Every month MGA Senior Director of Rules and Competitions Gene Westmoreland will answer one question posed by the readers of the MGA e-Revision Newsletter (click here to sign up). Ed from Westchester County asked Gene the following Rules question:

Q: If a player’s ball lands in tall grass and he/she is unable to identify it, how should he/she proceed?
Roger, Long Island

Gene responds:

You would be penalized (2 strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in a match) if you play a “wrong ball” so it is in your best interest to be sure you are always playing the correct ball. If your ball comes to rest in long grass, and you can not identify it without lifting it, you must mark its position before lifting. If it is your ball it must then be replaced (to the exact same position). You may not clean the ball except as it may be necessary to identify it as yours. Before lifting the ball you must announce your intention to lift your ball to a fellow competitor (stroke play) or your opponent (match play) and you must give him/her the opportunity to observe both the lifting and replacing of the ball.