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Golf rules are hard! Thankfully we got Guru. Our rule guy knows the book from start to finish. do you have any questions? he has all the answers.
My pull approach shot was high up on the steep slope of a greenside bunker, just below the lip. As the group inspected my predicament, the sand crumbled and the ball came off and rolled to the bottom of the bunker. It was nearly impossible to replace, so I agreed to play from there, but I’ll wait until I hear from you to enter the score. —Johnny M. Provost, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
When you say “examined”, do you mean someone moved the ball? Yes, because there is friction.
If it was unclear or uncertain who or what caused the ball to move, the ball was treated as having been moved by natural forces and it was correct to play the ball as it is.
If someone instead caused the ball to move, the ball should have been replaced under Rule 9.4 (You Did) or Rule 9.6 (They Did).
If the ball doesn’t move, try again. Then find the closest place to stop in the bunker without approaching the hole, according to Rule 14.2e.
In that case, you have played from the wrong place and will get two penalty strokes in stroke play. Either way, don’t tell us!
For guidance on ball movement from our guru, read on…
We were playing with the “lift, clean, place” local rule enabled. After my foursome player was on the fairway and started rolling the ball with the clubhead, I realized it was lift, not roll. He marked his ball and did his steps correctly.But did the player commit a violation by first touching the ball with the club? —Dudley Campbell, Scottsdale, Arizona
A golf pencil may not have an eraser, but the rules of golf have a very useful eraser. Dudley, please tell us about rule 14.5, aka the “eraser” rule. (No, Rules Guy didn’t coin that nickname. It’s real.)
This Rule allows the player to correct, without penalty, an error in dropping, placing, replacing or substituting a ball so long as it is done before making the next stroke. So, actually it is required to use the hand to put out the ball, but in this case it corresponds to “no harm no foul” because the mistake was corrected.
Had it not been corrected, one penalty stroke would have been given for replacing the wrong way.
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Questions about the rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Please send any questions, confusions or comments to rulesguy@golf.com. I promise he won’t throw books at you.
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