Dear Linda,
There have been some questions recently about ball marking
and I have another problem.
A friend marks her ball on the green with a large marker and
when replacing the ball puts the marker a few inches to the side of the ball,
she then takes a practice swing with the putter head passing between the ball
and the marker and then takes her putt with the marker still in place to the
side of the ball. I feel that there is something wrong but cannot find either
in the rules or 'decisions' an appropriate rule. In fact I cannot find a
rule that states that you must pick up your marker after replacing the ball.
Your advice would be much appreciated.
Yours,
Lou from France
Dear Lou,
A player may place an object on the ground to indicate the line
of play, but he must remove it before he makes his stroke. The penalty for
leaving the marker on the ground is two strokes in stroke play, loss of hole in
match play [Rule 8-2a, Decision 8-2a/2].
Linda
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