Rules

Rules Guy: Is it legal to use a handkerchief to test the wind?

hand holding tissue

What do the rules say about testing the wind with a handkerchief or tissue?

Getty Images

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

Rather than toss grass to check for wind, I use my handkerchief. Legal? — Mike McConnell, Goodyear, Ariz.

Finally, a fellow hankie fan!

Alas, Mike, you can’t use an “artificial object” to measure or gauge the wind, per Rule 4.3(a), and a handkerchief is considered artificial (yes, even one made from cotton).

The first breach is the general penalty; the second breach, disqualification. To avoid crying in your hankie, become a tosser of grass instead.

Rules Guy: Can I mount a wind sock on my golf cart?
By: Rules Guy

For more wind-related guidance from our guru, read on …

In a four-ball match on a windy day, I marked my ball on the green and cleaned it with my towel, which an opponent then asked to borrow. Sure, no problem — I’m up first. The ball has barely left my putter when the wind blows the towel on top of my ball, stopping it dead. Chuckles all around … and I end up three-putting for bogey and a halve. I argued, unsuccessfully, that my towel was our opponents’ towel when it impeded my shot, and that they should be penalized somehow. Everyone else said it was my towel, and so my fault.
—Tom Noga, Huntington Valley, Pa.

You were wrong to throw in the towel so soon, Tom. Under Exception 2 to Rule 11.1b, the stroke was canceled, with the ball replaced and the stroke replayed, since it was made from the putting green and accidentally hit a movable obstruction.

If your playing partner and your opponents agreed that you should play on from the point of the towel incident, that agreement stands; otherwise, you should have proceeded in the way you thought was right, and your opponent would have had until a player teed off on the next hole to request a ruling.

Had this happened in stroke play, and you erred by not replaying the stroke, the general penalty of two strokes would be added to your score. Next time, don’t be so generous with your towel — and try to find a partner who won’t throw you under the bus!

Need help unriddling the greens at your home course? Pick up a custom Green Book from 8AM Golf affiliate Golf Logix.

Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.

Pro shop

Shop our selection of game-improvement gear

Explore GOLF’s Pro Shop
Exit mobile version