Foremost pondered the decision before him…

The power at his home had been out 5 nights. He had huddled in front of his single gas fireplace for two nights, in the dark except for a couple of battery powered lanterns, warming soup on a gas stovetop. Unfortunately, the temperature in the home continued to drop and F, with his lovely caddie N, finally moved in for two nights with a son who had a generator, then for a couple of nights with a daughter as her power had been restored.

The living conditions were chaotic to say the least — multiple family members, a couple of neighbors, crowded conditions, babies hollering, pets, sleeping on sofas, roads tangled with downed trees and power lines, no internet. F gamely did his best to maintain order, and he further accepted the heavy responsibility of keeping the bar stocked, in case supplies were needed for medicinal emergencies.

But, F had a decision to make on Day#5 of the power outage: He could continue his survival contributions in Nashville —baby-sitting, cooking, cleaning, shoveling snow, scraping ice— or, he could attend a Three Day Golf Rules School in Atlanta. As his Readers might expect, F headed to Atlanta! (Duty called! The fact that he was guaranteed his own quiet room, a comfortable bed, and a hot shower played no role in this decision).

Rules class is now complete, and F can assure all he will remain as mixed up as ever on the Rules! So, without further ado, let’s get 2026 started:

Ball Collisions

F suspects he saw more ball collisions this past year than ever, a phenomenon he might attribute to the increasing practice of “ready golf”. Players are playing faster, which is good, but often hitting at the same time!

(1) In a recent Stroke Play grudge match at BMCC, Reader TD was chipping from in front of the long, Par5, 17th Hole to a back pin placement. He described his play as brilliant, directly on-line, and with admirable distance control, although perhaps a touch firm. As his ball approached the hole it was struck by a ball simultaneously blasted from a green-side bunker by his opponent, Reader RJ. TD claimed he, TD, had been “out” and wondered if RJ should have been assessed a penalty stroke for playing out of turn and messing up his shot. (Both balls had checked in the vicinity of the hole).

In the spirit of fairness, F interviewed RJ. He claimed that his bunker shot was brilliant, perhaps his best shot of the day, and hotly disputed TD’s assertion that he had played out of turn. He said he thought he was “out”. Further, he said that only the collision had kept TD’s ball anywhere near the hole, and that but for the collision, his own ball would have been mere inches from the hole instead of 8 feet, and that he was the real victim in this unfortunate episode.

Ruling

As the format was Stroke Play there is no penalty for playing out of turn. (R6.4b(1). And since both balls were played from off the Putting Green and moving at the time of the collision, the result of the collision would stand, with both balls played as they lay. (R11.1b(1). By definition, a ball in motion is an “outside influence” under this Rule.

In Match Play the result of the collision would stand, as well, although a player who was “Out” could promptly demand that the other player cancel his shot for playing out of turn. (R6.4a (2)). TD probably would have loved to see RJ try to duplicate his brilliant bunker shot! TD’s ball would still be played as it lay, but he would have had the option to recall RJ’s shot. (R6.4a).

Of course, RJ, who also thought he was “Out”, might also have demanded that TD replay his chip shot. In this case, F suggests that a distance dispute (determining who was out) could have been resolved easily based on the nearby ball locations of the previous shots in front of the green and in the greenside bunker.

(2) F recalls another moving ball collision with balls played from on the putting green. Both players were about 25 feet from the hole . Both players thought they were “Out” and it was their turn to putt. The confusion made more sense as one of the players was left-handed, so that their backs were turned to each other as they putted.

Again, both players claimed their putts would have dropped but not for the collision.

Ruling

Both putts should have been cancelled and replayed. F was surprised to find that a “ball in motion” played from a putting green becomes a “movable obstruction” under R11.1b(2) in the specific scenario where two balls played from the putting green collide. (See, Clar. 11.1b(2)/1, adopted January, 2024).

(3) Another common scenario for collisions occurs when a ball played from a putting green strikes a ball that was at rest on the putting green before the stroke. In Match Play there is no penalty. The ball that was at rest is replaced, and the putted ball is played as it lies. In Stroke Play, the player putting gets the General Penalty, two strokes, as well. (R11.a and Exception). (F apologizes if he has incorrectly penalized his opponents two strokes under this scenario in Match Play.)

As usual, all comments or corrections are welcome!

Respectfully submitted,

F