What happens if your ball hits a golf cart?

The situation

Your shot deflects off a golf cart — your own, your partner's, or someone else's parked nearby. Before 2019 this could mean a penalty. Not any more.

The rule

Under the 2019 Rules of Golf, Rule 11.1a establishes that an accidental collision between a ball in motion and any equipment — including golf carts — results in no penalty. It doesn't matter whose cart it was. Play the ball from where it comes to rest. This was a significant change from the old rules, where hitting your own equipment carried a penalty. Now, accidental deflections off equipment are treated the same as any other outside influence.

Real example

You hit a low punch shot under trees and it clips your own cart parked at the edge of the fairway, ricocheting into the rough. No penalty — play from the rough. Or it hits an opponent's cart and bounces onto the green. No penalty — lucky bounce, play it from there.

What to do on the course

• Play from wherever the ball ends up, regardless of which cart it hit
• No penalty to anyone
• To avoid awkward situations, move carts well out of the probable line of play before hitting
• If a cart is positioned in a way that seems like an intentional deflection, raise it with the committee — but in normal play, carts are just equipment and the rule is clean

Penalty

No penalty. Play the ball from where it comes to rest.