Rules question · Rule 9.6 · Medium
A bird takes my ball: what do I do?
Your ball lies in the middle of the fairway. You all clearly see a crow pick it up and fly away. What do you do?
Answer
Place another ball on the original spot without penalty
An animal is an outside influence. If it picks up or moves your ball at rest, there is no penalty. You place a ball on the original spot. If you do not know it exactly, you estimate it. This applies when it is known or virtually certain what happened. The same applies in stroke play if another player accidentally moves your ball.