Direct Contact

Should either player be penalized when one ball hits another on the green?

Dear North Shore Golf,
I was putting from just off the fringe of the green when my opponent asked me if I wanted him to mark and move his ball, which was about seven feet beyond the hole. I didn’t think that my putt would possibly come close to his so I told him his ball was all set and not to bother.
Well, sure enough, I putted my ball way too hard and it went sailing past the hole and hit his ball. My ball pretty much stopped at contact, but his ball rolled down the slope of the green and into a bunker. As you can imagine, he was furious. But since the rules are the rules, I told him that he had to play his ball from where it was in the bunker and I was to play my ball right where it landed.
He said that since I was putting and that he asked me if he should move it before I made my stroke, the balls should both go back to where they were before my shot and that I would be penalized two strokes.
I read the rules and it confused me even more. What was the right thing to do in this situation?
– W.F. Malden, Mass.

Dear W.F.,

This is a great question. Your opponent was half-right.

According to Rule 19-5, since your ball was played from off the putting green, there is NO PENALTY for anyone in this situation, even though you were using your putter. Your ball should have been played from where it stopped rolling and the ball that was hit while sitting on the green should have been replaced to a spot as close as possible to where it was before being knocked away.

However, if both balls had been on the putting green, the person who putted the ball into the other ball would receive a two-stoke penalty in stroke play or a loss of hole in match play. The putted ball would then be played as it lies and the ball that was knocked away would be replaced.

The lesson to learn from this story is that when you are putting, make sure you ask that any balls on the green that have even the slightest chance of being hit are marked and moved before you putt. If you don’t, and you hit another ball, you will be the one penalized.

Steve Miller
Director of Golf, CC of Billerica

Steve Miller, 41, has been the director of golf at the Country Club of Billerica since 2001, and has worked at the course since 1992. He became a PGA Member in 1999. Steve’s brother, Michael, is the head golf professional at Indian Ridge Country Club in Andover.