Is it authorized to faucet down grass across the gap earlier than placing?

The Guidelines of Golf are difficult! Fortunately, we’ve acquired the guru. Our Guidelines Man is aware of the e-book entrance to again. Received a query? He’s acquired all of the solutions.

This morning, a gentleman in our foursome made a behavior of tamping down fairly forcefully across the gap along with his putter (all the time in his line of putt, naturally). After I query this “gardening,” he claimed the greenskeepers weren’t doing their job correctly after they modified holes. I occur to know higher, since I’m a kind of greenskeepers. What rule ought to I quote? —Bob Keifling, Seibring, Fla.

Clearly, you are the gentleman because you selected to take the excessive route fairly than tamp forcefully round this clod’s noggin!

Subsequent time, let the principles do this for you. Gamers might restore “harm” to the placing inexperienced, which incorporates the opening and the world round it, even when doing so improves the road of play. However (!) regular upkeep practices, pure put on and pure floor imperfections aren’t harm as outlined by Rule 13.1c(2) and will not be repaired.

If his tamping alters the bottom and improves a situation affecting the stroke, corresponding to line of play, then Rule 8.1a applies, and he will get the overall penalty of two strokes in stroke play and lack of gap in match play. Now who’s not doing his job correctly?

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I used to be referred to as out for aligning my ball for a putt after putting my ball after which lifting my ball marker — that I can’t modify the ball except the marker remains to be in place, and if I had been caught doing it once more I’d be penalized. But within the R&A’s rule clarification 14.2c/1, the ball could be aligned in any manner as long as its vertical distance to the bottom stays the identical, I don’t see any reference to a ball marker being required when lining up a putt. Are you able to make clear? —Mark O’Neill, by way of e-mail

We are able to, and we are going to, forthwith. Unhappy to say, you had been referred to as out accurately. Rotating the ball is taken into account “lifting” below Rule 14.1, and also you solely get the proper to carry the ball on the placing inexperienced after you mark it first.

So, if you happen to rotate the ball when it isn’t marked you get one penalty stroke — because it didn’t change place you needn’t fear about changing it. Please see Rule 14.1a.

The clarification you cited refers to how the ball really will get changed — you’ll be able to change the ball in virtually any orientation; the aligning of the ball isn’t your concern right here — but it surely doesn’t handle whether or not or not the ball was marked when initially lifted, as that’s a separate concern.