Rules question · Rule 7.3 · Medium
Cleaned my ball completely when identifying it: is there a penalty?
You mark a muddy ball in the rough and lift it to see whether it is yours. While doing so, you wipe it completely clean. What is the ruling?
Answer
One penalty stroke, you were only allowed to clean it as much as needed to identify it
If you lift a ball to identify it, you may only clean it as much as needed to recognise it. If you clean it more than that, you get one penalty stroke. You replace the ball on its spot.
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