There is little worse in golf than a short putt sliding by the hole. It’s a miserable tap-in followed by an insatiable urge to rake it back and hit it once more.
Whether it’s to see whether the line was right or wrong, or just to get a bad stroke out of the system, it’s hard not to have another go, or strike again that chip you flubbed on the way to a double.
My inbox is always busy with various questions on what constitutes practice or if you can do it. Can you practice putt?
Thankfully, the Rules of Golf are pretty clear about what’s acceptable, and what’s not, so let’s get stuck in and unravel the mystery…
What do the rules say about a practice putt and chip?
Let’s get the absolutely obvious stuff out of the way. You can’t make a practice stroke at ANY ball – whether it’s on the course or not – while you’re playing a hole.
You all knew that, of course. But Rule 5.5a, catchily titled No Practice Strokes While Playing Hole, does set out some occasions where you might make contact with a ball but which are not classed as practice strokes.
These are: when a player plays out a hole the result of which has already been decided, hitting a ball back to a practice area or to another player when it is done ONLY as a courtesy, and a practice swing made with no intent to strike the ball.
Careful with the last one because, depending where you are on the course, you might still have to add a shot to your score even though you haven’t made a stroke.
What about practising between two holes? Rule 5.5b also says that’s forbidden but there is an exception.
A player may practise putting or chipping on or near ‘the putting green of the hole just completed and any practice green and the teeing area of the next hole’.
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Don’t get creative and start hitting balls out of bunkers. That’s not allowed, and don’t spend too long at it either. If you’re deemed to be unreasonably delaying play, you can be subject to sanction.
A breach of Rule 5.5 is going to result in the general penalty – that’s two shots or loss of hole in match play. If it happens between two holes, the rules say the penalty applies to the next hole.
What if play is suspended or stopped for any other reason? Can you nip out and play a couple of holes? No. Not unless the committee allows it, or if it’s part of what you can already do in Rule 5.5b, or it’s anywhere outside the course.
One further piece of advice if you’re planning to go down this path. Make sure to check your club’s scorecard, notice board and terms of competition.
Committees can adopt a Local Rule that forbids practice putting or chipping on or near the putting green of the hole recently completed and it’s not unusual to see this little statute in action.
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 about these practice putt rules? Let me know by leaving a comment on X.
