Penalties in golf mean additional strokes that are added to the score when the golfer flouts a rule. The penalty pattern may vary with a match play where you lose a hole that could serve as a relief from a lost ball or a hazard.
If you state your ball to be unplayable in its default position, you are breaking a technical aspect of the rule that demands that you play the ball as it lies. The exemption to this rule is the provision of relief when you do not want to play the ball from a particular position. Suppose the ball lies among clumps of trees or rocky masses, you can call for a substitute ball to be positioned at the cost of a one-stroke penalty.
If you happen to shoot your ball into a hazard area like water hazard, you are charged with a one-stroke penalty for an alternate ball. But in case you are able to play it right from the hazard itself, you face no penalty. Hitting a wrong ball is a two-stroke penalty situation you can come across. This happens when you strike any ball or another player’s ball and not the one originally hit from the tee or its substitute.
During the course of the game, normally you are not allowed to hand pick the ball except in certain conditions like identification or examination for suspected damage etc. You can pick up the ball under some other circumstances too if you have to remove it out of the way of another player’s ball or tidy the surrounding areas by getting rid of debris. However, be careful about picking up another’s ball if you are not asked for, as this is a penalty situation as well.
You are forbidden to move a ball from its current lie unless you have to shift it from an abnormal zone of the course or remove an artificial obstacle from its direct path. To interfere with a ball in motion is subjected to a two-stroke penalty. You can clean your ball only when it is in the green and you have picked it for identification or inspection purposes.
You must be careful about playing your ball in your assigned turn only and when your opponent’s ball has come to rest completely, otherwise you could land in a penalty. According to the rules, you cannot carry more than 14 clubs at a time and play with a club or ball of uncertified design as this falls under the purview of equipment violation charged with a two-stroke penalty per hole of the current round before the violation was detected.
