At the 2025 RBC Heritage, Justin Thomas was hit with a one-stroke penalty for accidentally moving his ball while trying to remove a loose impediment in a waste area on the second hole. It was a costly reminder that while you can remove loose impediments anywhere on the course, including bunkers (that wasn\u2019t always the case), you\u2019d better be careful when doing it or you risk the same fate as Thomas.<\/p>\n
Justin Thomas was assessed a one-stroke penalty after he caused his ball to move in a waste bunker \u2026 pic.twitter.com\/HccDGUgOo8<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Rule 15 covers what happens when your ball moves as a result of moving a loose impediment. The proper procedure is to replace the ball in its original location and take a penalty stroke under Rule 9.4b<\/a>. Most golfers know this.<\/p>\n But if you keep reading Rule 15<\/a>, you\u2019ll find out things aren\u2019t so strict when it comes to accidentally causing your ball to move while removing an obstruction. There is a long list of man-made things that qualify as obstructions, including penalty-area stakes, sprinkler heads, golf carts, benches, ball washers \u2013 even golf equipment (belonging to anyone). Boundary objects, like out-of-bounds stakes, are not obstructions. And it\u2019s important to know the difference between an obstruction and a movable obstruction.<\/p>\n To keep it simple, if it\u2019s easy to move (like a rake), you should move it. If it\u2019s not easy to move (like a concrete bench), you take a relief so your next shot isn\u2019t interfered with.<\/p>\n Getting back to the question of what happens if your ball moves as a result of removing a rake or anything else that interferes with your ball, stance or intended swing, the answer is, replace the ball and play on with no penalty. The replace-the-ball part is super important because if you didn\u2019t do that, you would be penalised for playing from the wrong place (Rule 14.7<\/a>). Even worse, it\u2019s a two-stroke penalty or loss of a hole in match play. Ouch.<\/p>\n In the case of the rake, you obviously can slide it out of the way. But you might wonder if your ball came to rest on a movable obstruction. For example, if your ball stopped on someone\u2019s sandwich wrapper from the halfway house. When that happens, you can lift your ball, remove the wrapper, and then replace it. But here\u2019s the catch, and this also is important to remember: you have to drop your ball in this situation. Don\u2019t place it.<\/p>\n The drop area starts with the point directly under where the ball came to rest on the sandwich wrapper. You can drop in an area that is not nearer the hole and no farther away than a club length from that point directly under the wrapper. You also have to drop in the same area of the course as the reference point. Meaning, if the wrapper was in a bunker, your drop would have to be in that bunker as well.<\/p>\n Incidentally, if this scenario were to happen on a putting green, you would place the ball and not drop it. Yep, sometimes the rules remain confusing.<\/p>\n