Identifying your ball RULES OF GOLF What Is the Procedure for Identifying Your Ball - Rule 12-2? It happened to me again at the weekend, during a match play competition. It also happened last week, and it will probably happen at least once a month in rounds of golf that I play in the future. An opponent’s ball had nestled in grass about three inches deep and when he reached it, he wasn‘t absolutely sure that it was his ball. I was walking to my ball on the other side of the fairway. He bent down and picked it up, checked his identification marks, and replaced it carefully. I am sure that he did not gain any advantage from doing this and I chose to ignore his breach, as I am entitled to in match play. However, if we had been fellow competitors in a stroke play competition the Rules require that I must bring it to his attention that he has incurred a penalty of one stroke for moving his ball at rest, Rule 18-2a(i). So, what is the correct procedure under Rule 12-2 when you want to positively identify your ball in play without incurring a penalty? •Before lifting the ball, you must announce your intention to your fellow-competitor in stroke play, or your opponent in match play. •You must mark the position of the ball. •You may then lift the ball and identify it, provided that you give your fellow-competitor, or opponent, an opportunity to observe the lifting and the subsequent replacement. •Note that the ball must not be cleaned beyond the extent necessary for identification when lifted under this Rule. This leads me to one of the best tips that I can give to any golfer who wants to reduce their scores through a better understanding of the Rules. Make sure that you put clear, personalised identification marks on every golf ball that you play. If you always mark your balls in the same way, the likelihood is that you will never make the mistake of playing a wrong ball, which incurs a penalty of two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play. It is not good enough to say that you are playing a Tiltleist Pro V1 2. There could be at least 10 such balls abandoned on any golf course at any one time. And for those of us who play whatever brand of balls we are lucky enough to find, or get given, it can be difficult to remember which ball we are playing if we have already lost half a dozen balls in water or the rough. There is another advantage to putting personalised identification marks on your golf balls. Now and again you may benefit from a benevolent Club member who finds one of your lost balls on the course, recognises who it belonged to, and returns it to you, probably with a lot of derision and banter! Here’s a little story to illustrate how careful you have to be; Paddy is very particular with the identification marks that he puts on his golf balls. He always purchases Tiltleist Pro V1s with an R&A logo, and then fills in three of the dimples in green with a black stalk, to resemble a shamrock. On a windy day Paddy takes a brand new ball from his bag and slices his tee shot into bushes on the very first hole. After playing a provisional ball he spends 3-4 minutes searching for the original and then gives up and continues play of the hole in a very dark mood. From there his round improves and he is playing well when he strikes a three-wood 220 yards, just off the fairway and into the rough on the thirteenth. As he approaches what he is certain is his ball, a player on another hole walks straight up to it and starts taking his stance. Paddy’s dark mood returns and he shouts at the player, telling him that he is about to play a wrong ball. “No I’m not, this is my ball” is the response. “Not unless you’re playing a new Titleist Pro V1 with an R&A logo, and a green shamrock with a black stalk on it”, Paddy says sarcastically. “Yes, that’s exactly the ball I’m playing, I found it on the first!” By Barry Rhodes Source barryrhodes/2009/05/what-is-procedure-for-identifying-your.html Brought to you by GolfEquipment.co.za (Online + Shop Since 2001) WE BUY AND SELL NEW AND USED GOLF CLUBS TRADE-INS WELCOME / LAY-BYS WELCOME (3 Months to pay) Address: 894 Rubenstein Road, Moreleta Park, Pretoria East, RSA GPS Co-ordinates: S25° 48.567’ E28° 17.814’ Tel: 082 335 7737 / 074 182 0564 Email:[email protected] View our products: golfequipment.co.za facebook/golfequipment.co.za
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 12:45:01 +0000