Your Queries Answered
Recently, a playing partner hit his ball by mistake during his practice swing from just off the green. He stated he had done this but wondered if the Rule was that he could replace it without penalty. I said I thought he could replace it but with a one-shot penalty, and I also said I thought he could choose to play it as it lies. Was I correct? Italian Outcast, GM website forum
The player has accidentally caused his ball to move during a practice swing while in the general area of the golf course and so he gets a penalty of one stroke and must replace the ball (Rule 9.4).
Daniel Sommerville,
R&A Rules manager
If you have a putt where an old hole is on your line, but it’s been badly repaired so it drops a few millimetres below the actual putting surface, what can you do? Last year I witnessed a situation where one player had this, and another player said that you are allowed to take a small amount of sand from the bunker and put that on top of the old hole to make it level to putt over. Is that allowed? Orikoru, GM website forum
An old hole plug on the putting green is considered damage and so a player may take reasonable actions to restore the putting green as nearly as possible to its original conditions, for example by using a normal ball-mark repair tool, tee or similar item (Rule 13.1c). However, it would not be permissible to place sand on the line of play to repair the old hole plug as that would not restore the original conditions. Daniel Sommerville,
R&A Rules manager