Ball in pitchmark

Astar

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If my ball stops dead on the green in its own pitchmark do I have to mark the ball somehow before repairing the pitchmark. Happened quite a lot recently with the soft greens and wondering where I have to mark it as it’ll be quite a bit behind where the ball is.hope that makes sense?
 

Astar

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Thought that was the case. The ball marker will be an inch or so further back than where the ball lands so you can repair the whole pitchmark that’s all. Every inch counts?
 

rulefan

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If my ball stops dead on the green in its own pitchmark do I have to mark the ball somehow before repairing the pitchmark. Happened quite a lot recently with the soft greens and wondering where I have to mark it as it’ll be quite a bit behind where the ball is.hope that makes sense?
The rule is pretty straightforward
16.3a
If the ball is embedded on the putting green, the player may mark the spot of the ball and lift and clean the ball, repair the damage caused by the ball’s impact, and replace the ball on its original spot
 

hairball_89

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The rule is pretty straightforward
16.3a
If the ball is embedded on the putting green, the player may mark the spot of the ball and lift and clean the ball, repair the damage caused by the ball’s impact, and replace the ball on its original spot

A question if I may, regarding this. Last year I played a par 3 with a 2 tiered green. My ball was embedded in its pitchmark, however it landed on the slope between the 2 tiers. Had it not been in its pitchmark it would have rolled back down the slope. Neither myself or my playing partner were sure of what to do, so given it was a random social round I lifted, repaired the pitch mark and moved the ball to the nearest flat section of green where it wouldn't roll back down.

Could you shed any light on what the correct course of action would have been? Although I doubt it would be a very common occurrence!
 

clubchamp98

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A question if I may, regarding this. Last year I played a par 3 with a 2 tiered green. My ball was embedded in its pitchmark, however it landed on the slope between the 2 tiers. Had it not been in its pitchmark it would have rolled back down the slope. Neither myself or my playing partner were sure of what to do, so given it was a random social round I lifted, repaired the pitch mark and moved the ball to the nearest flat section of green where it wouldn't roll back down.

Could you shed any light on what the correct course of action would have been? Although I doubt it would be a very common occurrence!
More or less what you did.
Find the nearest spot “not nearer the flag “ where the ball will stay still.
 

Colin L

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A question if I may, regarding this. Last year I played a par 3 with a 2 tiered green. My ball was embedded in its pitchmark, however it landed on the slope between the 2 tiers. Had it not been in its pitchmark it would have rolled back down the slope. Neither myself or my playing partner were sure of what to do, so given it was a random social round I lifted, repaired the pitch mark and moved the ball to the nearest flat section of green where it wouldn't roll back down.

Could you shed any light on what the correct course of action would have been? Although I doubt it would be a very common occurrence!

As clubchamp98 says, Rule 14.3e being the reference. It's worth noting that the nearest spot could be in the general area, not necessarily on the putting green.
 

rulie

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I was asked this question by Steve Stricker's caddie during a practice round. My answer was that the Rules do not explain how well (or not) the pitchmark must be repaired, so it is possible to do a poor initial repair so the ball would stay in that place but it would not be acceptable to "unrepair" the pitchmark after the initial repair in order to keep the ball at that spot.
 
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If the ball is in the pitchmark, the ball marker will be behind that.
Just mark it and repair the pitchmark properly, flatten it with your putter and replace the ball, shouldn't be a problem ?

Sometimes may be necessary to move the marker a putter's head away, in order to do a good job of the repair.
Then move it back of course
 
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