An accidental deflection is normally no penalty: play the ball as it lies.

The worldwide Rules of Golf are the baseline

This page applies the 2023 Rules of Golf jointly governed by The R&A and USGA, including the Official Guide clarifications and the Additional Clarifications updated 1 July 2026. The edition took effect on 1 January 2023.

Rule 11 is shared across general play, match play and stroke play, but one ball-collision penalty depends on the form of play. A Committee can also adopt a relevant Local Rule, so the notice to players and course scorecard still matter.

Six checks settle most accidental-deflection rulings

1. Was the ball in play and moving? Rule 11 applies whether movement followed a stroke or arose another way, except while a ball dropped in a relief area is still moving before it first comes to rest.
2. Was the contact accidental? If not, move to Rule 11.2 or 11.3.
3. Where was the stroke made? A stroke from the putting green has special replay tests.
4. What did the ball hit, and where? Person, animal, movable obstruction, ball at rest and ball in motion do not always produce the same result.
5. Did a ball played from off the green come to rest on something moving? If so, Rule 11.1b(1) gives a drop or placement procedure.
6. Did the ball first come to rest and then move? That later movement is normally a Rule 9 issue, not a continuation of the original deflection.

Accidental contact is normally accepted

Under R&A/USGA Rule 11.1a, there is no penalty to any player when a ball in motion accidentally hits any person—including the player—or an outside influence. The protection includes accidental contact with an opponent, another player, a caddie or their equipment.

For a stroke made from anywhere except the putting green, Rule 11.1b(1) normally requires the ball to be played as it lies. A ricochet from the player's shoe, club, bag, trolley, golf cart, bunker rake or spectator is therefore normally played from its eventual resting place, whether the bounce helped or hurt.

A ball played from off the green may require free relief

If a ball played from anywhere except the putting green comes to rest on a person, animal or moving outside influence, it must not be played as it lies. Rule 11.1b(1) uses the estimated point directly below where the ball first came to rest:

• Reference point off the putting green: drop the original ball or another ball within one club-length, in the same area of the course and not nearer the hole.
• Reference point on the putting green: place the original ball or another ball on that estimated point.

This procedure depends on where the ball first rested on the moving influence, not where that influence later carried or released it.

A deflection and a pickup are different events

Official Clarification 11.1b/3 says that when a ball played from off the putting green merely hits or is stopped by an animal, there is no penalty and it is played as it lies. If an animal picks up that still-moving ball, the ball is treated as having come to rest on the animal at the pickup point.

For example, if a dog picks up a rolling approach shot in the fairway, use the pickup point as the reference point and drop within one club-length in the general area, no nearer the hole. If the dog picks it up on the putting green, place a ball on the estimated pickup spot on that green.

Replay only for listed contact on the green

Rule 11.1b(2) begins with the same default: a ball played from the putting green is normally played as it lies after accidental contact. But the stroke must be replayed if it is known or virtually certain that the moving ball hit any of these on the putting green:

• A person other than the player or a person attending the flagstick.
• A movable obstruction other than the club used for the stroke, a ball-marker, a ball at rest or the flagstick.
• An animal other than one defined as a loose impediment, such as a worm or insect that can be removed easily.

When replay is required, the original stroke does not count. Under Rule 14.6c, place the original ball or another ball on the spot from which the putt was made; estimate that spot if it is not known.

Not every contact during a putt cancels the stroke

A putt that accidentally hits the player, the club used for the stroke, a ball-marker or a ball at rest is not replayed under Rule 11.1b(2). Contact with the flagstick or a person attending it is decided under Rule 13.2b(2), not Rule 11.

A leaf is a loose impediment, not an animal or movable obstruction, so a putt deflected by a wind-blown leaf is normally played as it lies. Location also matters: if a putt rolls off the green and then accidentally hits a movable obstruction or animal off the green, the listed on-green replay exception does not apply.

Failing to replay has a specific 2023 outcome

If Rule 11.1b(2) requires replay and the player does replay correctly, the deflected stroke is disregarded. If the player instead continues from where the ball finished, the deflected stroke counts and the player gets the general penalty—loss of hole in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play.

Under the 2023 wording and Clarification 11.1b/1, that failure is not treated as playing from a wrong place. By contrast, a player who attempts the required replay but plays it from the wrong place gets the general penalty under Rule 14.7.

At rest and in motion lead to different rulings

Another ball at rest: if a ball played from the putting green hits another ball at rest there, the moving ball is normally played as it lies and the displaced ball is replaced under Rule 9.6. In stroke play only, the player gets two penalty strokes when both balls were on the putting green before the stroke. There is no corresponding Rule 11.1a penalty in match play.

Another ball in motion: Additional Clarification 11.1b(2)/1, added in January 2024 and retained in the 1 July 2026 update, treats a ball as a movable obstruction even while it is moving. If it is known or virtually certain that a ball played from the putting green accidentally hits another ball in motion on that green, the player must replay the stroke.

Record when the ball first came to rest

Clarification 11.1b/2 separates the deflection from later movement. If a ball first comes to rest against a person's foot or a piece of equipment and moves when that person or equipment moves, Rule 9 determines replacement. The ball is normally replaced, and the listed Rule 9 exceptions mean there is no penalty merely for that movement.

If an animal or another outside influence moves a ball that had already come to rest, Rule 9.6 normally requires the ball to be replaced on its original spot, which is estimated if unknown. The timeline—still moving, first at rest, then moved—is the decisive fact.

Rule 14 controls before a drop first comes to rest

Rule 11 expressly does not apply while a ball dropped in a relief area is still moving before it first comes to rest. Accidental or deliberate contact during that interval is governed by Rule 14.3, including its redrop and penalty provisions.

Once the dropped ball comes to rest and is in play, later movement is analysed under Rule 9. Rule 11 becomes relevant again only when that ball is in motion in circumstances covered by Rule 11.

Rule 11.2 changes both penalty and next place

Rule 11.2 applies when it is known or virtually certain that a person deliberately touched a moving ball, or the ball hit a person, equipment or another object that a player deliberately positioned or left in place so that it might deflect or stop the ball. A player who deliberately deflects or stops any moving ball gets the general penalty, whether it is that player's ball or someone else's.

The ball is not simply played from the actual stopping point. For a stroke made off the putting green, Rule 11.2c bases the next place on the estimated spot where the ball would have finished; the exact procedure depends on whether that spot is in the general area, a bunker, a penalty area, on the green or out of bounds. For a stroke from the putting green, replay from the original spot.

Rule 11.3 can be breached even when the ball misses

Rule 11.3 is different from stopping the ball. While any ball is moving, a player must not deliberately alter listed physical conditions or lift or remove a loose impediment or movable obstruction for the purpose of affecting where that ball may finish. The general penalty applies even if the action fails to affect the ball.

The Rule has express permissions, including moving a removed flagstick and equipment belonging to any player, subject to the listed exclusions for balls and ball-markers. This is why intent, the type of object and who positioned it must be established before assigning a penalty.

Rule 25.4k modifies one putting-green result

Rule 25 applies in all competitions to eligible players in its covered disability categories. For a player who uses an assistive mobility device, Rule 25.4k modifies Rule 11.1b(2): if that player's ball played from the putting green accidentally hits the assistive mobility device, the ball is played as it lies rather than replayed.

This is part of the Rules themselves, not a Local Rule that a Committee must choose to adopt.

A power-line Local Rule can require replay

Under the ordinary Rule 11 result, accidental contact with an overhead line or its support structure would normally be accepted. But a Committee may adopt R&A/USGA Model Local Rule E-11 for a permanent overhead power line that interferes with reasonable play of a hole.

When E-11 is in force and it is known or virtually certain that the ball hit the structure described in the Local Rule, replay is mandatory under Rule 14.6 and the original stroke does not count. The Committee must identify the structure and hole; replay is not an optional choice for the player. Check the competition's Local Rules before proceeding.

Apply the 2023 Rules, updated through 1 July 2026

• Approach hits the player's bag and stops in rough: no penalty; play as it lies under Rules 11.1a and 11.1b(1). The decisive facts are that the contact was accidental and the stroke was not made from the putting green.
• Dog picks up an approach played from the fairway while it rolls on the putting green: place a ball on the estimated pickup point under Clarification 11.1b/3. Do not use the spot where the dog later drops it.
• Putt hits another player's towel lying on the green: the towel is a movable obstruction, so replay from the original spot; the first stroke does not count.
• Putt hits a beetle on the green: a readily removable insect is an animal defined as a loose impediment, so the replay exception does not apply; normally play as it lies.
• Stroke-play putt hits a ball at rest, with both balls originally on the green: add two penalty strokes, play the moving ball as it lies and replace the displaced ball. In match play, there is no Rule 11.1a penalty.
• Player leaves their own rake as a backstop and the ball hits it: if the Rule 11.2 test is met, the player gets the general penalty and the next place is based on where the ball was estimated to finish without the deliberate deflection. A rake left by an earlier group is different: Clarification 11.2a/1 does not penalise a player merely for choosing not to move an object the player did not position.

Four shortcuts produce wrong rulings

• “A putt that hits anything must be replayed.” Rule 11.1b(2) has a precise list, exclusions and an on-the-putting-green location test.
• “Hitting another ball always costs two strokes.” The two-stroke penalty applies only in stroke play when a ball played from the green hits a ball at rest there and both were on the green before the stroke.
• “Accidental contact and a ball moved at rest are the same event.” Rule 11 controls the in-motion contact; Rule 9 controls a later movement after the ball first rests.
• “A lucky rebound proves deliberate conduct.” Outcome alone does not establish intent. Rule 11.2 requires the deliberate-contact or deliberate-positioning test and the known-or-virtually-certain standard.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The R&A and USGA — Rules of Golf, 2023 edition; Rules 9, 11, 14 and 25
• The R&A and USGA — 2023 Rules of Golf, Rule 11: accidental and deliberate deflections
• The R&A and USGA — Official Guide clarifications to Rule 11, including 11.1b/1–3 and 11.2a/1
• The R&A and USGA — Additional Clarifications of the 2023 Rules of Golf, updated 1 July 2026; Clarification 11.1b(2)/1
• The R&A and USGA — 2023 Rules of Golf, Rule 9.6: ball moved by an outside influence
• The R&A and USGA — 2023 Rules of Golf, Rules 25.1 and 25.4k: assistive mobility devices
• The R&A and USGA — Committee Procedures, Model Local Rule E-11: ball deflected by power line

Checked against the joint 2023 Rules of Golf, effective 1 January 2023, the digital Official Guide clarifications, and Additional Clarifications updated 1 July 2026. Rule 25 applies automatically to eligible players; Model Local Rule E-11 applies only when adopted by the Committee. Tournament Terms of Competition and Local Rules may supplement this baseline.