No penalty for accidental touch of ball

Q. Can you explain how you take relief from a movable obstruction? I'm referring to your last month's ruling with the range ball. -- BW

A. Range balls in a bunker are considered "movable obstructions," and the range balls may be removed without penalty. If the range ball lies near your ball and you think your ball might move, mark your ball and if it moves during the removal of the range ball, your ball must be replaced and there is no penalty, provided the movement was directly attributable to the removal of the range ball.

If your ball lies on the obstruction, e.g., a range ball buried in the sand, your ball may be lifted and the range ball removed. Your ball must then be dropped as near as possible to the spot where the ball lay on the obstruction in the bunker, but not nearer the hole.

Q. What is the proper way to drop a ball under the rules of golf? -- Kay H.

A. Face any direction and drop the ball from shoulder height and arms length. If you drop in any other manner or put spin on the ball, it is a 1-stroke penalty unless you correct it before you make a stroke at the ball. You would correct it by dropping in the proper manner.

Q. I was getting ready to hit my ball out of the bunker when I accidentally touched by ball with my club. My fellow competitor said I incurred a 2-stroke penalty for grounding my club in the hazard. Is he right?

A. No, it is not a breech of Rule 13-4 if you accidentally touch your ball in a hazard as long as the ball does not move.

Q. I marked the position of my ball with a coin, picked up the ball and pressed down the coin with the sole of my putter. I then stepped back to line up my putt and saw my coin stuck to the sole of my putter. What should I have done? -- Steve Mann

A. Steve, since the movement of the ball-marker was directly attributable to the specific act of marking the position of the ball, there is no penalty. The ball or ball-marker must be replaced. If the spot where the ball or the ball-marker lay is not known, it must be placed as near as possible to where it lay but not nearer the hole.

Q. When it is obvious that my dropped ball will roll into the water hazard, can I place it instead of dropping it? -- Julie Chapman

A. Sorry, but that is not permissible. Dropping and then redropping are necessary to resolve any doubt as to whether the ball will roll into the water hazard, and to establish the spot at which the ball must be placed, if necessary.

Q. On a par-3 hole that was surrounded by water, my friend hit her tee shot and it hit the concrete liner of the water hazard and went out of bounds. She was certain that she could go to the drop area instead of taking stroke and distance and going back to the tee. Was she right? -- Kitty

A. No, she was not right. The drop area is for a ball lost in the water hazard. Her ball ended up out of bounds and she must take stroke and distance. It doesn't matter that her ball first hit the concrete margin of the water hazard. All that mattered was her ball was out of bounds.

Sue May is a U.S. Open rules official, a member of the USGA Senior Women's committee and tournament director of the Women's Trans National Championship. Address your rules questions to suemay@cox.net.