Ask the referee

Golf Digest, August, 2003

Q: I was playing with my dad, who was hitting his second shot into a par 4. He hit a great shot right at the hole. As we approached the hole we saw that the ball had plugged into the side of the cup, resting halfway in and halfway out. I have asked some people about this and gotten all kinds of answers. Was his ball holed?

R.J. LaCount,

Lynnwood, Wash.

A: This has happened on the LPGA Tour. Unfortunately for your dad, a ball is not considered holed unless the entire ball is below the lip and at rest within the circumference of the hole (Decision 16/3). Your dad should have played the ball as it lay, or he could have lifted the ball, repaired the damage to the hole and marked the ball on the lip of the hole. However, if the ball had embedded in the side of the hole and was below the lip, your dad would have made an eagle. Either way, that sounds like one heckuva shot.

Robert O. Smith,

LPGA tournament rules official