Ball Thrown into Bounds by Outside Agency
A's ball was found lying in bounds and A played a shot towards the green. Then a man appeared and said that A's ball had come to rest out of bounds in his garden. He said he had thrown it onto the course and had told A's caddie what he had done. The caddie had not reported this to A. What is the ruling?
Under Rule 6-1, A is responsible for his caddie's failure to tell him what the man had said.
A's ball was no longer the ball in play when it came to rest out of bounds. Therefore, it was a wrong ball - see Definitions of "Ball in Play" and "Wrong Ball." When A made a stroke with the wrong ball, he incurred the penalty prescribed in Rule 15-3 and, in stroke play, was obliged to proceed under Rule 27-1.
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