Your ball is in the way and you’ve been asked to shift it – for golfers it’s something as natural as drinking water. But when your ball or ball marker is helping or interfering with play, there are rules you must observe when moving a golf ball marker out of the way if you’re to avoid picking up a silly penalty.
Rule 15.3 says if a ball on the putting green is helping play, or interfering anywhere on the course, we can be required by another player to mark the spot and lift the ball before replacing it on its original spot. If it’s a ball marker that’s getting in the way, a similar requirement can apply.
But when it came to how you did that, there was a slight air of mystery about the process in the Rules of Golf. Rule 15.3c said that a ball marker had to be moved out of the way to a new spot “measured from its original spot, such as by using one or more clubhead lengths”.
When putting it back, you just reversed the steps. Simple, right? And yet, in the Rules of Golf 2023 update, there is a new clarification that aims to give golfers further guidance on how they can carry out the manoeuvre successfully.
It’s basically a step-by-step guide to keeping out of trouble and so, even if you’re inordinately happy with the way you move a ball or ball marker, it’s still worth a read.
Remember, the penalty for getting this wrong is loss of hole in match play and two shots in stroke play.
