At our recent State Amateur in Jupiter, I was officiating on the front nine and heard a radio call that there was a back-up on the par-5, 4th hole. A player had hit a long second shot from a right fairway bunker that ended up in the heavy bushes well left and short of the green. The player and several other people searched for a minute or two and did not find the ball. The player then went back to hit another ball and left his fellow competitor in the bushes where he continued to search for the ball.

At around the time the player got back to the fairway bunker, his fellow competitor whistled back that he had found the ball in the bushes. At this time, I was a couple hundred yards up the right side of the hole helping a different player with his own problems. The ball had been found within 5 minutes of the time the player had begun his search so it seemed as if he had been saved. I couldn’t see the bunker from my angle, but I saw the player driving quickly back to the area in the bushes where his ball had been found. The player then played his shot out to the fairway. His next shot reached the green and at that time a spectator who had been walking up the hole asked me if it was ok for that player to have dropped his ball back in the bunker and then just pick it up?? Oh no I thought…

I immediately went to the green and asked that player if he had in fact dropped a ball back in the fairway bunker prior to returning forward to play his original ball. The player acknowledged that he had so we had a problem.

I told the player that we would need to return to the bunker and play again from there and that there were some penalties involved. I immediately got on the radio because I knew we had a lot of penalties and I wanted to be sure all of us had it correct. Mallory Privett also came along and we crossed checked all the addition to be sure we were right. The player played out the hole and as he came off the green I told him that I would get with him during the next hole to confirm his score.

Here’s how it all came out:

1. Once the player dropped another ball his original ball became lost under the rules (1-stroke penalty for a lost ball) Rule 27 and Decision 27-1/2
2. When he picked up that dropped ball, he received a 1-stroke penalty for lifting his ball in play Rule 18
3. When he went forward and played his original ball, that ball was already “lost” under the rules and so playing a stroke with that ball results in a 2-stroke penalty for playing a wrong ball. Shots played with the wrong ball do not count. Rule 15
4. The player returned to the fairway bunker where he was to replace the ball in its original position (must replace the specific ball that was picked up from the bunker). Since the player was not sure where his ball had been, he dropped the ball (that he had picked up earlier) and played forward from there. (I did correctly caution the player to drop the ball that he had originally picked up – not the ball the he had played provisionally and just picked up off the green. Had he not used the ball that he originally dropped he would be illegally substituting which would have been another 2-stroke penalty)

Ultimately, the player scored a ten – six golf shots plus 4 penalty strokes. The player was very understanding although very frustrated. His parents were also walking along with the group and they were very gracious and couldn’t believe he had dropped a ball and then picked it up – “he knows better than that” his father said.

One thing that I might have missed and have only realized the possibility while writing this story – I wonder if that player quickly raked that bunker after he first picked up his ball?? That would be a breach of rule 13-4…since he hadn’t yet played from the bunker - which would have been 2 more penalty strokes! I bet that he did give it a quick pass with the rake. I should have thought of that, but I’m almost glad I didn’t at the time (Six penalty strokes would have seemed like a lot)!