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For reasons not worth getting into, I use my putter instead of my hand to align the ball. Is this legal so long as my marker remains correctly behind the golf ball? âJim Palmer, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
One of the things Rules Guy loves about the Rules of Golf are their ability to surprise him, and while baseballâs Jim Palmer was known for his heater, weâre about to throw you a curve.
Prior to research â yes, Notorious TRG must sometimes look things up â we would have said this is legal, because, on the putting green, who could care how one handles their ball? And before 2019 we would have been correct, but things have changed.
Youâre thinking about what youâre doing as aligning the ball, but the Rules of Golf now see it as replacing the ball, and a ball must be replaced by hand.
Were you to play the ball rotated by your putter and not by hand, even from the correct spot, youâd get a penalty stroke for replacing in the wrong way under Rule 14.2b(2). Strike one!
For more ball-marking guidance from our guru, read on …
Rules Guy: Can a ball marker be considered a training aid?
Is it required to mark your ball when itâs on the green, whether itâs in the way of another player or not? Yesterday, I was playing with our golf pro, and he got so angry with another player because he didnât mark his ball, even though it wasnât in the proâs line. The pro said that all the balls on the green must be marked ⦠but my online research so far doesnât seem to support that.
âLiz Grebler, via email
This pro doesnât sound like much of a people person â never mind that he is in the wrong, or at least partly in the wrong.
Under Rule 15.3, a ball at rest on the putting green only must be marked and lifted if it is interfering with play or helping another player; otherwise, there is no requirement to do so.
That said, a player can always request that you indeed mark your ball (again, if it can reasonably be deemed to be interfering or helping on the putting green) in which case you must accede to that request (making the request in essence a demand, but it sounds more polite the other way).
So, yes, the pro can make everyone mark his or her ball, but thatâs not the same thing as declaring, âAll balls on the green must be marked!â He might be better suited to a less customer-facing profession.
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Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he wonât throw the book at you.
