What happens if your ball hits a golf cart?

No penalty. If your ball in motion hits any golf cart — yours, your partner's, or another player's — you play the ball from where it comes to rest (Rule 11.1a). The 2019 rules removed the old penalty for hitting your own equipment.

What if the ball hits a moving cart?

Same rule — no penalty. Rule 11.1a applies whether the cart is stationary or moving. If your ball strikes a moving cart (yours, a partner's, or another group's), you play the ball from where it comes to rest. The only difference is practical: a moving cart can send the ball farther off line, so the lie may be worse, but the rule treatment is identical.

Keep reading: penalty area · provisional ball

Exceptions that change the answer

• The player's ball in motion on the putting green in stroke play hits another ball that is at rest on the putting green, and both balls were on the putting green before the stroke. → The player receives the general penalty (two penalty strokes).
• The player's ball played from anywhere except the putting green accidentally hits a person, animal, or moving outside influence, and comes to rest on that person, animal, or moving outside influence. → The player must not play the ball as it lies; instead, the player must take relief by dropping the original ball.

Preguntas frecuentes

What if my ball hits my own golf cart?

No penalty. Play the ball from where it comes to rest. Rule 11.1a treats accidental deflections off any equipment — including your own cart — the same as any other outside influence.

What if my ball hits my partner's cart or an opponent's cart?

No penalty either. It does not matter whose cart it is. The ball is played as it lies from where it stops after the deflection.

What if the ball hits a cart and goes out of bounds or into a penalty area?

You play from where the ball comes to rest. If that spot is out of bounds or in a penalty area, you proceed under the relevant rule (Rule 18.2 for OB, Rule 17 for penalty areas) — but the cart contact itself adds no penalty.

Can I move my cart before I hit to avoid this?

Yes, and you should. Move carts well out of the probable line of play before hitting. There's no rule against positioning your equipment, and doing so avoids awkward deflections.

What if someone deliberately positions a cart to deflect my ball?

That would be a serious breach. If a player deliberately positions equipment to influence a ball in motion, the committee can disqualify them under Rule 1.2a (serious misconduct). In normal play, carts are just equipment and the rule is clean.

What if my ball hits a cart and then hits me or my equipment?

Still no penalty for the cart deflection. The ball is played as it lies after all deflections stop. If it then hits you or your clubs, that's a separate accidental deflection under Rule 11.1a — also no penalty, play it as it lies.

Does it matter if we're sharing a cart in four-ball or foursomes?

No. A shared cart is treated as the equipment of the player whose turn it is to play. If your partner is driving and your ball hits the cart, it's still your equipment for that stroke — no penalty, play it as it lies (Rule 11.1a).

What if I can't find my ball after it hits a cart?

If the ball is lost after the deflection, you take stroke-and-distance relief (Rule 18.2) — the cart contact doesn't change that. You do not get a free drop just because a cart was involved.