Animals interfering with your ball!

[Golftool]

I Played at Ballantrae on Monday - hit a beauty to with 8' of the stick on the first hole. Pin was up front.

There were 2 seagulls on the green.

After my ball came to rest on the green one of them ran over and started pecking at it!:nono:

Well - he kept pecking - it started to roll to the front and the off the green:eek: - (all the greens there are upside down saucers) - he kept pecking and chasing it as it rolled off the green down the hill and back onto the fairway!:mad:

Now the ball is 20yrds to the hole and instead of a 8' for birdie - i have a 20yrd chip up onto the green!

Myself and 2 of the other guys we were playing with didn't know the ruling on this.
The last guy pipes up and says "play it where it lies"
Is this the case?

Want to know the ruling from you guys here.

I also seem to remember a PGA TOUR event where a seagull picked up a guys ball flew over a pond and dropped it!:eek:

Did he take a penalty? - or was he allowed to put it back to where it originally came to rest?

Thanks!

[el tigre]

Animals on a golf course are considered "outside agencies" by the Rules.

If the ball was in motion when it was interfered with, you would play it as it lies with no penalty as per Rule 19-1:
If a ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by any outside agency, it is a rub of the green, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies...
There are a couple of exceptions which I won't repeat here but they may have been relevant in your PGA example.

If the ball was at rest when it was interfered with (which seems to be case in your example), the ball would be replaced with no penalty as per Rule 18-1:
If a ball at rest is moved by an outside agency, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced.

BTW, if you played the ball as it lies when you were required to replace it, then you would receive a two-stroke penalty (stroke play) or loss of hole (match play) under Rule 20-7 for playing from a wrong place. When in doubt, it is a good idea to play two balls under Rule 3-3 and figure out which one counts later:
In stroke play, if a competitor is doubtful of his rights or the correct procedure during the play of a hole he may, without penalty, complete the hole with two balls.
After the doubtful situation has arisen and before taking further action, the competitor must announce to his marker or a fellow-competitor that he intends to play two balls and which ball he wishes to count if the Rules permit.

[Golftool]

Thanks El Tigre!

Any chance i could get your number on speed dial and call you on these important rulings?:rolleyes:
You are like a walking encyclopedia!
I'll make sure that i PM you if i don't understand some of the rulings. You're good to have on this site!:D

[el tigre]

Thanks El Tigre!

Any chance i could get your number on speed dial and call you on these important rulings?:rolleyes:
You are like a walking encyclopedia!
I'll make sure that i PM you if i don't understand some of the rulings. You're good to have on this site!:DThanks - glad I could help. But the "real" encyclopedia can be found here:D :

http://www.rcga.org/english/Rules/rules.asp