1 or 2 shot penalty?

This happened the other week and the player i was playing with is better than i am and it was his home course (member).

On the tee: hooked one in the tree's (lost) so re-hit for 3 off the tee.
Hit an ok shot into the left rough, once got up to the area i could not find the ball, so as to not hold up play dropped another shot and was now preparing to hit my 5th shot. The player i was playing with told me that i had to drop two shots so would now be hitting my 6th. I disagreed and we played on.

Who is right???

I understand that you should proberly go back to the tee for 5 off the tee, but on a weekend on a busy course you just dont do that!

Can someone resolve this for me!

Cheers John

Either you play the game by the rules or you don't. The correct procedure in this case is to declare the ball lost and call the following group to play through while you return to the tee to play your 5th shot.

The penalty for a lost ball is stroke and distance. While it goes against my grain and is positively illegal in competetive golf, people playing social golf in the circumstances you describe sometimes do what you did. The reason your partner said a two shot penalty is that the penalty for a lost ball is stroke AND distance. As you did not go back to where you played your previous shot he added a shot for that distance plus the penalty shot ie TWO strokes.

Neither of you were right but your partner was more right than you were.

From the R&A:

27-1. Ball Lost or Out of Bounds
If a ball is lost or is out of bounds, the player must 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).

Exceptions:
1. If there is reasonable evidence that the original ball is lost in
a water hazard, the player must proceed in accordance with
Rule 26-1.
2. If there is reasonable evidence that the original ball is lost in
an obstruction (Rule 24-3) or an abnormal ground condition
(Rule 25-1c) the player may proceed under the applicable Rule.

PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE 27-1:
Match play – Loss of hole; Stroke play – Two strokes.


------

So you take 2 strokes for breaching 27-1.

__________________
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter - www.pcsgep.com
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

So if you just drop it and don't bother going back to the tee, you get the two stroke penalty and then what? Can you continue to play from this spot? I always thought that you would be disqualified if you didn't correct your mistake before you finished the hole.

That is the way it goes, but if it is in comp, you take it to a rules commitee.

Thanks for giving me the correct ruling!

Although if it was in a comp, i would go back and tee off again, this was supposed to be a friendly game with friends.

CantPutt, it seems as though you take the 2 stroke penalty for noncompliance with 27-1, and take 2 more for breach of 20-7 Playing from wrong place.

Decision on Rule 20-7: The vehicle is irrelevant

Q: A player's tee shot travels about 175 yards and, while still in motion, is deflected out of bounds by a golf course maintenance vehicle. The player, claiming the vehicle should not have been there, dropped a ball near the spot where the vehicle deflected the original ball, completed play of the hole and stated that he had incurred no penalty. Was the player correct?

A: No. A maintenance vehicle is an outside agency. The original ball would have been played as it lay, without penalty, if it had been in bounds – Rule 19-1. Since the ball was out of bounds, the player was obliged to proceed under Rule 27-1.
The player, in dropping a ball near where the original ball was deflected and playing it, played from a wrong place.
In match play, he incurred a penalty of loss of hole – Rule 20-7b.
In stroke play, he incurred the stroke-and-distance penalty prescribed by Rule 27-1 and an additional penalty of two strokes for a breach of that Rule. Since the breach was a serious one, he was subject to disqualification unless he corrected the error as prescribed in the second paragraph of Rule 20-7c. (Revised)

So, JMC, you missed 2 strokes, and needed to report to the committee.

__________________
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter - www.pcsgep.com
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

I agree with everything you guys say and if he were in a comp (he wasn't) I wouldn't like his chances with the match committee bonzi. But where did that vehicle come from?

D

The vehicle appeared compliments of the R&A examples and decision committee. It showed up in the question, and was negated in the answer.

In a tournament that i played, i dropped, where me and all of my group decided was legal ( it wasn't). The comittee shold have dq'd me but they didn't. They just penalized me for every possible thing they could and i ended up taking 13 penalty strokes for a whopping 14 over par 19.

Nice. In my tourney next month, remind me to do the walk of shame, if necessary.

You are right.
If you don't correct the error - DQ