You hit your ball out of heather but two balls appear. Is a penalty incurred? Women & Golf’s rules expert Sheila Waltham explains all.
Another competitor identifies her ball in the heather at the back of the green and takes a shot. Following her swing, two balls landed on the green. She’s clearly made contact with two balls – her own ball and another which she hadn’t previously seen. Does she incur a penalty for playing a wrong ball?
This is not an uncommon scenario when playing from the rough ie hitting one ball and two balls emerge.
There is no penalty and she must continue to play the original ball from where it lies. She has made a stroke at her ball in play and in doing so she has made contact with a movable obstruction.
A stroke is the forward movement of the club made to strike the ball, there is also a clarification which requires that the player is intending to strike the ball. So the player has made a legitimate stroke at her ball in play.
The “surprise” second ball is an abandoned wrong ball which is also classed as a movable obstruction. If she had been aware that it was there, she could have removed it without penalty. (Rule 15.2a)
