I was asked this question by a player at a recent Kentucky PGA event.. The player had hit a shot from a bunker His ball hit the grass face of the bunker and bounced sideways, hitting his golf bag. His ball came to rest in the bunker.

To find the answer to this question, you should refer to Rule 19-2 in the Rules of Golf booklet. The Rule covers a ball in motion deflected or stopped by the player, his partner, or either of their caddies or equipment.

The penalty in match play is loss of hole for a ball that is accidentally deflected or stopped by the player, his partner, or either or their caddies or equipment.

The Kentucky PGA event he was competing in was a stroke play event however. Rule 19-4 covers the situation for stroke play. It states, "If a competitor’s ball is accidentally deflected or stopped by himself, his partner or either of their caddies or equipment, the competitor shall incur a penalty of two strokes. The ball shall be played as it lies, except when it comes to rest in or on the competitor’s, his partner’s or either of their caddies’ clothes or equipment, in which case the competitor shall through the green or in a hazard drop the ball, or on the putting green place the ball, as near as possible to where the article was when the ball came to rest in or on it."

In the scenario from the first paragraph, the competitor incurred a two stroke penalty and was required to play the ball where it came to rest, in this case in the bunker.

Incidents where players accidentally strike their equipment, their caddy, or themselves with their golf ball after a stroke are somewhat rare, at least in my experience. This sort of thing seems to result more often than not from an errant shot (the dreaded shank) or a shot from a difficult position or lie. However, it does happen and the Rules of Golf are there to help the player proceed accordingly and get on with his round.

What if a player purposely deflects his own golf ball after a stroke ? Well, we have a different situation because the ball was not accidentally deflected (remember John Daly at the 1999 U.S. Open)? Rule 1-2 (Exerting Influence on Ball) covers this, but that’s a topic for another column.

Remember, learn the Rules and play by the Rules. It truly makes the game more enjoyable.

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About the Author  The United States Golf Association decides on the Rules and Decisions changes for the United States and Mexico. Book Description  The biannual publication of the Rules of Golf Decisions book incorporating the every four year Rules change effective January 1, 2004. This publication makes any publication published before this obsolete. Customer Review:  Definitive -- and entertaining, at least for a rule book! Decisions on the Rules of Golf contains actual questions from actual players, and actual answers from the USGA -- over 600 pages of questions and answers! All of which are divided according to various rules and their subparts. A very helpful index makes it easy to find quickly any answer to any question you might have.