By Senior Rules Officials, Pete Scholz and Terry McEvilly
As promised last month, we continue our focus on Rule 14. By the end of this year, you will know more about lifting and returning a ball to play than you ever wanted to, or knew you needed to. If every golfer had a good understanding of this Rule, our work as officials would be made much easier. You see, we have ulterior motives for this year’s focus. With that said, let’s get right to it.
Test your knowledge on who may lift and when the ball can and can’t be cleaned after lifting with the following questions.
Questions: True / False
1) A player may give another player, in both match play and stroke play, authorization to lift the player’s ball.
2) A player’s caddie may mark and lift the player’s ball on the putting green without prior authorization.
3) At all other times, a caddie may not lift their player’s ball anywhere on the course, except the putting green, without prior authorization.
4) If a caddie lifts the player’s ball when not allowed to, the player loses the hole in match play and gets two penalty strokes in stroke play.
5) For players with certain disabilities that allow an aide to assist them on the golf course, the aide may lift the players ball when on the putting green.
6) When lifting the ball under Rule 7.3 to identify it, the spot of the ball must be marked and may not be cleaned.
7) If a player reasonably believes that their ball has become cut or cracked during the hole being played, they may mark and lift the ball to inspect it, but the ball must not be cleaned.
8) If another player reasonably believes that your ball interferes with their own play, they may require you to mark and lift your ball and since the request came from another player, you may clean your lifted ball.
9) If a player needs to lift their ball to determine if it lies in a condition where free relief is allowed, they may mark and lift the ball, but must not clean the ball unless it lies on the putting green.
10) In Foursomes and Four-ball competitions, a partner may not lift the player’s ball without prior authorization each time.
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Answers:
1) True. Rule 14.1b. It is important to note that this authorization must be given each time before the ball is lifted and not generally for the entire round.
2) True. Rule 14.1b. The putting green is the only place on the course that a caddie may mark and lift the player’s ball without prior authorization. However, it should be noted that if the caddie marks the location of the ball incorrectly (see last month’s article), the player is penalized. Pick your caddie carefully.
3) False. Rule 14.1b. This is a bit of a tricky question and hopefully you read it carefully. It is true that lifting the player’s ball by the caddie usually requires the player to give authorization to do so each time the ball is lifted. However, if it is reasonable to conclude that the player will take relief under a Rule, the ball may be lifted by the caddie without authorization.
4) False. Rule 14.1b. Similar to the player lifting the ball without marking its location, the player receives one penalty stroke for both stroke play and match play if the caddie lifts the player’s ball when not allowed to. This is true even if the caddie marked the location of the ball before lifting it.
5) True. Rules 25.2g, 25.4a and 25.5d. Rule 25, which was added a couple of years ago, allows players with specific disabilities to play fairly with players who have no disabilities, the same disability, or a different type of disability. When a player is allowed an aide due to their disability, among other modifications found in Rule 25, the aide is allowed to lift the player’s ball when on the putting green.
6) True and False. Rule 14.1c. This Rule is very specific and allows the player to clean the ball only as needed to identify it. However, the spot of the ball must be marked before lifting it. While the entire ball must not be cleaned when proceeding under this Rule, the dirt covering the player’s identification mark on the ball may be removed. A ball lifted from the putting green may always be cleaned.
7) True. Rules 4.2c(1) and 14.1c. In this situation, the player must use caution when lifting the ball as the Rules don’t allow any cleaning of the ball when lifting it for this reason, unless it lies on the putting green. If a player cleans their ball when not allowed to, they get one penalty stroke and must replace the ball if it was lifted.
8) False. Rules 14.1c and 15.3b(2). It seems logical that when another player asks you to lift your ball that you would be allowed to clean it. However, this is not the case, and you must not clean the ball. Lift and replace your ball carefully to avoid accidentally cleaning it. As previously noted, a ball lifted from the putting green for any reason may be cleaned.
9) True. Rules 14.1c and 16.4. When a player reasonably believes that their ball lies in a condition where free relief is allowed but is unable to determine that without lifting the ball, they may mark and lift the ball. They must replace the ball without cleaning it if it doesn’t lie in the condition. If it does lie in a condition where free relief is allowed, the player may clean the ball if they choose to take relief.
10) False. Rules 14.1c, 22.2 and 23.5. In Foursomes and Four-Ball competitions, either partner may act for the side and the action by the partner concerning the player’s ball is treated as action by the player. Therefore, the partner may mark and lift the player’s ball without prior authorization. Our Advice: Pick your partner wisely as any breach of the Rules regarding the marking, lifting and cleaning of your ball by your partner is treated as if you did it.