Dear Linda,
A player reached over the hole to tap a one-foot putt into the hole. He was penalized two strokes. Was this a correct penalty?
Lou Lou
Dear Lou Lou,
The player in question should not have been penalized for his action. He did not violate the prohibition against standing on the line of putt [Rule 16-1e], since the line of putt ends at the hole [Definition of Line of Putt]. He did not violate the prohibition against standing astride the line of putt, sometimes referred to as hitting “croquet style” [Rule 16-1e]. He has to be careful not to push, scrape, or spoon the ball [Rule 14-1], as any of those actions would result in a penalty (two strokes in stroke play, loss of hole in match play). However, he did take a foolish chance in that he might have carelessly missed an easy tap-in.
Linda
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