YES! There Is Still A Penalty If You Accidentally Move Your Own Golf Ball

YES! There Is Still A Penalty If You Accidentally Move Your Own Golf Ball

The Rules of Golf sometimes get misinterpreted, especially when things change a little and certain loud voices at golf clubs are ‘certain’ that something is now the case, when in fact it isn't. In recent times, the Rule that perhaps most fits this bill would be Rule 9.4, which covers movement of your own ball at rest… whether accidental or not!

In a recent issue of the magazine, we ran the above photo of GM’s Fergus Bisset accidentally dropping his towel on his ball on the fairway, causing the ball to move. A reader subsequently wrote in to query if the published answer (the player gets a one-stroke penalty and must replace the ball) was correct as they believed such accidental movement did not attract a penalty.

We have been hearing this same misinterpretation a growing number of times, suggesting that it is perhaps a fairly widely held belief out there among golfers in general. But the default position in the Rules of Golf regarding movement of your own ball at rest by you, your playing partner or by either of your caddies is that there is still a penalty as described above, whether or not the movement is accidental.

The problem, if you like, is that there are now more exceptions (to the player’s benefit) than there once were and golfers, aware of these exceptions, have then perhaps read too much into the overall rule. One of the main exceptions is specifically when searching for your ball or trying to identify it. Until the major revisions to the Rules of Golf in 2019, moving your ball at rest when searching for it would have attracted a penalty. That is no longer the case. Similarly, on the putting green, there is now no penalty for accidental movement of either your ball or ball-marker, but in both scenarios, you must replace the ball (or marker) to its original position before playing, estimating that spot to the best of your ability if you cannot be 100% sure.

These are the exceptions we are mainly concerned with here, although there are two further ones relating to movement when lifting or moving your ball under certain Rules or when applying various other Rules. These are described in detail in Rule 9.4b of the full edition of the Rule book. There is also no penalty if you accidentally move your ball in the teeing area, whether nudging it off a tee-peg or clipping it on a practice swing, but this is slightly different as the ball is not in play on a hole until a stroke has been made at it.

However, if you move your ball on a practice swing anywhere else on the golf course other than the putting green - so in the general area, bunkers or penalty areas - there is a one-stroke penalty and you must replace the ball before playing it.

All of which should serve as a timely reminder to take extra care around your golf ball at all times, as dropping something on it, kicking it accidentally, letting your bag fall on it on a windy day, carelessly clipping it on a practice swing or moving it as you try to remove a loose impediment will all result in a one-stroke penalty.