Movement results in penalty

Q. A friend asked me for a ruling last week, which I gave her and now I am checking with you to see if I gave her the correct ruling. She was walking, pulling a cart and accidentally moved her ball, which was lying on the cart path. I told her that I thought she had to replace the ball and take a penalty stroke. She could then take cart path relief if she wanted it. Was I right? — SB

A. Yes and no. She did get a penalty stroke for moving a ball at rest but then could have used the reference point where the ball originally lay and taken cart path relief from there without replacing the ball. Good call on your part.

Q. I was in an area marked "ground under repair," elected to take relief and lifted my ball. After lifting my ball I realized that the only area in which I could drop under the rules was such that my ball, when dropped, would almost certainly be unplayable. I decided not to take ground under repair relief and replaced my ball where it originally lay. Did I incur a penalty stroke for lifting my ball in play and not taking ground under repair relief? — Judy Dwyer

A. Yes, you did incur a penalty stroke for lifting a ball in play when the rules do not permit lifting it since you ended up not taking ground under repair relief. Next time make sure you look around and see where the rules will allow you to drop before lifting the ball.

Q. Is there a penalty stroke for taking a practice swing and accidentally moving my ball? Do I count the stroke and take a penalty stroke? Where do I play the ball from? — Bob Daniels

A. You have incurred a penalty stroke for moving your ball in play and the ball must be replaced. You do not count the stroke since the definition of a stroke is the forward movement of the club with the intention of striking at and moving the ball. You were taking a practice swing and had no intention of hitting the ball so you did not make a stroke at the ball.

Sue May is a U.S. Open rules official, a member of the USGA Senior Women’s committee and head rules director for the Butch Harmon Vegas Tour. Address your rules questions to suemay@cox.net.