The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.
I sprayed my tee shot off the fairway and upon arriving at my ball, a homeowner’s dog came running out of its yard. After jumping in the cart to greet us, the dog followed me to my ball, which it proceeded to take in its mouth and bring it to its owner, who had arrived on the scene. He was able to remove the ball from the dog’s mouth and throw it back to me. I knew the ball’s exact original location, but should I have placed the ball there or dropped within a club-length? It was a tournament, and I was playing with the tournament director, who said to place it, which I did (and saved par). —John Goettsch, via email
Kudos to the tournament director, who isn’t just an administrator and a competitor but a Rules maven as well — he was spot on. (Please tell us the dog’s name was Spot!)
The dog is an outside influence, and when an outside influence moves your ball at rest you are required, per Rule 9.6, to replace it. Had its owner been unable to retrieve the ball from his mischievous pet, you would have been able to replace a new one; as it happened, you were allowed to clean the ball before replacing it, should slobber have been an issue.
For more replacement guidance from our guru, read on …
My drive rolled off the fairway onto a curbed, paved cart path — and then proceeded to roll back down the path at least 100 yards toward the tee box. I was told I could put the ball back on the fairway at the point it rolled onto the cart path with no penalty. Is this correct? —Wolf Dorak, Ontario, Canada
Wolf, Rules Guy is howling with laughter — whoever told you that should be kicked to the curb.
There is no such fix, whether the ball retreated one yard or 100 yards. See Rule 16.1 regarding how to take relief from a cart path.
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Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.