What happens if someone steals your ball?
I once hit my ball into the rough. I was waiting for the next player to hit and in the distance I saw someone from the other fairway close to where my ball landed. I assumed his ball landed close by.
When I eventually got to where my ball landed, I realized that the other player had hit my ball. I mark my ball with the letter "J" written large in 3 places with thick cokie-pen. There was no way that person could have mistakenly hit my ball. Does it count as a lost ball?
Answer:
A player must complete the hole with the ball played from the teeing ground unless the ball is:
- lost
- out of bounds
- substituted – e.g. damaged ball
A wrong ball is any ball other than the player’s ball and includes:
- another player’s ball
- an abandoned ball
- the player’s original ball when it is no longer in play
Definitions of:
- Outside Agency. In Stroke Play an outside agency is any agency other than the competitor’s side, any caddie of the side, any ball played by the side at the hole being played or any equipment of the side. Thus the player from another side who you believe played your ball is deemed an outside agency.
- Known or Virtually Certain. A player may “not merely think” or “assume” that his ball was moved (i.e. played) by another player (outside agency) but it must be “known or virtually certain” that his ball was played by another player.
I doubt that from your position relative to the player who you 'assumed' had played your ball (i.e. wrong ball) even given the markings on your ball that there could be almost no doubt and virtual certainty that the ball he played was your ball. Thus your ball must be treated as a lost ball and you must return to the spot where you played your last stroke and play a substitute ball under Penalty of 1 Stroke (Stroke & Distance).
However, if it was “known or virtually certain” by you that your ball was moved by an outside agency (i.e. played / taken) you could drop a substitute ball as near as possible to where you believed your ball lay without Penalty
Refer: Play Your Golf by the Rules
Known or Virtually Certain – Pg.9
Outside Agency – Pg. 14 & 98
Substituted Ball – Pg. 15
Ball Not Found (Lost) – Pg.37
Wrong Ball – Pg. 154
