the yellow penalty area Rule and plays
it. The original ball is then found inside
the penalty area within three minutes
of beginning search. What is the ruling?
3
A. There is no penalty; the original ball
remains the ball in play.
Once you identify your fried egg
in the bunker, do you have to
recreate the original lie?
B. There is a penalty of one stroke accord-
ing to the lost ball Rule and an additional
penalty of two strokes for a breach of that
Rule; the original ball is lost and the player
must continue with the ball dropped under
the penalty area Rule.
ball before finding it and in the pro-
cess moves the ball. Before playing the
ball, the player replaces it on its orig-
inal spot without replacing the sand.
The player makes a stroke at the ball.
Which is correct?
A. There is no penalty; the player has not
breached the Rules.
B. There is a penalty of one stroke for
moving the ball.
C. The player gets the general penalty for
playing the ball without having re-created
the original lie.
A player’s ball lies in a pen-
alty area. Before taking a
stance to play the ball, the
player makes a practice
swing, touching the ground with a club
that incidentally removes loose imped-
iments near the ball. The player also
breaks the branch of a small shrub
with a hand, improving the area of the
intended swing. What is the ruling?
4
A. There is a total penalty of six strokes.
B. There is a total penalty of four strokes.
C. There is a total penalty of two strokes.
A player’s ball lies near a
very large log that intervenes
on the line of play but does
not interfere with the stance
or the area of the intended swing. The
player enlists the help of several other
players, moves the log and plays the ball
as it lies. What is the ruling?
5
B. There is a penalty of one stroke.
C. There is no penalty.
A player removes the flag-
stick and places it on the
p u tt i n g g r e e n n e a r t h e
hole. After the player putts,
another player sees that the player’s
ball in motion might strike the unat-
tended flagstick. The other player picks
up the flagstick before the ball reaches
it, allowing the ball to roll beyond where
the removed flagstick had been placed.
What is the ruling?
6
C. There is a penalty of one stroke accord-
ing to the lost ball Rule and an additional
penalty of two strokes for a serious breach
of that Rule. The player must abandon
both balls previously played, return to the
teeing area and put a ball into play.
A player plays his or her ball
from a bunker and the ball
comes to rest in another bun-
ker on the other side of the
putting green. Before leaving the first
bunker, the player smooths the foot-
prints that he or she just made. After
playing out of the second bunker, the
player’s ball comes to rest in the first
bunker. What is the ruling?
8
A. There is no penalty. A. There is no penalty.
B. The other player gets a penalty of
two strokes. B. There is a penalty of two strokes if the
ball comes to rest in the smoothed area.
C. The player gets a penalty of two strokes. C. There is a penalty of two strokes for
testing the condition of the first bunker.
Having struck his or her tee
shot in the direction of some
trees bordering a yellow pen-
alty area, a player briefly
searches for the ball in the penalty area
but does not find it. Without knowledge
or virtual certainty that the ball lies in
the penalty area, the player drops a ball
behind the penalty area (about 55 yards
forward of the teeing area) according to
7
5
If you have a couple of
friends, maybe you can
move this rather large
loose impediment.
A. There is a penalty of two strokes.
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