Ask Linda #145-Repairing ball marks

Hi Linda,
Are you permitted to repair a ball mark if your ball is not on the green? For example if you hit a shot onto the green and your ball rolls into the rough or fringe, can you fix your ball mark before you chip back onto the green?
Thank you,
Lou Lou

Dear Lou Lou,

You are entitled to repair a ball mark that is on the green, regardless of whether your ball lies on the green [Rule 16-1c]. The ball mark does not have to be yours – all ball marks on the green are fair game for fixing at all times.

However, if the ball mark is not on the green, you may not fix it prior to hitting your shot. That would be a violation of Rule 13-2, which requires that you play the ball as it lies and prohibits smoothing out any bumps on the ground.

Note that you are always entitled to the lie that you have when your ball comes to rest. For example, let’s consider that your ball is lying on the fringe, and you are planning to putt it. Another player hits his ball after you, and his ball makes a ball mark in the fringe, right in front of your ball. You are permitted to repair that ball mark, because it was not there when your ball came to rest.

Linda

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