A rules question vis-a-vis today's LA quake

[Voytek Wilczak]

I am in Long Beach today, and it shook pretty good about an hour ago!

Question:

If you ground your putter before putting a ball on the green, and the ball moves due to an obvious earthquake, is there a penalty?

[Mike_Cirba]

A) Yes

The same applies if you're struck by lightning and accidentally move your ball with the putter or your falling body. 

[Bill_McBride]

A) Yes

The same applies if you're struck by lightning and accidentally move your ball with the putter or your falling body. 

 

[Kalen Braley]

A) Yes

The same applies if you're struck by lightning and accidentally move your ball with the putter or your falling body. 

I can see it now..

JVB: "Hey Dave Miller, can you move that body out of the way so we can get a ruling as to whether or not the ball moved"
DM: "Sure thing, and we gotta make sure we get him to sign for that in the tent as well, none of this running off business"

[A.G._Crockett]

A) Yes

The same applies if you're struck by lightning and accidentally move your ball with the putter or your falling body. 

I agree with Mike.  The San Andreas fault is underground and therefore NOT an "outside agency". 

[Jim Sweeney]

I haven't loked it up, but I do not remember the word "earthquake" appearing in the decisons book.

This situation is not contemplated in the rules and therefore would have to be decided in equity (Rule 1-4).

There are two possible outcomes, and I will not speculate as to how the rules commitee would decide.

1) A one shot penalty, and the ball must be replaced. The rational is that an earthquake is a natural event and therefore,  like wind and water, is not an outside agency. The principal of like situations being treated alike applies.

2) No penalty. Although earthquakes are not unusual the situation as described certainly is, so the player is absolved of the rules breech and the ball must be replaced.

You decide, but I favor #2.

JVB?

[John Kavanaugh]

No penalty because the ball didn't move...the ground did.

[JohnV]

After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake this question was asked.  The answer was published in the late-lamented Golf Journal.  As I recall, it was considered to be an outside agency and the ball replaced with no penalty.

[Mike_Cirba]

JohnK/JohnV,

That really is a rules cop-out.

The earth is always moving, even if imperceptibly.

The test should be whether the ball moves in relation to the earth, which should be realizeable and measurable even in a quake.

With such wimpy rules trying to legislate "fairness" into the game of golf, it's no wonder that today's golfers have such a feeling of entitlement!   


 

[JohnV]

Mike,

That is the standard.  The definition of moved in the rules of golf is that the ball left its position and came to rest in another position.

The odd thing about this is that I could conceivably kick my ball up a slope and have it roll back to the exact spot where it was and not get penalized for moving my ball.  Of course, proving it was back in the exact same spot would be difficult.