Penalty or No Penalty

Hi, Can someone help me on whether i  should have been penalised or not.

I was just about to tee off when my driver touched the ball at address and knocked it of the tee, one of my playing partners said i now had to take my 2nd shot from where the ball finished or replace it on the tee and take my 3rd shot which i disagreed with, when on the tee i thought you had to make a swing at the ball before the shot counted, I'm pretty sure i saw this once on the golf channel and they said when on the tee if the ball gets knocked off without a swing being made you simply replace it. 

No penalty.  If you didn't make a swing at the ball and just knocked it off when addressing it then you can replace the ball on the tee and continue without penalty.

Thanks Rich,

That's what i thought, by the way i didn't take a penalty, i just replaced the ball which upset one of my playing partners as he was sure he was right, the other 2 weren't sure and were happy for me to replace the ball.

Do you no if its in the rule book and if so what number rule it is... Thanks

It's rule 11-3 - Ball falling off the tee. 

If you go to the below site, the example you give is identical to the FAQ in this section: http://www.randa.org/en/Rules%20and%20Amateur%20Status/Rules%20of%20Golf.aspx#/rules/?ruleNum=11&subRuleNum=3

It can only count as a stroke if you have made a swing at the ball.

Addressing the ball isn't making a swing so no penalty.

I would have thought that all of your group should have known this not just you!

Unless they were trying to put you off your game!

Russ

Russ

You could be right, as i won the money on the back nine by 1 point, at least i know i won it fairly now and can now sleep well tonight. lol

Make sure you let the guy know next time you see him as well mate.

It is common to hear on many Tees, "ONE" when this happens. But as said, there is no penalty when preparing to put a ball 'into play', be it your 1st, 3rd, 5th or even 7th stroke.

As soon as you make an attempt to hit the ball it becomes 'in play' and it would be a penalty then.

TheLyth

Hi Lyth can you clarify what you just wrote , I'm interprating it as that if you move a ball at address after leaving the teeing ground there's no penalty?

Hi Dave, I will expand.

On the Tee, Rule 11-3 allows you to knock a ball off the Tee during address if that ball is not yet "in play".

Now if you had a 'fresh air' and the ball was stil sat on a Tee, it is now 'in play' and if you then knock it off, it is a penalty.

But,

If you hit a ball and under a Ruling you go back to the Tee (to play another), before you make a stroke at that ball, it is not 'in play' so Rule 11-3 is there. Hence me writing "1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th shots".

Example:-  On the first tee, our guy is very nervous and knocks the ball off the Peg, he can replace it back on the Peg without penalty. He then misses the ball. After the laughter as died down he again addresses the ball and again knocks it off the Peg. This time he can't put the ball back on the Peg because it is now 'in play'.

The Rules allow you to touch a ball during address but you can't 'move' it everywhere else on the course..

TheLyth

Thanks Lyth , thought I was reading wrong.http://www.golfshake.com/scripts/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/lightbulb.gif" title="enlightened" width="20" />