Moving violation

What’s the ruling when your errant shot makes contact with a golf cart in motion?

Dear North Shore Golf,
This buddy of mine has made some real bonehead decisions in his life, but last week during our match, one of his dumb moves actually worked in my favor.
We were both in fairway on the par-5, 11th hole. After watching him put his shot on the fringe of the green from about 200 yards away, I began preparing for my approach shot from about the same yardage. For some reason my friend forgot about me, hopped in the cart and began driving down the fairway as I was in the middle of my backswing. It distracted me enough that I sliced my shot to the right. Incredibly, the ball hit the cart as my friend was driving it down the path. Like magic, my ball rolled onto the fairway and towards the green, about four feet from his ball.
All I could do was laugh as I walked down the fairway. When I got to the cart, my friend went ballistic. He was adamant that I had to replay my shot. I told him that first of all, he was an idiot for driving off on me while I was in the middle of my backswing. And secondly, since he was driving the cart when my ball hit it, I had the choice of replaying my shot or playing it from where it landed. I wasn’t sure about this, but I thought I had read about this rule somewhere before.
As I chipped on and tapped in for par, my friend continued his rant. At the next tee, he asked the group in front of us what they thought and they all agreed with him. They also agreed that he’s a numbskull. Anyway, I haven’t heard the end of it from him since that day.
Is there such a rule or was I just imagining it?
– T.P. Reading, Mass.

North Shore Golf asked Trull Brook GC Head Pro Allen Santos for a ruling:

Dear T.P.,

You are correct on your ruling. As soon as your buddy pulled away, the rules of golf deemed everything in that cart, including the cart itself, as his equipment. Because he decided to move the cart and the cart was in motion with him in it, you are allowed to play the shot from where it ended up or you would have the option to replay the shot (see Rule 19/1).  

Had he moved the cart further up the fairway and parked it and your ball struck the cart or anything in it, the penalty would have been on you (whether or not your buddy is sitting in the cart). In this case, the cart would have been considered your equipment and the ruling would be loss of hole for you in match play or a two-shot penalty in stroke play. Maybe this ruling will keep your buddy from driving out in front of you while you’re trying to hit your shot.

In another scenario, if your shot went into another fairway and hit another group’s cart or even a cart that was being used by another pair playing in your group, but not part of the match, this would be considered “rub of the green,” which occurs when a ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency. Therefore no penalty would be incurred and you would play the ball as it lied after it comes to rest.

I recommend keeping a USGA rule book in your bag at all times to help out in situations like these. If you can’t figure out the correct ruling, ask the PGA Professional at the club for help.