Ball on the green

[Del]

Was playing a 3 ball today with two chaps (one a senior and a young chap )who up to today I had never met, very nice and a good game apart from one little thing.

When one of the chaps got to the green, he would mark his ball then when it was his turn he placed the ball about 2-3 inches infront of his marker then with his finger on the ball he rolled it back to the marker. This didn't bother me at all but the other young chap said he was breaking the rule by doing this, as it was testing the green!!

Not being up to date on the rules I kept out of it, and just enjoyed my game.

We did ask around in the club house later but was getting 50/50 as to if it was ok or not.

Does anyone have a rule book to hand or knows the answer ?? I'm playing with the chap tomorrow and said I would try to find out for him.

Cheers

Del

 

[JustOne]

A player may not touch the line of the putt except:

•In removing impediments, providing nothing is pressed down.
•In placing the club in front of the ball when addressing it, providing nothing is pressed down.
•In measuring (not sure what you'd measure though!).
•In lifting and replacing the ball.
•In pressing down a ball marker.
•In repairing old hole plugs or ball marks on the putting surface.
In removing movable objects.

 

[Warren]

The current R & A ruling is:-
Rule 16-1 d. Testing Surface
During the stipulated round, a player must not test the surface of any putting green by rolling a ball or roughening or scraping the surface.

Exception: Between the play of two holes, a player may test the surface of any practice putting green and the putting green of the hole last played, unless the committee has prohibited such action.

PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE 16-1:
Match play - Loss of hole; Stroke play - Two strokes.

Hope this helps

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It is an infringement of the rules as others have already indicated. It might be worth mentioning it in passing next time you see them (tell them you asked us if it helps) because someone somewhere will ping them for it in a competition.

 

[Del]

Thanks for the help chaps, playing tomorrow with him so will give him the good news!!

Cheers

Del

 

[RGDave]

Hold your horses.

I disagree. Don't tell him it's wrong, tell him "you think it might be interpreted as an infringement".

I move my ball back the smallest of margins (1 cm max) quite regularly if I feel it is not snug to the marker.

Better to be 1mm further away than 2 cm closer, which I see all the time.

This is NOT cheating, rules or no flipping rules. I've played with pros and rules anoraks and beginners and folk who've been playing for 50 years. NO one has ever had the cheek to question my placement of the ball.

There is NO way this guy is cheating.....he might just be misguided and have a funny idea of what is acceptable. Go easy on the guy.

 

[JamieSmith]

Just by reading this and like they say ... You learn something new every day!

 

[muttleee]

It is an infringement of the rules as others have already indicated.

Hmmm...I didn't see anyone in this thread indicate for definite that this was an infringement of the rules. JustOneUK's post showed that it is perfectly acceptable to touch the line of your putt when lifting or replacing your ball, so this guy is in the clear on that point. Warren said that a player "must not test the surface of any putting green by rolling a ball or roughening or scraping the surface." Now maybe I'm being unduly lenient but I don't think it's possible to penalise this guy under that rule either. How can moving a ball a couple of inches with your finger be classed as 'testing the green'? To me, this rule is to stop people rolling a ball across several feet of the green to see how it reacts.

If taking your stance in a bunker isn't classed as testing the sand, I don't see how placing a ball in this manner could be classed as testing the green.

 

[snake]

Surely there can't be an infringement here, as rolling back a ball your finger is still on for an inch or two will give you no information anyway.

It sound to me as an awkward way to do it but with no penalty.

I'm sure someone will be on the R and A website as a type, lol

 

[brendy]

As long as they arnt pressing the grass down as that would be preferring their lie/flattening the intended path.

 

[Tommo21]

A lot of these rules are there to stop this kind of thing. Of course he really can’t get anything from this but he could be compressing the grass a little, possibly give the putt a better start on the required line. That is why we are supposed to mark the ball behind the ball not in front, if you mark it in front then it can be construed as improving your line or pressing down.

Maybe he’s a snooker player and he’s rolling the ball back on it’s spot.

 

[Fyldewhite]

I've said this before on the forum that sometimes it's about being seen to do the right thing even if you are not actually breaking the rules. ie being whiter than white at all times.

I'm sure the guy is not doing anything to gain an advantage and it's not even clear from all that's been said if he is actually breaking the rules or not. However, by doing what he is doing when 99% of other golfers do something else he is simply leaving himself open to some element of doubt. So why do that when it would be so simple to just replace the ball in a more conventional manner ?

 

[Leftie]

I'm sure that I have seen TW roll his ball several inches after marking. But there again, he never seems to fall foul of the rules so it must be ok.