Golf Outside Agencies

There's no penalty if your ball is moved by an outside agency. But check the rules carefully - these agencies are strictly defined.

The rules state that an outside agency - be it human, animal or machine - is one that is not part of a match or, in stroke play, not part of a competitor's side. So the referee, a marker, a dog or an onlooker are all classed as outside agencies. On the other hand, the rules state specifically that wind and water are not outside agencies.

This means that if the wind moves your ball on the green after you have addressed it you must take a 1 stroke penalty - even though it's not your fault. But if your ball was moved in these circumstances by an outside agency, there is no penalty provided that you replace the ball in its original spot before playing it.

The rules about interference by an outside agency while your ball is at rest are quite simple. You replace your ball as near as possible to the spot where it originally lay and play on without penalty. This applies no matter where the interference occurs on the course.

When an outside agency interferes with your ball after you have struck it the rules are more complicated. Until you reach the green, any accidental deflection or stopping of your ball by an outside agency while it is moving is the rub of the green.

Such interference can bring you good luck or bad. In either case the procedure is the same - you must go to the place where the ball has come to rest and play it as it lies without penalty.

Moving agencies
If your ball comes to rest in or on a moving outside agency before you reach the green you drop a ball as near as possible to where the agency took it up. So if your partner's ball lands in a trailer towed across the course by a tractor he could drop a ball as near as possible to the spot where the interference took place without penalty.

When you reach the green, the procedure is different. When a ball is moving there it does not matter whether the ball is deflected by the outside agency or comes to rest in it. Whatever the interference, you replace your ball and replay the stroke, without penalty. If you cannot immediately recover your ball, you can substitute another one.