Observe the latter part of the rule. The player is not entitled to improve his position. He is only entitled to see where his ball lies before striking at it.

19. When a ball is to be dropped, the player shall drop it. He shall front the hole, stand erect behind the hazard, keep the spot from which the ball was lifted (or in the case of running water, the spot at which it entered) in a line between him and the hole, and drop the ball behind him from his head, standing as far behind the hazard as he may please.

The player must himself drop it, not his caddie nor his partner. Care should be taken that the ball drops clear of a hazard, because when the ball has been dropped it is in play and cannot be again touched except under the Rules, and, if again liftable, subject to any fresh penalty that may be exigible.

20. When the balls in play lie within six inches of each other - measured from their nearest points - the ball nearer the hole shall be lifted until the other is played, and shall then be replaced as nearly as possible in its original position. Should the ball further from the hole be accidentally moved in so doing, it shall be replaced. Should the lie of the lifted ball be altered by the opponent in playing, it may be placed in a lie near to, and as nearly as possible similar to, that from which it was lifted.

Suppose that, after the players have driven off, both halls lie together, almost touching each other; if the ball nearer the hole were lifted, and the opponent in playing the other ball took it heavy and cut out a divot of turf, to replace the lifted ball on the exact spot where it originally lay would possibly mean placing it in a hole. I have actually seen such a case happen, and it is to meet such a contingency that this rule is enacted. Under it the lifted ball would not be replaced in the hole, but 'in a lie near to, and as nearly as possible similar to, that from which it was lifted.'

21. If the ball lie or be lost in water, the player may drop a ball, under the penalty of one stroke.

Water means any water on the course, either streams or ponds or pools formed by rain. It is optional to the player either to lift or to play, and he may sometimes prefer to do the hitter when the ball lies in a small shallow rain-formed pool. The actual working out of this rule may, and sometimes does, lead to anomalies, as, for instance, when the water is in a hazard. Two balls may be lying in the same hazard within a couple of yards of one another, the one in water and the other not, the first can be lifted and taken out of the hazard under the above rule, subject to the penalty of a stroke, while the other would require to be played as it lay or the hole given up, or, in a stroke competition, dealt with under Special Rules for Medal Play, 8.

22. Whatever happens by accident to a ball in motion, such as its being deflected or stopped by any agency outside the match, or by the fore-caddie, is a 'rub of the green,' and the ball shall be played from where it lies. Should a ball lodge in anything moving, such ball, or if it cannot be recovered, another ball, shall be dropped as nearly as possible at the spot where the object was when the ball lodged in it. lint if a ball at rest be displaced by any agency outside the match, the player shall drop it or another ball as nearly as possible at the spot where it lay. On the putting-green the ball may be replaced by hand.

23. If the player's ball strike, or be accidentally moved by an opponent or an opponent's caddie or clubs, the opponent loses the hole.

24. If the player's ball strike, or be stopped by himself or his partner, or either of their caddies or clubs, or if, while in the act of playing, the player strike the ball twice, his side loses the hole.

It is difficult for any one but the player to say if a ball is struck twice in the act of making a stroke. Striking twice occurs sometimes in putting when the ball lies in a 'nick' on the green - the putter hits the ball, which thereupon jumps up off the face of the nick and the putter again hits it in the follow-through. It may also happen in playing a full stroke with an iron club through the ball being hit first with the hose and afterwards with the blade of the club, but the movements are so quick as to defy detection except by the sound, and can only be proved by examining the club used and seeing if there are two distinct marks of impact of the ball on it.

25. If the player when not making a stroke, or his partner or either of their caddies touch their side's ball, except at the tee, so as to move it, or by touching anything cause it to move, the penalty is one stroke.

26. A ball is considered to have been moved if it leave its original position in the least degree and stop in another; but if a player touch his ball and thereby cause it to oscillate, without causing it to leave its original position, it is not moved in the sense of Rule 25.

The most fruitful source of moving balls is carelessness in addressing them, especially when the ball lies either on very keen ground or in long grass.

27. A player's side loses a stroke if he play the opponent's ball, unless (1) the opponent then play the player's ball, whereby the penalty is cancelled and the hole must be played out with the balls thus exchanged, or (2) the mistake occur through wrong information given by the opponent, in which case the mistake, if discovered before the opponent has played, must be rectified by placing a ball as nearly as possible where the opponent's ball lay.

If it be discovered before either side has struck off at the tee that one side has played out the previous hole with the ball of a party not engaged in the match, that side loses that hole.

There is no excuse for a player not knowing his own ball. If he finds any difficulty about it, he should mark his ball to prevent all question. It must be remembered that he is not entitled to lift a ball to examine it unless with his opponent's consent. See Rule 10.