We have a family of foxes on my course and one of them stole my ball after I hit on the green of the par 3 fifteenth. He probably thought it was an egg or something, but I called it my ten foot birdie putt. Anyway, he ran around the green and then finally split with the ball, never to be seen again.

I felt entitled to replacing a ball where my group all decided my original had been and then, unfortunately, took my two putts for par. Was this the correct ruling? The only time I remember hearing about something like this was that time during the Players Championship with that seagull.

Yes, that is correct. Rule 18-1 covers this situation. Those pesky foxes.

18-1. By Outside Agency: If a ball at rest is moved by an outside agency, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced.

Would it be the same if another player or group "stole" your golf ball?

If I am correct in assuming that the other player or group you refer to is comprised of people you aren't competing with, then yes, based on the following definition. But you have to know for a certainy that the ball was moved by the outside agency, and not lost and only guessed to be moved by the outside agency.

Outside Agency
In match play, an "outside agency" is any agency other than either the player's or opponent'sside, any caddie of either side, any ball played by either side at the hole being played or any equipment of either side.

In stroke play, an outside agency is any agency other than the competitor's side, any caddie of the side, any ball played by the side at the hole being played or any equipment of the side.

An outside agency includes a referee, a marker, an observer and a forecaddie. Neither wind nor water is an outside agency.

I

would point out, however, that it is appropriate to be more forgiving of the fox than the jerk human who picked up your ball. I've got no rule or decision to cite to back that up though.

We have a similar problem over here with crows stealing balls. If you or someone else see it being taken you get a free drop, if you don't see it happen its a lost ball.

I believe you get a free "place" rather than a free "drop". I'm not totally sure, but I presume there is a penalty if you "drop" when the rule says you should "place". But I've never seen that happen on Tour, and the rule (20-3) is more clear that you get a penalty if you don't drop correctly than it is clear what happens if you don't place correctly. Perhaps there's only a penalty if the incorrectly dropped ball doesn't come to rest exactly on the spot where it should have been placed. Anybody know for sure?

I think this is what you are looking for...

18-1. By Outside Agency

If a ball at rest is moved by an outside agency, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced.



20-3

c. Spot Not Determinable

If it is impossible to determine the spot where the ball is to be placed or replaced:

(i)through the green, the ball must be dropped as near as possible to the place where it lay but not in a hazard or on a putting green;

(ii) in a hazard, the ball must be dropped in the hazard as near as possible to the place where it lay;

(iii) on the putting green, the ball must be placed as near as possible to the place where it lay but not in a hazard.

Exception: When resuming play (Rule 6-8d), if the spot where the ball is to be placed is impossible to determine, it must be estimated and the ball placed on the estimated spot.

Thanks, I didn't know that and it is very helpful. And a bit scary I'm afraid. If an outside agency moves your ball and you don't know precisely where it was you should drop, and if you are resuming play and you don't know precisely where your ball was you should place. I previously thought, for instance, that if a guy from another fairway picked up my ball while looking for his, and threw it back down a yard or so away, I should replace it. Now I think I should drop it back where I estimated it to be. It gets almost philosophical though as to what constitues whether it is possible or not to determine "the spot" where the ball previously was. Does that mean within a yard, or a foot, or a quarter of an inch? And since the procedure you would use to put the ball back in play is so different, it does seem to matter. My head is beginning to hurt.

HeHe, the more you study, and the deeper you go, the more your head is going to hurt! I long ago realized I wouldn't be able to memorize this stuff like some can, so I worked really hard at learning where to find the answers. I'm still learning...

Kevin

Have you ever come across anything which indicated how exact you have to be in determining the spot where the ball previously lie? I'm still confused as to whether I should drop or place when I see that somebody has moved my ball. If I see from a distance, for instance, that it was about a foot to the side of a divot, I wonder if I can replace it "around" a foot from that divot, and not have to run the risk of a dropped ball falling into the divot. This sort of thing is common enough for me to take special care to learn the precise procedure.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Many ROs would suggest that a ball diameter is the 'estimate' of a spot if your ball has been moved without it being marked first.

IMHO: This being a game of honor and integrity, I'd say "reasonable" is your guideline in determining "as near as possible". If you're 250 yards away and you see someone move your ball, drop the ball where you could reasonably say it orginally came to rest. If your ball is on the green and is hit by someone else's approach, you place it back as near to the spot it originally came to rest. You'll never get it exact, but you do have some measure of reasonable flexibility with either being dropped or placed "as near as possible".

Several years ago, when I was new to golf, I played the Crosswater course in Bend, Oregon (which was way too much course for me at the time !). On 16 or 17 my ball was actually in the fairway off the tee when a coyote came out of the brush and meandered over to the ball, nosed it around a bit, then ran off as we approached. I put it back where we saw it originally and I played it from there. I've always wondered what the ruling would have been if he had picked it up and made off with it, and thought about that whenever I've seen the seagull incident on TV. Now I know for sure.

There are coyotes all over Sunriver. I've seen at least a half dozen there, although none of them have tried to take my ball. I love Crosswater. One of my all time favorites. It was probably 16 fairway, since 17 is a par 3 (although 240ish from the back).