I was in a college golf tournament and the craziest thing happened. One of my opponents hit his tee ball into the rough. After the rest of the group hit our tee shots we walked over to them. My opponent walked past his ball without noticing it (i figured he was just going to walk out a yardage or something). I made it to my ball and then saw him way ahead of where i had spotted his ball. He had put his bag down and was taking practice swings. I told him that his ball was back about 50 yards (titleist 4 with a green line). I had asked him what he was playing and all he could say was "Umm...i think it was a titleist 2 or 4 with a red or green line" (made me think he was dropping balls to get a better look at the green). So he picked up the ball he was next to and grabbed his bag and walked back to his original ball. He then dropped the ball he "found" next to his original ball and stated "this isn't my real ball" and took a club out and hit it back towards the tee box. He then played his original ball that i had found for him and finished the hole with it. Now i know there is no way you can just drop another ball and hit it away in tournament play, but i have no idea how to rule it. Any ideas would help. Thanks.

Possibly be ruled as practicing in the middle of a hole being played, I would think.

7-2. During Round
A player must not make a practice stroke during play of a hole.

Between the play of two holes, a player must not make a practice stroke, except that he may practice putting or chipping on or near:


(a) the putting green of the hole last played,

(b) any practice putting green, or


© the teeing ground of the next hole to be played in the round,
provided a practice stroke is not made from a hazard and does not unduly delay play (Rule 6-7).


Strokes made in continuing the play of a hole, the result of which has been decided, are not practice strokes.

Exception:
When play has been suspended by the Committee, a player may, prior to resumption of play, practice (a) as provided in this Rule, (b) anywhere other than on the competition course and © as otherwise permitted by the Committee.

Note 1:
A practice swing is not a practice stroke and may be taken at any place, provided the player does not breach the Rules.



Penalty for Breach of Rule 7-2:

Match play
- Loss of hole;
Stroke play
- Two strokes. In the event of a breach between the play of two holes, the penalty applies to the next hole.

I'm assuming it was stroke play in the tournament, therefore a two stroke penalty would be incurred on that hole.

I believe it also depends on the stroke he made. If it was a proper swing/golf shot that is deemed as practising and would incur the penalties mentioned above, but if he knocked it back in a manner not deemed to be a golf stroke (eg one handed, flicked back) that is allowed. That would be up to his playing partners to make the call.

Assuming he made a proper swing, in addition to this you now have the situation where as he has finished his round and not applied the correct penalty on the hole and therefore has signed for an incorrect lower score.....D/Q.

Not to mention that's a pretty casual attitude about tournament golf -- not knowing exactly what ball he's playing or how it's marked. Sounds to me that he perhaps dropped that ball that he "found" 50 yds further up the fairway . . . ?

That's what I'm thinkin'! I mean, the player picked up the ball he was about to hit!!!

He broke so many rules, let's count:
1) He practiced hitting a ball during a hole in stroke play
2) He dropped another ball, taking his original out of play
3) He dropped incorrectly (closer to the hole)
4) He then touched and moved the ball he dropped incorrectly
5) He then played a ball that was taken out of play by his drop!!!

DQ baby.

Don't forget that he can't take a drop if the first ball was deemed LOST. Gotta go back and re-tee, although the OP eventually found it. Alot of errors here for someone competing in collegiate tourney golf level? Makes me question is it lack of rule knowledge or ....hmmm.....can't say it.

What a bizarre set of circumstances.

I'd have refused to sign the player's card after the round and reported the circumstances to the competition committee - making sure to include my contention that I had interrupted a bit of blatant cheating on his part.

'Ermm... Titleist two or four' my arse.

Right, that's why I say he dropped incorrectly.

What level of college play is this?

Did he not identify his ball to his competitors on the first tee?

Definitely 2 strokes for practicing on the course.

Not sure about the drop as you didn't see him drop 50 yrds ahead. When he got back to his tee ball why did he take a drop? Did he do it from shoulder height or was he just riding his hands of the wrong ball?

I remember all sorts of crap like that in High School golf. I wish we good just flog them with a club or send them out onto the range for target practice. No room for intentional cheaters in golf.

It's Division 3 golf. Im pretty familiar with the rules but honestly, i had no idea how to call this one. it was so ridiculous lol. i got him DQed 9he was their number 1 guy) and we smoked their team because of it