Ball At Rest Moved

Coimbatore in South India is a favourite place for me-not only for its climate which is very similar to my home town Bangalore,but also for providing interesting Rules episodes. Sampathchari,Tournament Director, PGTI and one of the best known tournament officials in the Indian and Asian circuit invited me to assist him as a referee in the Coimbatore Open conducted by PGTI from Aug 20-23. 08. Sampath Chari commands a lot of respect from the players and Referees.
The tournament was keenly fought and won by the mercurial Digvijay Singh narrowly.On the third day,after the cut, many of the seasoned pros were jockeying for a place at the top.Rafiq Ali, one of the veteran pros was fighting hard. On the par 3, Hole 14, his tee shot fell short of the green.The ball was at rest on a slight slope.The player , for purpose of measuring,paced his steps.When he was taking his strides, the ball moved about 6 inches from the original position and came to rest. The player called me for a Ruling.He confirmed that he had not addressed the ball and the ball when he was pacing his steps.I concluded that the players action of pacing close to the ball caused the ball to move and applied one stroke penalty under R 18-2.I was also guided by analogous decision 18-2a/30 when a ball in play is moved due to several practice swings about one foot from ball.However,Rafiq Ali appealed to Tournament Director Sampath Chari.After examining the issues, Sampath Chari gave the benefit of doubt to the player and reversed my decision and allowed the player to play the ball from its new position, without penalty.He also weighed in the wind factor, which was heavy and the slope. He was guided by decision 18/10.