Ask Linda #25 - marking your ball on green

Hi Linda,
When you mark your ball aren't you allowed to mark with anything and it
doesn't necessarily have to be a flat object? Had this come up in a match where one girl marked her ball with a divot repair tool. Couldn't find a reference to anything except using a daisy as a mark in the rule book.
Lulu

Dear Lulu,

When you mark your ball with a daisy (where did you see that?) do you earmark a petal so you will know where to replace the ball? Very unusual to carry around a pocketful of daisies!

Okay, I'll get serious now. The reference in the Note to Rule 20-1 to using a ball-marker, small coin, or other similar object is a recommendation, not a requirement. Technically, you may mark your ball with just about anything--the toe of a club at the side of the ball, a tee, a divot repair tool, a loose impediment, even a daisy! The only real requirement is that you use some physical object to mark the ball, meaning you cannot, for example, refer to a blemish on the green. If you have a Decisions book, the reference is 20-1/16.

Linda

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