You’ve got a tricky downhill putt on a green that’s covered with twigs and leaves. You remove those that might impede your ball on its way to the hole, but you decide to leave those that are behind it.
You’re hoping they’ll serve as a backstop and stop your ball if it goes past the cup with any speed. There’s nothing accidental about this, you’re deliberately leaving them in place.
Seeing what you’re up to, your playing partner walks behind the hole and picks up anything that might help you should the putt be missed.
How is this rules drama going to be played out? We know backstopping is frowned upon in the Rules. Are you getting into bother for leaving a situation in place that could help your ball? Can your playing partner tidy up around your putting line when it’s not their turn to play?
Is there about to be a full-on row on the green? Let’s see what the Rules say…
Can you leave loose impediments in place as a backstop?
I was going to start this article with ‘picture the scene’, but you don’t need to because this scenario is played out almost exactly in a clarification to Rule 8.1d, which covers ‘restoring conditions worsened after ball came to rest’.
You’ll know if your ball is on the fringe of a green, for example, and someone in a bunker sprays sand all over your lie and area of intended swing, you are allowed to restore your original situation and you won’t get a penalty for improving conditions affecting the stroke.
It’s the same principle here, and the clarification says you are allowed to have loose impediments or movable obstructions left where they were when the ball came to rest.
While any player can remove the twigs and leaves, in this example, or movable obstructions such as a towel, if this “worsened the conditions affecting the stroke of another player, that player may restore the conditions by replacing the object under Rule 8.1d”.
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So even if the loose impediments could have provided a backstop for your ball, if they’ve been shifted and the conditions affecting the stroke have been worsened, you are allowed to put them back where they were.
It should go without saying there’s a big difference between something that is already there, and a player manufacturing a situation. So if the loose impediments are in place when you get to the green, you can put them back if they are moved.
But you can’t get onto the green and place a few twigs behind the hole to construct a backstop. You would get the general penalty – two-shots in stroke play or loss of hole in match play – for moving a loose impediment or movable obstruction into position.
That’s not allowed under Rule 8.1a (2) and it includes help in building a stance or improving the line of play.
Got a question for our expert?
Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
What do you think of this rule on loose impediments? Let me know by leaving a comment below, email me at s.carroll@nationalclubgolfer.com or get in touch on X.
NOW READ: Can I move loose impediments in a penalty area?
NOW READ: Moving loose impediments? Proceed with caution to avoid a rules drama
