On U.S. Open Sunday an unusual incident occurred involving Brandt Snedeker. While Snedeker was approaching his ball on the putting green he dropped his coin on it causing it to move. The incident received a brief mention on the air and the usual succinct explanation by USGA Executive Director, David Fay.
In Snedeker’s case, Decision 20-1/15 provides a good explanation. The Decision states “”¦any accidental movement of the ball or the ball-marker which occurs before or after this specific act (in this case the placement of the ball-marker behind the ball), such as dropping the ball or ball-marker, regardless of the height from which it was dropped, is not considered “directly attributable” and would result in the player incurring a penalty stroke.”
Because Snedeker’s “fumble” was not directly attributable to the specific act of marking and lifting the ball (i.e. the physical interaction of coin, hand and ball) it is considered to be a breach of Rule 18-2 which prohibits a player from causing his ball to move when it is in play.
This incident once again demonstrates two important truisms with the Rules of Golf: 1) Very few situations arise on the golf course that are not covered by a Rule or Decision; and 2) The Rules of Golf don’t give you a break for clumsiness.
This second truism would also apply if a player accidental dropped a club on his ball while fumbling for change his pocket, accidentally kicking his ball in play while searching for it (other than in a few exceptional circumstances), getting sloppy with a practice swing and striking the ball in play, or any other situation where pure clumsiness causes a player to move his ball once he has put it in play from the teeing ground.
If you happen to be a bit of a klutz you can take comfort in knowing that the Rules do exempt you from penalty under Rule 13 for testing the condition of a hazard if you ground your club “as a result of or to prevent falling.”
Suffice it to say that, for the most part, the USGA agrees with your mother. The excuse of, “it was an accident,” isn’t going to keep you from getting grounded, or in the case of the Rules of Golf, from getting a penalty.
