accidental ball pickup

**Rules Guy: My distracted match-play partner accidentally picked up my ball. What now?**

According to Rule 15-3, if your opponent’s ball is in play and you deliberately pick it up, you incur a two-stroke penalty and your opponent’s ball must be replaced.

In match play, this means you lose the hole.

If, however, your opponent’s ball is accidentally picked up, there is no penalty. The ball must be replaced and play continues.

So, in your case, since your partner accidentally picked up your ball, there is no penalty. You should replace the ball and continue playing.