John, Decision 17-4/2 is quite clear: you are entitled to have your ball replaced and move the flagstick to allow the ball to drop in the hole, your opponent incurs a penalty stroke for moving your ball.
Here is the link to the USGA site, no need to dig out the book :) http://www.usga.org/rules/rules_2002_03/decisions/dec17.html#17-4/2 Link to Rules & Decisions page: http://www.usga.org/rules/rules_2002_03/index.html Hope this helps. Ciao, Marcello "John Kaufman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >Hi Tom, > >I understand what you're say but technically my shot was not holed out (yet). If he >picks up my ball is he conceding my next stroke or is he interfering with my ball? I >have the decisions. If I get ambitious I'll try to look it up. > >Cheers, >John > �----- Original Message ----- > �From: tflan > �To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > �Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 12:34 PM > �Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Rules > > > �I'm not a rules freak but I too have run into the same situation. Your opponent >conceded a birdie (I assume it was birdie) and his partner holed his putt for a >halve. However, the proper way for the opponent to act would have been to allow you >to move the flagstick sufficiently for the ball to drop to the bottom of the hole. >However, since he picked the ball out of the hole, your birdie should stand. There >are Decisions regarding this. I don't have my copy of the Decisions any longer. Had >to give it back to the club after my term as Handicap Chairman a few years ago. > > �TFlan > > � �----- Original Message ----- > � �From: John Kaufman > � �To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > � �Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 9:50 AM > � �Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Rules > > > � �Hi Tom, > > � �I ran into an interesting one in a four ball tournament recently. I putted from >off the green and the ball wedged against the pin with a 1/4" sticking up above the >top of the cup. I started walking up to cup to move the pin to allow the ball to >drop. Before I could get to the cup an opponent picked up the ball and tossd it back >to me. His partner then sunk his putt to tie my birdie. Was the hole halved? We won >the match �anyway but I was curious about it. I asked an the rules official >afterwards. He scratched his head and walked away. > > � �Cheers, > � �John K > � � �----- Original Message ----- > � � �From: Donald Johnson > � � �To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > � � �Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 8:54 PM > � � �Subject: RE: ShopTalk: Rules > > > � � �Tom: > > � � � � � � � � �Will argue your point of the lost ball See below > > > > � � �Don Johnson > > > > � � �-----Original Message----- > � � �From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:owner-shoptalk@;mail.msen.com] On >Behalf Of tflan > � � �Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 7:46 PM > � � �To: ShopTalk > � � �Subject: ShopTalk: Rules > > > > � � �I'm continually amazed at how little long-time golfers know about the Rules. >This happened yesterday. One of our group hit a ball into the rough from the tee. He >and the rest of us searched for it for a long time. His partner, a rules maven, told >him to go back to the tee and hit a "provisional" while he, the partner, continued to >search. The guy went back and hit another ball. In the meantime, the partner found >the original ball. The player continued play with his original ball and claimed a >score of 6 on the par 5 hole. "Sorry, I said, you had 8." The guy went ballistic. He >said he claimed he was hitting a provisional. I told him it was too late. In the >first instance, in order to claim a provisional he had to hit it from the tee before >any of us left the tee in search of his ball (Rule 27.2) Second, even if the Rules >allowed him to proceed in the manner he did, he and his partner spent considerably >more than the allotted 5 minutes to find the ball. Further, if he were to claim a >lost ball, he would have had to hit another ball from the approximate place where the >first ball was presumed lost. > > � � � � � �27-1. Ball Lost or Out of Bounds > > � � � � � �If a ball is lost or is out of bounds, the player shall play a ball, >under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the >original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5). > > > > > > > > > > > � � � Showing him the Rule book didn't assuage him or the Rules Maven partner. They >insisted I was an ass for calling the penalty. "Hell," I told them, "I don't write >the rules, I just know what the basics are, and you proceeded incorrectly." > > > > � � �During another round with the same 2 guys, the guy with the lost ball was >called for tamping down spike marks. The Rules Maven informed me that Local Rules >always take precedence over the Rules of Golf! I directed him to the Rules section >that discusses this very subject. The guy still wants to argue the point. Too bad. >Again, I don't write 'em, I just read 'em. Rule 27 is pretty clear and simple to >understand. > > > > � � �TFlan > > > > __________________________________________________________________ The NEW Netscape 7.0 browser is now available. Upgrade now! http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/
