Marking a Ball

How many errors can you find in this article published in an MGA recent digital magazine?https://editions.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=61208&i=658348&p=64

At a quick read I struggled to find any. You can mark a ball to its side, you can use your putter to mark the position, any authorized person can mark and lift your ball (and that person can replace it too) but only caddies don't need authorization each time, the penalty for failing to follow the correct procedures is one stroke and there are no penalties for accidentally moving your ball (or marker) on the putting green. It seems to cover all the basics.

Now I'm left wondering what the obvious errors were.

There's at least two. The arrow thing is wrong and you can place your marker ahead of the ball.

There's a third, your caddie can mark your ball on the putting green sans authorization.

Cannot read it, too small text. AND cannot enlarge it, for whatever reason. Detest that format in any case, made to annoy people, not to encourage them to read the article...

So, to answer the question: found one but that is a major one...

EDIT: WOW!! Found a way to read the stuff and found four (4) items that were not according to the Rules of Golf 2019.

I don’t know they got “you can’t use a key” to mark a ball. They just pulled that out of thin air. Can’t use an arrow? I know there was a thread around here about that, but I still haven’t seen that in the Rules.

You can mark your ball anywhere. Front, back, sides, wherever as long as you replace it to the same spot. Interpretation 14.1a/2

The “can’t accidentally move your marker or an opponent’s marker in match play” I figured was poppycock. Turns out it’s actually a rule. They could get rid of that one I think. We’re talking about accidentally moving it. I guess in match play I’ll have to start marking with a dirty penny or something that is green like the grass and hope my opponent accidentally steps on and moves the marker. BAZINGA!! Completely stupid rule. Having to tip toe around the green. It was so absurd, I was shocked it was real.

The caddie reference is okay, I suspect you misread it.

I'm with you on the first two, this author's "read between the lines" is nonsense.

But para 3 is inaccurate, accidental movement of your or your opponent's ball marker on the green is not a penalty - see 13.1d(1).

'Completely stupid rule. Having to tip toe around the green. It was so absurd, I was shocked it was real.'

The way I see it this is one of the black&white Rules. Making the opponent not to fiddle with your ball even by accident reduces 'accidental' worsening of the lie of your ball or just unwanted distractions made deliberately. So, IMO this is a necessary Rule and as it is about a ball it needs to be about a ball-marker as well.

I recall a case from way back when a pro was penalized for using his hotel room key to mark a ball during a tournament. Seems arbitrary to me, but apparently is a real thing, and I believe it used to be cited in the "Decisions" part of the rules.

That was in the Tour Regulations at the time, a ball-marker had to be round. There is/was no Decision in the Rules forbidding use of a hotel key.

Except it isn't the Rule on the putting green.

Can someone explain 9.7b for match play to me then?

9.7

b. Penalty for Lifting Ball-Marker or Causing It to Move

If the player, or his or her opponent in match play, lifts the player’s ball-marker or causes it to move, (when the ball is lifted and not yet replaced), the player or opponent gets one penalty stroke.

So if my opponent marks his ball on the putting green and lifts the ball so only his mark is on the green, then I walk over there, don’t see it, and accidentally “cause it to move”, I take a penalty?

But if my opponent’s ball lies on the putting green at rest, and I walk over there, not paying attention, and accidentally move it, it’s not a penalty and must be replaced?

What am I missing here?

In 2019 a clear distinction was drawn between intentional and accidental actions. For this one I recommend R13.1d1. Rules and InterpretationsYou could also poke around in R9.5, too. Rules and Interpretations

Did you read the Exception to Rule 9.7b?

Thanks for pointing that out.

So that article was wrong, again, then. There is no penalty for accidentally moving an opponents mark in match play due to the exceptions in 9.4 and 9.5. Those exceptions apply to the ball, and are pointed to about the ball marker in 9.7.

There is nothing inaccurate/wrong in the last few paras of the article. It does not say there is a penalty for accidentally moving an opponent's ball marker. It says:

"However, if you (or your opponent in match play) lift a ball-marker or cause it to move, with few exceptions you or the opponent get a one-stroke penalty."

“Or cause it to move” would be accidental movement. And no penalty as per the other quoted rules above.

Which area of the course?

"Could" rather than "would".