys draw, but reverse draw sounds better.