Rules question · Rule 9.3 · Hard
Wind blows my dropped ball into a penalty area: what now?
After taking free relief in the general area you have dropped your ball and it is at rest. Before you play, the wind blows it into a penalty area next to it. What is the ruling?
Answer
No penalty, you replace the ball on the spot where it lay after the drop
Normally you play a ball moved by the wind from its new spot. Since 2023 there has been an exception: if you dropped, placed or replaced the ball and the wind then blows it into another area of the course or out of bounds, you replace it without penalty.
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