I would have played the ball "as it lies".

We had an incident earlier this year when a local was out walking his labrador dog and the dog picked up my golfers ball and ran with it! It probably got about 50-60 yards forward then dropped the ball. All the golfers playing partners agreed that the ball was to be played as it lay. Fortunate that the dog went in the correct direction.

I'll have a look in the rules book when I get home at the weekend, especially concentrating on Rule 13-1 which says, "the ball must be played as it lies, except as otherwise provided in the Rules".

I did not get this ruling from the top of my head but from the R&A Rules website amongst their FAQs.

Cheers, John<br><br>Post edited by: Boynie, at: 2007/12/13 21:27