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Limit your practice swings ...

I did that once. . . . . a long time ago.
 
Ugh. That's brutal.

The caddy looking down at the ball and then back up to him was priceless though.
 
Why do you have to replace it? If you moved it, then take a stroke and play your next shot?
 
arwin said:
Why do you have to replace it? If you moved it, then take a stroke and play your next shot?
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A fundamental concept of the rules of golf is "play the ball as it lies." That means whatever lie you had when your ball came to rest is what you get when you hit your next shot. If you move your ball accidentally, you need to put it back into the position and lie you had (or as close as you can approximate) before making your next stroke.

If you do not replace your ball, then you have violated rule 20-7 and played from a wrong place. It's important all golfers who play tournament golf understand this rule, because the penalty can be severe. If you play from a wrong place, the penalty is 2 strokes. However, if you fail to correct your mistake and you are deemed to have gained a significant advantage by playing from a wrong place (known as a serious breach), the committee may choose to disqualify you.

It should be noted that something simple like moving your ball a few inches with a practice swing would likely not be considered a serious breach if you failed to replace it. You would simply have played from a wrong place and be subject to the 2-stroke penalty. But for example, the common practice of "just dropping where a ball went OB" would be a serious breach and lead to disqualification if not corrected before teeing off on the next hole.
 
Love the caddy looks, that is just plain bad luck. I have also done is putting but not taking a practice swing.
 
LOL! I have done this a couple times in tournament play.
 
I won't tell the story for the person, but at #TheGauntlet a THP did hit his ball with a practice swing. I didn't see it happen, but I heard the look on his face was pure terror.
 
This is something I could see myself doing. The caddies reaction is priceless.
 
wadesworld said:
...But for example, the common practice of "just dropping where a ball went OB" would be a serious breach and lead to disqualification if not corrected before teeing off on the next hole.
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On a side note, what are you supposed to do when you lose a ball OB? I thought and was told you drop where the ball was last observed crossing OB, or a hazard, etc. I thought you couldn't do that on tee shots, but have been told you can if the ball crossed over land.
 
-CRW- said:
On a side note, what are you supposed to do when you lose a ball OB? I thought and was told you drop where the ball was last observed crossing OB, or a hazard, etc. I thought you couldn't do that on tee shots, but have been told you can if the ball crossed over land.
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If the ball is OB or lost it is penalty of distance and stroke regardless of from tee or not. Meaning you need to play the shot again from the original location with a 1 stroke penalty. Dropping is only for hazards i.e. water. This is why you should always play a provisional if you think it may be OB. In casual play dropping a ball at OB location is not at all according to rules but is done to save time when the golfer failed to hit a provisional. I.e. someone hits one OB without provisional, you add a 2 stroke penalty (i.e. lost off the tee, second shot dropped at OB crossing location now hitting 4th shot). The thinking is that assuming the "by the rules" #3 shot would have been in play you would be hitting #4, so this is a similar/fair penalty. Again this is totally against the "rules" but is done for pace of play reasons. I.e. what if your 2nd (3rd) shot actually went OB again? Then you'd be hitting 5 and playing 6, assuming that one was in play.

If you want to play by rules and have decent place of play always hit provisional(s) until you know your shot is not OB.
 
Not trying to turn this into a rules thread, but what about holes that are heavily tree lined on both sides but not marked as OB by white stakes? So say your tee shot lands in the right rough, but you find it. Then your second shot slices into the tree line and you can't get in their to find it. Is that treated as OB or only if it's marked by white stakes? Or is that course rules dependant?
 
-CRW- said:
Not trying to turn this into a rules thread, but what about holes that are heavily tree lined on both sides but not marked as OB by white stakes? So say your tee shot lands in the right rough, but you find it. Then your second shot slices into the tree line and you can't get in their to find it. Is that treated as OB or only if it's marked by white stakes? Or is that course rules dependant?
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Nothing wrong with turning it into a rules thread....everyone gets a chance to learn.

If it is not known or virtually certain that the ball is out of bounds, then it would be treated as a lost ball. If there are no white stakes or obvious course boundary (such as a boundary fence), then you would treat it as a lost ball.

Same stroke and distance penalty applies. You return to where you hit your last shot and hit again, adding 1 penalty stroke. This is why it's always good to hit a provisional if you're unsure whether you're going to be able to locate your original ball.
 
-CRW- said:
Not trying to turn this into a rules thread, but what about holes that are heavily tree lined on both sides but not marked as OB by white stakes? So say your tee shot lands in the right rough, but you find it. Then your second shot slices into the tree line and you can't get in their to find it. Is that treated as OB or only if it's marked by white stakes? Or is that course rules dependant?
Click to expand...

It's a lost ball. Go back and play from the original position.
 
Goundskeepers around the world are rejoicing over this one.
 
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