After posting a blog on the incident shown in this photo, the R&A issued their official ruling, which contradicted mine! Apologies to those of you that had already received my blog by email. This is what The R&A have now posted on their Facebook account;
“It’s got golfers talking around the globe. Here’s our Ruling:
It’s a very rare situation, but the R&A received a similar question 30 years ago. The answer given, which we would still apply, was as follows:
On the putting green, if the player’s removal of a loose impediment causes the ball to move, the ball is replaced without penalty. As replacement of the ball would be impossible in this case, in equity (Rule 1-4), the ball is considered to be holed with the previous stroke.”
PR Newswire
