Golf Ball Moved at Rest: Wind, Your Own Accident or Someone Else? (Rule 9)
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How we wrote this: A plain-English summary of Rule 9 of the official Rules of Golf as published by the R&A, checked October 29, 2026.
Rule 9 is built on golf's central principle: play the ball as it lies. The question when a ball moves is always what moved it.
Did it really move?
Under Rule 9.2a, a ball counts as moved only if it's known or virtually certain that it did. If it only might have moved, it's treated as not moved, and you play it as it lies.
The four possible causes
Rule 9.2b recognizes only four:
| Cause | What happens |
|---|---|
| Natural forces (wind, water) | No penalty. Play from the new spot |
| You or your caddie | Replace the ball. Usually one penalty stroke |
| Your opponent (match play) | Replace the ball. Usually a penalty to the opponent |
| An outside influence (another player in stroke play, an animal, a spectator) | No penalty. Replace the ball |
If it isn't known or virtually certain that a person or outside influence caused it, the ball is treated as moved by natural forces.
Natural forces: two exceptions
- On the putting green, if your ball moves after you already lifted and replaced it, replace it, whatever the cause.
- If a ball you dropped, placed or replaced is moved by natural forces into another area of the course or out of bounds, replace it.
When you move your own ball
Rule 9.4: replace it on its original spot. The one-stroke penalty has five exceptions. There's no penalty when:
- a Rule lets you lift or move it,
- you move it accidentally while searching for or identifying it,
- you move it accidentally on the putting green,
- you move it accidentally while marking, lifting, removing a movable obstruction, taking relief or measuring under a Rule,
- it moves after coming to rest against you or your equipment.
Moved during your swing
Rule 9.1b: if the ball starts moving after you begin your backswing and you go on to make the stroke, don't replace it. Play it from where it ends up, and check Rule 9.4 for whether a penalty applies.
See also: how to drop, the putting green, loose impediments.