Is it legal to tap the grass around the hole before putting?

The rules of golf are tricky! Thankfully, we have the guru. Our rules experts know this book inside and out. Have a question? He’s got all the answers.

This morning one of the gentlemen in our group of four got into the habit of squeezing his putter around the hole (always on his putt line, of course). When I questioned this “gardening” he claimed that the greenkeepers did not do their job when changing holes. I happen to know better because I’m one of those greenkeepers. What rule should I quote? —Bob Kivlin, Sebring, Florida

clearly, you You are a gentleman because you chose to take the high road instead of stepping on this fool’s head!

Next time, let the rules do it for you. Players may repair “damage” to the green, including the hole and the area surrounding it, even if doing so improves the playing course. However(!) normal maintenance practices, natural wear and tear and natural surface defects are not damage within the meaning of Rule 13.1c(2) and are not repairable.

If his compaction changes the surface and improves conditions affecting the stroke, such as the playing line, then Rule 8.1a applies and he suffers a general penalty of two strokes in stroke play and the loss of a hole in match play. punishment. Who isn’t doing their job right now?

For more green-related guidance from our gurus, read on…

I was called out for adjusting the ball for a putt after placing it and then raising the ball mark – I couldn’t adjust the ball unless the mark was still in place and I would be penalized if I did it again. However, in the R&A’s Rule Note 14.2c/1, the ball can be aligned in any way as long as the vertical distance from the ball to the ground remains constant, and I see no reference to the need for any ball markers when lining up putts. Can you clarify? —Mark O’Neill, via email

We can, and we will do so immediately. Sadly, you were rightly called out. Under Rule 14.1, a spinning ball is considered a “lifted” ball and you are only authorized to lift the ball on the putting green after you have first marked the putting green.

So if you spin the ball without a mark, you’ll get a one-stroke penalty – since it hasn’t changed position, you don’t have to worry about replacing it. See Rule 14.1a.

The clarification you cite refers to how the ball is actually returned – you can return it in almost any direction; the alignment of the ball is not your issue here – but it does not address whether the ball was marked when it was initially lifted question because it is a separate issue.