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It’s a stroke-play game, and the preferred lie is in use. A player uses the ball’s alignment line to put her new ball back on the green. She’s not happy with the aim after taking off her mark. Can she mark the ball again and make changes? Thanks, Jim Donnelly from Tampa, Florida.
Sadly, she might not be able to. The player could play the ball again in any way she wanted because of the preferred lies local rule, MLR E-3, which doesn’t require putting down a ball marking.
But because of that local rule, you can only put the ball down once. Once the ball was down, the person could no longer lift or rotate it according to the rules. We hope she made it to the green despite everything.
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When my partner and I got to our drives, our golf balls were touching and perfectly set up to go into the hole. I marked my ball because it was in front of me. His approach made a huge divot, and putting my ball back where it was would have meant being in this new divot. I said I had the right to a free drop, but he told me I didn’t. Who was correct? — Brick Rigden, Saint Louis, Mo.
In a word, no.
You were supposed to get some help under Rule 14.2d, but you didn’t get a drop.
When you lifted for contact, you had to replace the ball. But if the lie of a ball that needs to be replaced changes, you have to replace it in a certain way. By changing it with a lie that is most like the original lie and is within one club-length of the spot in the same area of the course but not closer to the hole.
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(We should point out that your situation usually takes place in bunkers, but the process is the same.) Brick, we hope this news doesn’t hit you like a ton of bricks!
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