After playing a shot onto the green from a bunker, you leave your wedge on the putting surface before going to take your putt. There’s nothing to stop you from doing that of course.
Where you've left it is clearly not going to interfere with your next shot so you think little of it.
But then your playing partner strikes a putt from the other side of the green and you can see it is too hard, it’s going to go racing past the hole and possibly hit and be stopped by your wedge.
You quickly move back to your wedge and lift it off the ground as your partner’s ball rolls towards it. Their ball misses it and rolls off the edge of the putting surface.
Have you breached the Rules? Should you have left the putter there in situ? If there is a penalty, who is facing it?
Well, it’s good news on this one. There’s no penalty. It’s covered by Rule 11.3 which deals with – Deliberately Removing Objects or Altering Conditions To Affect Ball In Motion.
This Rule does not prohibit a player from lifting or moving – “Equipment belonging to any player (other than a ball at rest anywhere except the putting green or a ball marker anywhere on the course.”
In the instance described above, you have lifted a club (that is equipment) when the ball is in motion and Rule 11.3 says you are not prohibited from doing that. Therefore – no penalty and your partner will play on from where their ball came to rest.
What would have happened if you hadn’t had time to move your wedge and your playing partner’s ball had hit it?
That’s covered by Rule 11.1. Ball in Motion Accidentally Hits Person or Outside Influence.
As a starting point, there’s no penalty to either player - good news again!
But what you do next would depend on whether your playing partner had played the shot that hit your wedge from on or off the putting green.
If they had played the shot from off the putting green, the player would play the ball as it lies. If it were resting against the wedge – the club could be removed – it’s a movable obstruction.
If your playing partner had played their shot from the putting green and it had struck your wedge, they would have to replay their stroke.
If the player does not replay the stroke in that instance they get the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play (and the stroke counts.) In match play, it would be loss of hole.
If the player replays the stroke from the wrong place, they get the general penalty for playing from a wrong place under Rule 14.7.
Basically – if a partner’s ball is headed for a club you’ve laid on the ground and you pick it up to avoid the ball hitting it – there’s no penalty and your partner plays the ball as it lies.
