My approach on #13 clipped a tree, but I saw it land on the green and roll towards the hole. Birdie opportunity!
But when I went to putt, it wasn't my ball. Oops. Now what happens?
I checked the bunkers around the green, just in case it was a stray ball on the green, and mine was somewhere nearby. It was not. I had pretty clearly played the wrong ball from the fairway.
This is covered by Rule #6.3c. Playing the wrong ball is a 2-stroke penalty, but you have to correct the mistake by playing out the hole with the correct ball. Failure to do that is DQ.
Given the pace of play at any course in San Diego (and probably anywhere else), going back to find and play the correct ball is just not a viable option. I'm surprised that there's not a model local rule to cover this. Something along the lines of the 2-stroke penalty for a lost ball. The lost ball local rule is not intended for high level competitions, and exists entirely for pace of play. We need a local rule that covers this scenario.
I took the two stroke penalty and moved on to the next hole. I was playing solo and can't post this round anyway.
I emailed this to the USGA as a suggestion. They replied indicating that the rules committee will consider it. We'll see what happens...
ReplyDelete