Do you have a rules question?
Do you have a question about the rules after something that you or a friend were involved in at your club? Or perhaps you have a question regarding something you saw on TV or read about in the papers?
Why not send us your rules query and we will try and answer it as best we can here.
Alternatively you may want to go to the R&A website where there are some excellent rules quizzes.
There are quite a few worm casts on our greens at the moment. Can I remove them from the line of my putt with my club or hand?
Steven
The definitions state that 'loose impedements' are natural objects including
stones, leaves, twigs and the like,
dung,
worms and insects and the casts made by them
provided:-
they are not solidly embedded
not adhering to the ball
fixed or growing
Therefore the answer to your question is 'yes'.The whole of the course and even out of bounds, loose impediments may be removed. The exception is that loose impediments may not be removed or touched in a hazard.The next question you ask is; how may I remove them from the green?
Remember that in the game of golf you are not allowed to touch the line of putt. You may, however, touch your line of putt in removing loose impediments, in measuring, in lifting and marking a ball, in repairing ball marks and old hole plugs and you are allowed to place your putter in front of the ball (provided you do not press it down). So to remove loose impediments you are allowed to pick them up, brush them aside with your hand, use your cap or putter to brush them aside. The only thing you are forbidden from doing is using the whole palm of your hand to brush them aside as this is exceeding your authority and a breach of rule 16-1 'touching the line of putt'.
I have always been taught that stones are loose impediments, but a friend told me that sometimes stones are movable obstructions. Can you explain please?
Jo
Stones are indeed classified as loose impediments (see the definitions section in the Rules book). That means that, except when a ball ands the loose impediments are in a hazard, the loosed impediments may not be touched or moved. However many courses have a local rule that allows the player to pick stones out of bunkers, often for health and safety reasons. And since no local rule is allowed to override a Rule of Golf, stones in bunkers are classified as movable obstructions because you do get relief from movable obstructions in a hazard.
There is a lot of confusion about tyre tracks, some say you do and others say you do not get relief from a ball lying in or on a tyre track. What is the right procedure?
James
This is a question we often ask during coaching days and sometimes we get 20 out of 20 players give us the wrong answer. The answer is no, you do not get relief from tractor or tyre marks. In fact the Decisions Book has the following explanation under decision 25/16 -
Such a rut is not a hole made by a green keeper. The committee would be justified in declaring a deep rut to be ground under repair but not a shallow indentation made by green-keeping equipment. |
