Fun golf rules for dog lovers!

An amusing Rules incident occurred at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last Friday. Paul Casey was eyeing-up an eagle putt on the par-5, 12th green at Kingsbarns Golf Links in St. Andrews when a dog picked-up his ball from the putting green and ran off with it. As you can see from the photo, Casey tried to persuade the dog to drop his ball, presumably nearer to the hole, but it ran off gripping it with its teeth. A sprightly spectator caught the ball thief on the 13th and retrieved Casey’s original ball, which he correctly replaced on the green where it had been at rest and took his putt.

This was a simple application of Rule 18-1, which states;If a ball at rest is moved by an outside agency, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced.

Note: It is a question of fact whether a ball has been moved by an outside agency. In order to apply this Rule, it must be known or virtually certain that an outside agency has moved the ball. In the absence of such knowledge or certainty, the player must play the ball as it lies or, if the ball is not found, proceed under Rule 27-1.