Can one clean sand off ones line?

[Alex1975]

Hi all,

I was putting yesterday from infront of a bunker and I bent down and swept the sand away from my line. My buddy and I had seen Tiger unable to repair some spike marks from on his line on Friday night so it sparked us to have a chat about it. I said I would find out, did I do wrong as its something I have always done? It was not my sand.

Al

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I'm pretty sure it's OK, it's no different to moving a stone or twig as they aren't attached to anything.

 

[Alex1975]

I'm pretty sure it's OK, it's no different to moving a stone or twig as they aren't attached to anything.

So Tiger could not repair the spike marks as they may/were still attached to the green?

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

As long as you dont use a towel or glove etc to help sweep the sand away its fine

 

[Bacardibatman]

covered in rule 16-1

a. Touching Line of Putt
The line of putt must not be touched except:
(i) the player may remove loose impediments, provided he does not press anything down;

 

[SimonS]

Rule 23-1 - Relief

Except when both the loose impediment and the ball lie in or touch the same hazard, any loose impediment may be removed without penalty.
If the ball lies anywhere other than on the putting green and the removal of a loose impediment by the player causes the ball to move, Rule 18-2a applies.
On the putting green, if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved in the process of the player removing a loose impediment, the ball or ballmarker must be replaced. There is no penalty, provided the movement of the ball or ball-marker is directly attributable to the removal of the loose impediment. Otherwise, if the player causes the ball to move, he incurs a penalty of one stroke under Rule 18-2a.
When a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed.
Note: If the ball lies in a hazard, the player must not touch or move any loose impediment lying in or touching the same hazard – see Rule 13-4c.
PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE:
Match play – Loss of hole; Stroke play – Two strokes.

Loose impediments

"Loose impediments" are natural objects, including:
• stones, leaves, twigs, branches and the like,
• dung, and
• worms, insects and the like, and the casts and heaps made by them,
provided they are not:
• fixed or growing,
• solidly embedded, or
• adhering to the ball.

Sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green, but not elsewhere.

Snow and natural ice, other than frost, are either casual water or loose impediments at the option of the player.

Dew and frost are not loose impediments.


So the answer is, yes you can brush away sand from the green but not the fringe or anywhere else on the course.

 

[Alex1975]

Tyvm sirs

 

[SimonS]

As long as you dont use a towel or glove etc to help sweep the sand away its fine

The FAQ's for rule 23-1 on the R&A website say that you can.

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

As long as you dont use a towel or glove etc to help sweep the sand away its fine

The FAQ's for rule 23-1 on the R&A website say that you can.

Ive obviously been told the wrong thing then .

 

[jeffc]

use the back of your fingers/knockles and gently sweep it away. Can't be construed as testing the surface either then.

 

[chrisd]

As long as you dont use a towel or glove etc to help sweep the sand away its fine

I think that the rule on this changed a while back and you can sweep loose impediments away with anything



Chris

 

[mostivoi]

If your on the green arent you intitled to but if your putting from off the green you cant. We had the discussion couple of weeks back

 

[Toby_LeRhone]

If your on the green arent you intitled to but if your putting from off the green you cant. We had the discussion couple of weeks back

The rules extracts above suggest that sand on the green is a loose impediment and can be removed regardless of where the ball itself lies.