The Flip of a Coin – Rule 20-7

Recently I had a conversation with a friend who shared a story about his brother’s mental lapse, causing a club championship (named “The Donohue”) to slip away.

In the waning moments of the match, the brother’s ball marker was in the line of his competitor. The brother respectfully moved the ball marker, patiently waiting his turn. After executing his putt, it was discovered that he failed to replace the ball marker to its original location.

My friend, a lifelong golf coach/instructor and my golfing mentor, has a ball marking philosophy that would have been helpful during his brother’s match:

• Use a nickel to mark your ball
• Always mark your ball with the nickel “heads-up”
• In the event you are asked to move your ball marker, flip the nickel to “tails-up” as a reminder to remark your ball

A few thoughts:

• • It is unequivocally your responsibility to remark your ball
  • In the event you would happen to forget, it is unequivocally your responsibility to “fess up” to your infraction and accept the appropriate penalty
  • It is unequivocally not the responsibility of your competitor to remind you to remark your ball, however being mindful of these situations and reminding each other to remark a ball to its original location is the appropriate and thoughtful action. The exception being, if it the club championship is on the line. Kidding!

Rule 20-7:

1. General:
   A player has played from the wrong place if he makes a stroke at his ball in play.
2. Match Play:
   If a player makes a stroke from a wrong place, he loses the hole.
3. Stroke Play:
   If a competitor makes a stroke from the wrong place, he incurs a penalty of two strokes under the applicable rule. He must play out the hole with the ball  played from the wrong place, without correcting the error, provided he has not committed a serious breach.

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