Barb Hanson
A friend of mine was getting ready to putt and in making her practice stroke she accidentally touched and moved her ball. What is the ruling?
Unfortunately, she incurred a penalty stroke under Rule 18-2a for moving the ball in play, and she had to put the ball back in its original position.
In stroke play, Ann’s ball was on the green and Bev’s ball was just off the edge. Bev asked Ann to mark her ball but leave it on the green since it was located just behind the hole and may have provided her with a backstop. Should Ann comply? Can Bev ask Ann to do that within the Rules of Golf? What is the ruling?
Decision 22/6 says that the request was not proper and Ann certainly did not have to comply. In fact, if Ann and Bev were found to be aiding each other in this way, they could both be disqualified.