You hit into a group and they’re not happy. What now?
It can’t be emphasised enough that you should never intentionally hit into the group in front of you, but it does happen from time to time – even on the PGA Tour. John Daly famously hit into tour pro Jeff Roth’s group twice at the 1994 NEC World Series of Golf, and then got into a fight with Roth’s father after the round.
Not a good look, but as you probably know, Daly’s had more than his share of wincing moments over the years.
There’s hitting into a foursome
on purpose and then there are these more common happenstances: sometimes it occurs because you hit a shot longer than expected. Sometimes it happens because it’s a blind shot and you didn’t realise the course ahead wasn’t clear. If you do it, you’ll likely encounter some unhappy golfers. Apologies usually do the trick to de-escalate things, but you might wonder what happens when one of those golfers takes your ball, hits it back at you or throws it away.
There are a few things to understand about how to proceed when these things happen. The first is that golfer is considered an outside influence by the Rules of Golf, and under Rule 9.6, if he or she happens to do something to move your ball from the spot where it came to rest, you can replace it (or another ball) on that spot with no penalty. If you’re not sure where that spot is, you can estimate it based on all available evidence.
Remember that it has to be known or virtually certain another golfer moved your ball. If you’re not at least 95
percent sure and you can’t find it, it’s considered lost. Take a stroke-and-
distance penalty under Rule 18.2.
The procedure for what to do
changes if your ball was deliberately deflected while in motion instead of being picked up after it had come to rest. For example, your ball rolls up onto a group on the green and one of them kicks it off (perhaps into a pond bordering the hole).
If it’s known or virtually certain that happened, under Rule 11.2 you have to take relief. Do so by estimating the spot where you think the ball would have come to rest if it wasn’t kicked. You’re supposed to drop in a relief area if that ball would have stopped off the green, or place the ball if it would have stopped on the putting green. If your ball probably would have gone out-of-bounds, you unfortunately have to take stroke-and-distance penalty relief.
To recap: if your ball at rest is moved by an outside influence, put that ball (or a replacement) on the spot where it came to rest and play on with no penalty. If it’s deflected while in motion, estimate where the ball would have come to rest and either drop it on that spot (off the green) or place it (on the green), then play on with no penalty.
Oh, and maybe buy a round of drinks for the group you hit into if they leave your ball alone. Not the worst idea.
Photograph by getty images/Larry Placido
