i'm hoping that you all can provide me information about the stymie. i've got the very basics i guess. your opponent doesn't mark his ball and you play over/around it. but can anyone give me more specifics?

what happens if you hit your opponents ball? penalty? does he replace his ball or play it as it lies?

i read that the rule didn't apply if the balls were within 6 inches of each other. then what? mark and move the ball as in the modern rules?

thanks.

Aaaaah, the stymie...... this came from the old days pre-1952, when you were not allowed to mark and lift your ball on the greens in matchplay. If you had mud on the ball, then you putted it with mud on it! A stymie occurred when your opponent's ball lay on your line, you either had to putt around it, or even try and chip over it. If the balls were 6 inches or less apart, then you were permitted to have your opponent's ball moved, so long as he replaced it in it's original position before playing his next shot. Walter Hagen was one of many players who were particularly adept at "laying a stymie", i.e. intentionally playing a shot so that his ball was in the way!! The Rules of Golf were changed in 1952 to allow marking of balls on the green in matchplay, so the stymie died out ......Maybe they should bring it back for the WCG Matchplay!!

so you lay me a stymie. i'm planning to chip over your ball and hole mine out. but, my ball lands on your ball, moving your ball further from the hole.

how's this played? do you play it from its new position or replace it?

what about me? penalty?

i read something about knocking the your opponent's ball in and this just meaning that he'd holed out. this leads me to believe that in the situation above you'd just play it as it lies. but, i'm not sure. and if that's the rule, you have incentive to hit your opponents ball away.

If a ball at rest is moved by another ball, it is replaced and there is no penalty to the player whose ball was originally at rest. The player whose ball in motion caused the ball at rest to move, plays his ball as it lies and there is no penalty. Except, that if both balls originally lay on the putting green, the player who struck the ball takes a two stroke penalty.

So to answer your questions:

The ball originally at rest is replaced. If both balls originally lay on the putting green, you incur a two stroke penalty. You play your ball as it lies.



Assuming I am remembering this correctly, it is irrelevant if a ball is knocked into a hole. It is replaced and the any applicable penalties applied.

See Rules 18 and 19 for balls at rest or in motion moved.

See also Rule 22 regarding a ball interfering or assisting with play.

that's definitely the rule now, but i'm guessing that it was different in the days of the stymie.

basically, this would mean that hitting your opponent's ball while stymied would just mean you lose the hole. might be right, but i sort of doubt it.

i'd love to hear from any stymie era rules experts.