Rules question · Rule 18.1 · Expert
Picked up my own ball thinking it was someone else’s: what now?
Your tee shot goes into the woods. There you pick up a ball, thinking it is a stray ball someone left behind. But it is yours. You decide to play again from the teeing area. Which stroke is that?
Answer
Your 4th
You get one penalty stroke for lifting your ball in play. You cannot avoid it afterwards by taking stroke-and-distance relief, because that was not your intention when you lifted the ball. So one more stroke is added to the tee shot and the stroke-and-distance penalty.
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