I overshot the cup on a putt and hit another players ball on the opposite side of the cup. Normally the ball would have been marked, but in this case, he had confidence in me that I wouldn't putt 3 ft past the whole.

My ball struck his and moved it one inch.

Who corrects the ball position? Me or him?

I asked him what he preferred and he said he didn't mind if I touched his ball, but I can easily see that situation going very badly with another player. I told him to put the ball back to it's original position as I saw that was a better way to avoid conflict.

I think he replaces his ball and you get a 2 stroke penalty for not asking him to mark his ball

correct.

19-5. By Another Ball
GÇó a. At Rest
If a playerGÇÖs ball in motion after a stroke is deflected or stopped by a ball in play and at rest, the player must play his ball as it lies. In match play, there is no penalty. In stroke play, there is no penalty unless both balls lay on the putting green prior to the stroke, in which case the player incurs a penalty of two strokes.

In our weekly dogfight, often, a playing partner will ask a teammate to mark their ball, if it is close to the hole, but leave the ball on the green. The person who chips next, from off the green, might hit it, and it might be the deflection needed to hole out, whereas his stroke would count and the ball that provided the deflection could be replaced to the near hole position. In the old days a lot more of this type of play occured. A player might position his ball so that the next person to putt would have to jump his ball over his opponent's ball to get to the hole. There was a word for it, I'm not sure but I think it was called a Stymie, if you could block your opponent's putt.

There's a rule for that...

22/6 Competitor Requests That Ball in Position to Assist Him Not Be Lifted
Q. In stroke play, BGÇÖs ball lies just off the putting green. AGÇÖs ball lies near the hole in a position to serve as a backstop for BGÇÖs ball. B requests A not to lift his ball. Is such a request proper?

A. No. If A and B agree not to lift a ball that might assist B, both players are disqualified under Rule 22-1. (Revised)

22-1. Ball Assisting Play

Except when a ball is in motion, if a player considers that a ball might assist any other player, he may:

a. Lift the ball if it is his ball, or
b. Have any other ball lifted.

A ball lifted under this Rule must be replaced (see Rule 20-3). The ball must not be cleaned, unless it lies on the putting green (see Rule 21).

In stroke play, a player required to lift his ball may play first rather than lift the ball.

In stroke play, if the Committee determines that competitors have agreed not to lift a ball that might assist any competitor, they are disqualified.

30-3f/11 Request to Lift Ball That Might Assist Partner Not Honored
Q. A and B are playing C and D in a four-ball match. BGÇÖs ball is near the hole in a position to serve as a backstop for AGÇÖs ball. C requests B to lift his ball. B does not comply and A putts. What is the ruling?

A. B is disqualified for the hole for failing to comply with Rule 22-1. If AGÇÖs ball strikes BGÇÖs ball, A would also be disqualified from the hole since BGÇÖs infringement assisted A GÇô Rule 30-3f. If the balls do not collide, A is not penalized.

I think the guys I play with agree that you can not use another player's ball as a backstop for putting, but apparently they believe you can hit another ball on the green without a penalty if you are hitting from off the putting surface. That came up today as a matter of fact, when I arrived at the green to mark my ball near the hole, I was asked to leave it there until my partner chipped up, in case it might serve as a backstop. If we are wrong about that, then I need to let the group know.

If I'm reading decision 22/6 correctly, you can't leave a ball on the green there if the intent is to help the play of another player, even if that player is off the green.

This happened to me yesterday:

I was playing with a couple of friends, neither of whom play much (I'm not much better with a 36 HC, but have started playing a lot recently). So I chipped on pretty close to the hole with my 5th shot. Before even having a chance to mark my ball, one of my friends putt from the other side of the green and hit my ball right into the hole.

So do I have to try and replace my ball and putt, or do I get to take a 5?

It made me think of that Ace we all saw being shown on TV earlier this year when someone hit a ball and got the hole-in-one. What if the other ball had gone in, would that have been an Ace?

RDow wrote:

This happened to me yesterday: So I chipped on pretty close to the hole with my 5th shot. Before even having a chance to mark my ball, one of my friends putt from the other side of the green and hit my ball right into the hole. So do I have to try and replace my ball and putt, or do I get to take a 5?

You must replace your ball as near as possible.

2 SHOT PENALTY

Just to be clear, the player who putted his ball into your ball (which was at rest) incurs a two shot penalty. You just replace your ball as close as possible to where it came to rest on the green without penalty. Check out Rule 19.5 here: http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Rule-19/