Thursday, January 8, 2015

Ask Linda #976-Mark to indicate line of play

Linda, I am a high school golf coach in Georgia. At a recent golf match one of the girls from another school had an unusual pre-shot routine. She put her club down in front of the ball and moved the club forward and backward. She was leaving an indention in the ground to show her line for the shot. I'm certain that this is against the rules but I'm not sure where in the rule book this is covered. Can you help?

Thanks,
Lou from Georgia 

Dear Lou,

The Rule you are looking for is 8-2a. Any mark that a player makes or places to indicate the line of play must be removed before she makes her stroke. If the mark is not removed, the penalty is two strokes (loss of hole in match play).

Depending on exactly how she is doing this, she may also be violating the prohibition against  touching the line of putt, which carries a two-stroke/loss of hole penalty [Rule 16-1].

Linda
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