What happens if your ball hits your own bag?

The situation

You play a shot and it deflects off your own golf bag, which you left standing near the green or propped up somewhere on the course.

The rule

Under the 2019 Rules of Golf, Rule 11.1a removed all penalties for accidentally hitting your own equipment. Previously, hitting your own bag, trolley, or caddie carried a 2-stroke penalty — one of the most complained-about rules in golf. Now, it is treated the same as hitting any other outside influence: no penalty, play from where the ball comes to rest. This change applies whether the ball hits your bag, your trolley, your umbrella sticking out of the bag, or anything else in your equipment.

Real example

You chip from off the green, the ball comes back off the pin, rolls across the green and hits your golf bag you left leaning against the fringe. No penalty — that's where it is now, play your next shot from there.

What to do on the course

• Play from where the ball ended up, no penalty
• Try to position your bag off the likely line of play — not for rules reasons, but to avoid these situations altogether
• If the ball comes to rest against your bag, you can move the bag (as moveable equipment) and the ball should be placed at the spot where it was resting against the bag
• No replay option — you play from the new position

Penalty

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