Playing the wrong ball or...!

Tony_Montana

I was playing golf last week. I drove off the 4th hole into the trees and i wasn't sure what direction the ball had gone! I found a ball in the middle of the fairway on the 3rd hole. It was a Titlest 3 ProV1 same ball i was playing! I played the ball up by the green. As i was about to play my third shot, a guy started walking towards me saying he thinks i played his ball. He said he was playing a Titlest 3 ProV1. I asked him does he have any markings on the ball he said no. He said there was a tree mark on it and amazingly i had a tree mark on my ball also! The ball i had played looked slightly newer that the ball I was playing with! What is the ruling here and what can we do?

What happened?
Because i was pretty sure this ball was newer i went back n placed the ball where i hit it from and looked for my ball and found it close to where the other ball was! It was the same ball with the same tree mark but slighly older so it was the right decision but a strange one.
I picked up my ball and took a blank for the hole.

Tip for future - Mark my ball

pistol_75

Tony_Montana there is no penalty to the persons ball you played. You should have taken a 1 shot penalty for playing the wrong ball and played your own ball from where it lay.

Tony_Montana

Yeah i know that rule but if he cannot clearly say that its his ball, what is the rulling

Woodgate

Tony_Montana wrote: »

Yeah i know that rule but if he cannot clearly say that its his ball, what is the rulling

You both should have had an identifying mark on your balls:eek:. If there isn't you can't positively identify it, unless you clearly saw it land in that exact place. I would reckon if you "thought" the ball was your and he "thought" it was his, neither could play it.

I find it amazing that you both had a tree mark in the exact same place on the ball aswell!!

kenco

Made this mistake once and never again!

Played what I thought was my ball as it was a TopFlite with a red mark but this also happened to be the ball of a player on the parallel hole. We agreed it was his and I took my penalty and ruined a good card. Now I have a very distinct marking on all balls I play as those manufacturers have a habit of mass producing!

stockdam

I learnt my lesson years ago.

I was playing matchplay and it was level going down the 11th. I hit my ball into the short rough and my opponent found it for me so I played it on the green and holed out for a par. He had a 6. When I lifted my ball out of the hole I realised that although it was the same make and number it wasn't my ball so I conceded the hole..........a 2 hole swing. I ended up getting beaten on the 20th.........:mad:


Ok it was my fault and now I mark my ball and I always check it before I play it.

Tony_Montana

Ya it was amazing that we both had a tree mark on it, but i wasn't sure where my tree mark was nor was he! I don't think this could ever happen again (ie having a tree mark) but I will alwayz mark my ball from now on

Woodgate

What club do you play in in Waterford?

I'm in the Castle.

Tony_Montana

Dungarvan Golf Club. My favourite golf club in Waterford is the castle. Played Bruen matches there a few times, lovely golf course

Woodgate

Tony_Montana wrote: »

Dungarvan Golf Club. My favourite golf club in Waterford is the castle. Played Bruen matches there a few times, lovely golf course

Thanks for the compliment. Knocknagrana (excuse the spelling) is a lovely course, always in super condition.

Tony_Montana

Ya both are IMO the top 2 in Waterford. I had alot of problems on that 4th hole (i think). The hole was so short that it was drivable but if you drove it anyway offline you were in the trees on the right, or out of bounds on the left and then even when you manage to drive it straight at the green you could make the water on the left of the green. Amazingly, I managed to do all three for the three times i played it . I think if I was to play the hole again i'd probably tee it off with the pitching wedge!:P

ShriekingSheet

Tony_Montana wrote: »

Yeah i know that rule but if he cannot clearly say that its his ball, what is the rulling

It's deemed lost.

In fact, forgetting about playing the wrong ball, if you both just found your balls close by and couldn't say for sure who owned which one, they both would be deemed lost.

A-I-D-A-N

pro v1 is da way to go:D