Learn when you can replace a damaged golf ball, the rules for checking it, and notifying your opponent to avoid penalties, with Women & Golf’s rules expert Sheila Waltham
By Sheila Waltham
After teeing off, your ball ricochets off a stone wall. You believe your ball may have become damaged. Can you replace the ball with a new one and, if so, do you have to advise your marker or opponent before you do?
There are many solid objects on a golf course that could damage your golf ball if the impact is sufficiently severe. If you believe your ball has become damaged during play of the hole, you may lift the ball to check it (marking it first) and the ball must not be cleaned. A stone wall is about as solid a connection as you are likely to find. So in this circumstance, it would be reasonable to suspect that the ball may have become damaged.
At the other extreme, if the impact was with a rubberised path, it is unlikely that the ball would be damaged, so it would not be reasonable to lift the ball to check, as black rubber marks on the ball do not constitute damage. Lifting the ball without good reason would incur a penalty of one stroke.
“Damage” means that the ball has clearly become cut or cracked. Scrapes, scratches and superficial marks do not constitute “damage”. Another ball may only be substituted if the ball has clearly been damaged during play of that hole.
If the ball is not damaged, you must replace the original ball on its spot.
If the ball is damaged, then you may replace it. Find out more about Rule 4.2c
Do you need to tell your marker or opponent what you are doing?
In match play, your opponent has the right to know how many strokes you have taken, including any penalties incurred. In stroke play your marker is required to certify your score for each hole. As a player may not deliberately touch their ball during play of a hole unless proceeding under a Rule, advising your opponent/marker of your actions and reasons will ensure that your actions comply with the Rules and no penalties are incurred unnecessarily.
About the author
Sheila Waltham has been a qualified rules official for over 15 years and joined the England Golf Tournament Panel of Referees in 2019. A keen golfer since 1995, Sheila’s interest in the Rules was born out of the realisation that a lot of the information she received as a novice golfer was incorrect. So, she took matters into her own hands!
Become a whizz on the rules and check out our previous Ask the Ref features, like this one: Understanding Penalty Areas >
