On the 16th hole today one of my buddies played a short chip and it was resting against the flagstick. In accordance with the rules he moved the flagstick and the ball rolled 3 feet away from the hole. He was about to place the ball on the lip of the hole when I said i think you have to play it as it lies. He then said, "no I think you put the ball on the lip of the hole". The 2 of us then got into a nasty agrument about whether to play it as it lay, 3 feet away, or put it on the lip of the hole. Just to end the fight, the opponent said "fine, have it your way, and played it as at lay, missing the putt. I won the game by 1 stroke. Did he do it correctly by playing the ball from the place whereit rolled to after moving the pin?

1) When in doubt, lookt it up(you always carry one of those small rulebooks in the bag, right?)

2) You should've called for a referee if you don't agree.

3) Since you mention you "won the game by 1 stroke", I assume it was strokeplay. If he did not have a book with him, he should've played both situations and consulted a referee or the committee afterwards

4) He should never have listened to an uninformed Player (see Rule 17-4: ... if moved, must be placed on the lip of the hole, without penalty)..

You should have been disqualified for providing false information and unsportsmanship

I forgot to bring the rule book. This was a friendly game not a competition

player wrote:

I forgot to bring the rule book. This was a friendly game not a competition

Doesn't sound so friendly to me.

This doesn't seem to have been answered so:

If the ball is moved by the player he gets a 1 stroke penalty and the ball must be replaced. 18-2a

Rulesman wrote:

If the ball is moved by the player he gets a 1 stroke penalty and the ball must be replaced. 18-2a

It was answered in the fineprint above. Rule 17-4: if the movement was caused by the removal of the flagstick, no penalty applies. Also read decision 16-2/24 and rule 24-1a. In this case, the ball was resting against the flagstick and thus the movement was attributable to the removal action.

Oops

Sloppy reading of the OP.

I've just worked out what the 'fineprint' is. It is so small it just looks like a dotted line on my screen.

It is so tiny

Even tinier than the words above.

No worries mate. Once you get Player's status here on the board you'll know why it was in such small print

I don't see how a ball resting against the flagstick wouldn't fall in the hole when the stick is straightened to pull out. One of my eagles was visible on the green for a couple of minutes, till we got about 100 yards from the green. The wind moved the flag and it dropped out of sight.

If, instead of leaning the flagstick to one side, the player pulls the stick sharply upwards, the small ferrule at the end of the stick will help pull the ball up and out.
This technique is often used by lazy players to remove the ball when they have chipped in with the flagstick still in the hole.
Greenkeepers don't like it because it tends to damage the lip.