someone picked up my ball

Question
Hello,

please helo me out with a situation.  I was playing a tournament.  One of the guys from my flight was walking ahead and had picked up my ball by accident.  I then approched that spot and found a ball that I believed was mine as it was the only one laying around.  I hit the green and par the hole. Then i realized that I have played a range ball.  At that moment my friend says that he has picked a ball from that spot and after checking it out we realize that the ball is mine.  Then they gave we 2 stroke penalty.  I would argue that I should not get the penalty but the guy from my flight.  Who is right?

Cheers

Vladimir

Answer
It is you responsiblity to know what ball you use.  No one else's.  If you have any doubt, you should always check your ball before you hit it if you want to be safe.  Those are the rules, and you cannot blame someone else.

If you have any followups and further questions in the future,
please ask me in my more commonly used web site,
Answerway.com.  You can go to my direct link at

http://answerway.com/profile.php?expid=Dathaeus

and check out all my public FAQ's as well as ask me a direct
question.  Thank you and good luck.