Now What? – The Rulings
- In taking relief from a cart path, Player A lifts the ball from the cart path and places a substituted ball slightly more than one club-length from the nearest point of relief and plays the ball.
**Player A incurs a two-stroke penalty in stroke play for a breach of Rule 24-2. Although Player A played from a wrong place, substituted a ball when not permitted and placed the ball when dropping was required, Note 3 to Rule 20-7c states that when a player plays from a wrong place there is no additional penalty for substituting a ball when not permitted or placing when dropping is required.
In match play, Player A loses the hole.
- In taking relief from a cart path, Player B lifts the ball from the cart path and drops the ball as prescribed by Rule 24-2. The ball lands where prescribed and rolls onto the cart path. The next drop lands where prescribed and rolls onto the cart path. At this point Player B realizes that he was not being attentive to where the ball landed on the second drop.
**Rule 20-2c requires Player B to place the ball as near as possible to where it first struck a part of the course where re-dropped.
- In taking relief from a cart path, Player C lifts the ball from the cart path and drops the ball as prescribed by Rule 24-2. The ball lands where prescribed and rolls forward but not closer to the hole than the nearest point of relief. Player C lifts the ball and re-drops the ball within one-club length of the nearest point of relief, not nearer the hole. The ball rolls about one club-length away from the hole, coming to rest outside the one club-length area where Rule 24-2 requires the ball to land when dropped. Player C plays the ball.
**Player C’s ball was properly in play after the 1st drop. When Player C lifted and dropped his ball in play and played the ball, Player C incurred the general penalty for a breach of Rule 18, lifting his ball that was properly in play and failing to replace the ball, two penalty strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play.
